April 1925, a new landmark rose beside Zagreb’s railway the Orient Express. With ionic columns, Art Deco lines and Belle Époque-style grandeur, the Esplanade was more than just an overnight stay; it was built as a stage to announce the city’s arrival on the European map. One hundred years later, this grande dame still commands a central place in the city’s psyche. The Esplanade’s past century reads like a social history novel. Its ballrooms once glittered with soirées that drew the city’s elite, as well as international dancers, musicians, singers, actors and the scandal-hungry journalists that dogged their every step. Josephine Baker, Charles Lindbergh, Orson Welles, Sophia Loren and Louis Armstrong all swept through its doors at some point.
During darker chapters, the building endured occupation and decline before rebounding in the 1960s as part of InterContinental Hotels and then later reclaiming its independence. Each reinvention retained its elegance, restoring the hotel to its place at the heart of Zagreb’s civic life. Today, the Esplanade marries Neoclassical architecture with contemporary comfort. The 208 rooms and suites vary hugely in size (and price) but are all appointed with marble bathrooms, rich fabrics and just enough cinematic glamour to give them a special, old-world charm. The sweeping Oleander Terrace looks across the city and remains a favoured gathering spot,
Culinary excellence has always been central to the hotel’s reputation. From the moment when Queen Elizabeth II rewarded the hotel chef with a gold coin for a perfectly prepared fish dish, to King Charles III requesting the recipe for the restaurant’s risotto, dining here has long been part of the legend. Today, award-winning chef Ana Grgić Tomić oversees the Michelin green-starred restaurant Zinfandel’s and the beloved Le Bistro, focusing on Croatian ingredients and French-inspired elegance. Do not leave without trying the Zagreb štrukli, a decadent baked pastry that is cooked all over the city, which the hotel has been perfecting since 1951. It is available every day at the locally flavoured breakfasts. Service is also a forte of the hotel.
From extraordinarily ridiculous requests (the team once sourced 40 new bicycles for a Saudi entourage and, on another occasion, arranged a limousine for a guest’s dog) to simply asking for a glass of warm milk for turndown, the team know how to deliver. This nimble graciousness comes at a surprisingly affordable price, and it is this, as much as the architecture or the lore, that keeps the Esplanade a city icon at 100: a beacon of elegance and hospitality that remains a cultural landmark at the very heart of Croatia’s capital.
Rooms from £217 per night; esplanade.hr
