The Baroque château built in the middle of the 18th century is surrounded by a beautiful historic park. It is located in the centre of the village of Gbeľany on the road from Žilina to Vrátna dolina. In January, its new owners started to restore it with the intention of turning it into a four-star wellness hotel, Kaštieľ Gbeľany.
At present, there are several architectural plans under consideration. It is no easy task to create a unit comprised of an historic Baroque château, connecting buildings and a newly-built annexe, while respecting the strict conditions imposed by the Heritage Office. The result of the long negotiations between the owners and contractors, architects and the Regional Heritage Office in Žilina will be made public in 17 months once the project “Reconstruction of the cultural and historic monument Château Gbeľany to create a tourist site providing year-round high quality and wide-ranging services” is completed.
Hotel to open at the end of 2015
The owners had to abandon their original plan of turning the château into a residential care home. Any work carried out to transform the historic building for this purpose would have required important structural changes. They were successful in obtaining an EU grant for renovating the château for the purpose of building a hotel with wellness centre and modern conference premises, under the Operational Programme “Competitiveness and Economic Growth”, Priority 3 – Tourism, Measure 3.1. Support for Business Activities in Tourism. There will also be two bowling lanes and a state-of-the-art fitness centre. The currently devastated basement will become a pleasant wine cellar. Lovers of good food will find happiness in the restaurant, which will act as one of the links between the historic and the newly-built buildings. The Château Gbeľany hotel will offer excellent facilities for company events, conferences, business meetings, as well as wedding and family celebrations. The fact that couples are already showing an interest in having their wedding photographs taken in the historical park is a sign of its huge potential for hosting wedding ceremonies.
Château Gbeľany offers:
- Attractive accommodation in a historical setting,
- Sauna world, swimming-pool, whirlpool, fitness centre,
- Two bowling lanes,
- A new gastronomic restaurant,
- Private reception rooms in the historic building,
- Historic park ideal for weddings and banquets,
- Modern conference facilities.
Stavebníctvo a bývanie
text and photography: Ivona Partmanová
visualisations: Ing. arch. Viktor Šabík, barak architekti, s. r. o.