Clarion Grandhotel Zlatý Lev

The oldest of the hotel’s predecessors, the U Zlatého Iva inn, existed on the site of what is now the town hall as early as the 16th century.

There is a brief description of the inn dating back to 1682, when it became municipal property after the end of the Thirty Years' War. The building was constructed out of wood, and the ground floor contained the inn’s main room with two tables and benches, and a green⁠-⁠tiled stove. Guests were accommodated in two rooms on the first floor. The inn also had stables. At the end of the 18th century, the inn was renovated and gradually expanded. Actor Václav Thám and his group of travelling actors performed in the additionally built hall in 1799.

In 1853 Emperor Ferdinand I stayed in the U Zlatého Iva inn with his entourage. Well⁠-⁠known Czech journalist and poet Jan Neruda visited Liberec in 1865 and he mentioned the elegant environment of the inn in his column. On the occasion of the upcoming Liberec expo in 1906 and with the knowledge that the hotel was no longer able to keep up with the growing city, the hotel’s owner, Raimund Haschke,, built a new hotel in the beautiful surroundings of the château park on Gutenbergova Street, which was considered to be one of the finest establishments in the entire country at the time it was built.

A beautiful four⁠-⁠storey Art Noveau building with 100 rooms for guests, including several luxuriously furnished apartments, was constructed as a result. Next to the hall on the ground floor, the hotel had a writing room and a reading room, a dining room, a restaurant, dressing rooms, meeting rooms and a restaurant terrace.

The kitchen was equipped with the most modern equipment of the time, including an electric dishwasher and refrigerator. Not only did the hotel have an electric lift, it also had several bathrooms, a darkroom, a barber shop and a telephone room. Common rooms were equipped with electric fans and gas lighting. Rooms had hot running water, electric lights and rugs, which were cleaned with an American hoover. The stables in the yard were converted into garages for the modern vehicles of the day.

Extensive renovation work took place from 1956 to 1959, during which a new hotel café was constructedall the rooms were connected to the hot and cold water mains and telephones and radios were installed. Over the following decades, Grandhotel Zlatý Lev was considered one of the finest enterprises of its kind and was part of the Interhotel network at that time. Over the years, history and refinement have combined with modern elements to meet the needs and expectations of the guests of a 4⁠-⁠star hotel. The result of their marriage now means preservation of one of Liberec’s crowning jewels with the level of the 4 * standard of the Clarion brand.