Hotel Beograd Centar to open on May 15 – Four stars to be kept, despite meeting most standards for five

Hotel Beograd Centar in Kolarceva Street in Belgrade, in the former Jugoeksport building, should open on May 15, announced Bojan Matijevic, the director for investments at IM Matijevic, the owner of the facility.

He said that the opening date could only be postponed due to the reconstruction of the Republic Square and the streets surrounding the hotel.

According to earlier announcements, the opening should have taken place before April.

– Around 99% of the renovation of the Jugoeksport building and its turning into a hotel has been completed, we are only waiting to see whether the reconstruction of the surrounding streets will be finished as well, so as to secure access to the hotel – Matijevic said.

Hotel Beograd Centar with four stars has five floors with 68 rooms, 20 apartments, a restaurant of around 300 square meters and 25 parking spaces in Simina Street, 150 meters away from the facility.

A spa and fitness center, as well as a conference hall, will be built on one of the two underground levels next year, according to Matijevic.

– We are waiting for the infrastructure in the surrounding streets to be replaced, in order to be able to build a conference hall and other side features – Matijevic said.

He added that “the hotel will keep the four-star category, because, even though it meets most of the standards for five stars, the hotel's status will not change, as guests tend to avoid five-star hotels”.

He said that the Jugoeksport building had cost EUR 7.3 million, but that just as much had been invested in the renovation, as there had been unplanned works, and the equipment procured met the highest standards.

– We invested EUR 50,000 in the LED lighting alone. It will illuminate each detail on the facade, which is under state protection – Matijevic said.

In addition to IM Matijevic, the Matijevic family owns several farms and several hundred hectares of farming land, as well as another four hotels, three in Novi Sad and one in Zrenjanin.

The Jugoeksport building was raised in 1923 under Matija Bleh's project. It had been offered for sale several times. The initial evaluation was EUR 20 million, but the building's price dropped after each unsuccessful auction.

IM Matijević d.o.o. Novi Sad

Hotel Beograd Centar

Petar Matijević

Bojan Matijević

Jugoeksport building in Kolarčeva Street

Matija Bleh