Esplanade

How the Stage was Set HISTORY IN BRIEF 1925: The hotel opened. 2004: Regent International took over the management of the hotel. HISTORY IN DETAIL 1920s: The Hotel Esplanade was built on the field near the State Railway Station, which was used for skating in winter. The field was on a flat stretch of ground, and hence the name of the hotel - Esplanade. 1925, 22 April: The hotel was opened, with the aim of attracting Orient Express passengers. The architect was a Croat, Dionis Sunko. The first guest was a businessman from Osijek, Mr. Gluck who was considered to have brought good luck to the Hotel. (gluck in German means luck). 1927: The city’s first beauty contest was staged at the hotel. It was won by Stefica Vidacic who became Miss Europe a year later 1939-45: During World War II The Hotel was headquarters of Gestapo and Wehrmacht. 1967: The first casino in the country was opened at The Esplanade by Miss Italy. 1970: A snack bar opened at the hotel, the first in the country. 1970s: Italian writer Elena Tessadri wrote a book entitled 'Esplanade'’, a romantic love story was set entirely at the hotel. 1986: A bistro opened at the hotel. 1989: The Esplanade introduced Valentine's day with the great success, for the first time in the country. The same year Tiramisu was served at the Bistro for the first time. It proved a hit, and today is regularly offered in most restaurants. 2003-4: The hotel was totally renovated 2004: Regent International took over the management of the hotel.

Among the guests to have graced The Esplanade: Josephine Baker Charles Lindbergh Louis Armstrong Lawrence Olivier Orson Welles Asta Nielsen Gitta Alpar Bata (shoe king) Vladimir Gajdarov (screen lover) Jules Romains (French writer) Lady Ashby (former chairwoman of the International alliance for women's rights) Prince of Nepal Mario del Monaco (Italian tenor) Arthur Rubinstein Giuseppe de Santis (film director) Silvana Pampanini Yul Brunner Jack Palance Rosana Podesta Belinda Lee Cornel Wilde Diana Orfei Anita Ekberg Domenico Modugno Charles Aznavour Maria Callas Maja Plisetszkaia Arthur Miller Dizzie Gillespie Ella Fitzgerald Aran Hachaturian Henryk Szeryng Pablo Casals David Ojstrach Pele Yves Montand Simone Signoret Errol Garner Ike and Tina Turner Cliff Richard Stewart Granger Ephraim Kishon Richard Burton Elizabeth Taylor Sophia Loren Woody Allen Liv Ullman Mick Jagger Benjamino Gigli Helmut Kohl Perez de Cullear Leonid Brezhnev Gilbert Becaud Ray Charles Deep Purple Joan Baez Eros Ramazzoti Fats Domino Anthony Quinn Vanessa Redgrave Jane Saymour Gary Oldman Telly Savalas Omar Sharif Caterine Deneuve Sir Peter Ustinov

When the queen of the Parisian cabarets Josephine Baker came to town, she had to fight her way through the masses at the main entrance of the hotel. Local puritan groups demanded that her performance be cancelled, but fortunately the show went ahead. Some ten years later the actress returned to Yugoslavia as the guest of the Festival of the Child in Sibenik. ------ When Stewart Granger left the hotel to go to Split, he couldn't be given the usual birthday gift from the hotel, so a waiter, a cook, and the front office manager chased after him to the railway station, greeted him and presented him with a huge birthday cake. ------ In the mid-60s, Anita Elberg, the sex symbol of that time, was expected at the hotel. A small welcoming committee awaited her at reception. Not one of them had seen her before, but they thought that such a sexy lady couldn't pass unnoticed. When an attractive blonde appeared at the main entrance, the committee greeted her with a short welcoming speech. She was presented with a bunch of red roses and escorted to the most beautiful suite. The lady didn't look surprised; she even smiled happily. The welcoming committee, satisfied with the reception, was having a refreshing cup of coffee, when another blonde appeared. This one was the right lady, Anita Ekberg herself. The previous lady had been her secretary.