The Marriott hotel in Warsaw has abruptly announced that it is closing after 35 years, during which time it became a symbol of Poland’s post-communist transition.
The news was first revealed on Tuesday by Hotelarz, an industry news website. On Wednesday, Polish media reported that the hotel’s reservation system and telephone numbers were no longer working.
The Gazeta Wyborcza daily says it remains unclear if the hotel is operating at all. Just last week, pop star Taylor Swift stayed there while performing three concerts in Warsaw as part of her Eras Tour. Last year, US President Joe Biden was also a guest during a visit to Poland.
Na wieżowcu w centrum Warszawy wciąż jeszcze wisi logo sieci Marriott, ale system do rezerwacji pokoi informuje o braku miejsc, a numery telefonów do hotelu przestały działać. Sieć ogłosiła, że wycofuje się z budynku, w którym prowadziła hotel od 35 lat.https://t.co/H1eS3HPsCo
— Wyborcza.pl Warszawa (@GazetaStoleczna) August 7, 2024
“We confirm that the Warsaw Marriott Hotel is no longer part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio,” Marriott International told Hotelarz. “This decision was made after careful consideration and our current priority is to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible for guests and employees.”
“Managing the Warsaw Marriott Hotel for over 30 years has been a privilege,” they added. “We wish the hotel team much success in continuing to run the facility.”
The Warsaw Marriott opened in October 1989 – the tumultuous year that saw the collapse of Poland’s communist regime – in a newly built skyscraper next to the central train station and near the city’s famous communist-era Palace of Culture and Science.
It was Marriott’s first hotel to open in the Central and Europe region and one of the first hotels in Poland to obtain five-star status.
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Though the 523-room hotel only occupies half the building – with the rest devoted to office and retail space – the tower is widely called “The Marriott” by Varsovians, few of whom know its official name, LIM Center.
Hotelarz reports that the owner of the building has been in a long-running legal dispute with the Marriott chain, in particular with regard to issues that arose during the Covid pandemic.
The website notes that Marriott in 2010 extended its lease agreement with the LIM Center up to 2044. No official reason has been given for the hotel’s sudden announcement of its early departure and it has not responded to questions from various Polish media outlets.
The Marriott Hotel opposite Warsaw’s central train station in an undated historical photograph (credit: Roman Eugeniusz/Wikimedia Commons, under CC BY-SA 3.0)
Construction of the skyscraper initially began in 1977, with the intention for it to be used by state airline LOT. However, work stalled in 1981, amid economic difficulties and social upheaval in communist Poland, and only resumed in 1987.
The consortium that completed work on the building was made up of LOT, Austrian construction firm Ilbau and Marriott, whose initials make up the LIM name.
The hotel has hosted every US president from Bill Clinton onwards during their visits to Poland. Michael Jackson was another famous guest in 1996.
Kraków's infamous communist-era skyscraper – which for decades loomed over the skyline as an empty shell nicknamed "Skeletor" by locals – has finally been completed, 45 years after construction began.
It is now the city's tallest building by roof height https://t.co/ILpni8obKK
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 14, 2020
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
