Palace Hotel Constanta has one hundred years of history as a landmark of this port at Black Sea.
Built by a daring French company on the bedrock of the ancient Roman port Tomis before WWI,
pair with another landmark of the city and port, the Casino, these 2 buildings faced the challenges
of the stormy 20th century. The hotel was especially built for the gamblers at the Casino.
The French company who built this hotel was "The company of the great establishments".
Address: Remus Opreanu 5-7 Street, Constanta, Romania.
The land was bought from two Turks, because before 1878 Constanta and the Dobrudja region
of Romania were under Turkish rule. After this moment in Constanta were a lot of Turks, Armenians,
Greeks, Jews and, of course, Romanians, a very interesting mixture of people very specific to
this old town part of Constanta, linked to the commercial area and to the Port.
The land before the building of the hotel:
And the hotel now:
Project of the northern facade. Year MCMXIII = 1913. Architects Suskind & Gove Bucharest.
My great grandfather, the Bucharest lawyer Toma Boata, bought this building, after an effort of
10 years (1928-1939), as a sign of power and prestige of the family Boata.
He was born in 1871 in Nicolint, a 200 houses village close to Oravita, in Banat, former Austrian-Hungarian empire. He studied Law in Bucharest and became Romanian citizen and lawyer in 1898.
The idea to invest in a hotel was from his son, Tomica Boata, who loved the sea and the port.
The family also owned a small yacht, "Hoinar". They cruised with this to Constantinople and to
other destinations around at Black Sea. They sold it to a Jewish family which sailed with it to Palestine before WWII.
Tomica Boata (standing) & Ana, his sister and my grandmother, 28.08.1937
At the beginning of the hotel, it had 200 rooms and the whole comfort of a year 1900 hotel.
The facade is like Nice - France hotels, because it was designed by French architects.
After WWII the hotel was occupied by Russian Red Army and in 1950 it was confiscated by the
state by the decree 92/1950. At that moment the family lost all the properties it owned, houses
and land, as a result of new order in Romania.
After 1989 Romania was changing. My father has the right to retire and I told him that a good idea
is to fight to take back all the properties owned by my great grandfather, the lawyer Toma Boata.
We started the actions in Justice about 1991, we got back the houses and a part of the land and after
more than 20 years we still fight for our rights.
In the hotel case, after 10 years of trials we finally had it back in 2003 by an administrative document. The second step lasted 10 years more, to get back the land under the hotel.
As a matter of fact, it is very difficult to get back properties in Romania. Many people have
claims, they are on some lists, especially the list of law 10/2001 and they still wait.
In January 2003 we went to get back the hotel, after buying the furniture which was new, as a
final condition to get it, even when the state took it from my family it was complete and fully
functional. The "new" furniture was only 10 years old, but it was made of wood and in good
conditions. The heating system was from 1970 and based on liquid fuel, with high level of
consumption. The aspect of the hotel was the same from the renovation and consolidation from
1970. This action was good and at that moment the hotel got 2 more facades, because the
sides hadn't facades before. Now the hotel is an "island" with rooms and balconies to the four
cardinal points.
The hotel has the main facade to South and to the street, the second facade with the terrace and
the restaurant to the sea and North. The 2 new facades are West to the parking and East to a
courtyard, the technical space of the hotel. On the parking side there is a second terrace.
The most interesting point of view is from the northern face, with a wonderful panorama of
the small ships and yachts old port Tomis, the Black Sea and terraces and restaurants around.
We let the hotel in 2006 for rent. It was completely renovated inside, everything was changed.
At this moment the hotel has 100 rooms, a lot of spaces for conferences, a modern kitchen,
an open space restaurant with no obstructed view, a former bar on the roof of the hotel.
A photo of the restaurant between WWI and WWII:
The hotel has 3 floors of rooms, ground floor is for the reception, restaurant, offices and conference
rooms. Due to the unique position on the slope of the old port, the hotel has one underground
level to the street which is level 1 to the sea and one more level only to the sea, with access by
a spiral stair from the yacht port. The hotel has elevator form the beginning, now completely new.
From June to September a very nice moment is after dark, when the old Port is very animated.
From the terrace of the restaurant you may see everything happening around.
Reverse view from the port:
On the 15th August you may watch from here the parade of the Marines, with boats and air force.
About the ships - link !
The hotel is full time opened and even in winter you may watch interesting phenomena, like frozen
sea or huge sea waves. The same on the Casino's promenade, close to the hotel.
Photo with copyright. Thanks to the owner:
The hotel is in the old town area, with a lot of historic buildings, most of them renovated.
The Palace hotel was the first built so close to the sea. At the beginning sometimes the sea waves
could hit the low levels of the hotel, but after WWII they built a new basin for the port and now
it is a green strip between the hotel and the sea.
At this moment we are looking for an investor to sell a part of the building and share the result
of the hotel activity or even to sell the whole building.
There are a lot of hotels now in Constanta and much more in Mamaia and in the other southern resorts. Our hotel is a week-end destination or an alternative when all other hotels are full.
Of course we would like to have the hotel full all time, which is almost impossible.
Some friends told us about another type of tourism, linked with health and treatment for mid age
and elders. There are a lot of rooms inside the hotel, for example the 2 "underground" levels
viewing from the street, which are 2 levels with wonderful sea view, not used at this time as
hotel rooms. These could have the treatment base. There is also a the huge 2 level high room
designed for the central heating, which could have the pool of the hotel.
An idea is to have mud baths with the special mud form the Tekirghiol lake, close to Constanta.
This hotel could be a part of a chain especially designed for the elder tourists interested about
relaxing and health.
