Hotel Majestic as the first boutique hotel in Serbia

Abstract

At the time it was built, Hotel Majestic set the standards for elite hotels and for a high level of hotel management services in Serbia. Its owner, also the designer of the hotel, Milan Minić, fully carried out his intention for his hotel to stand out from other hotels, and become an elite and fashionable meeting place in Belgrade and in global high society. The building is a combination of architecture, fine and applied arts, and at the same time it represents high standards in design, construction and interior design, which makes it a significant authorial achievement of Belgrade's interwar architecture. The aim of this research was to analyze the architectural, urban, artistic and other characteristics of the Hotel Majestic building, in order to re-examine the view that Hotel Majestic was the forerunner of modern boutique hotels, and thus decades ahead of its time. Many authors have written about the characteristics of boutique hotels; however, the definition of the concept still remains vague. By comparative analysis of the available literature and by summarizing the results of this research, it can be concluded that Hotel Majestic fully meets all relevant criteria by which a boutique hotel can be recognized. The contribution of this research in the theoretical sense is reflected in the analysis and systematization of the most important interpretations of the concept of boutique hotels, as well as their basic characteristics. In the historiographical sense, the research provides a new insight into the so far unexplored area of boutique hotels in Serbia. Guidelines for further research could be directed towards discovering new examples of boutique hotels, as well as clarifying their definition and introducing them into legal regulations.