Hotel Astoria located in Milovan Milovanović Street No.1, Belgrade, Serbia, was built in 1937 for contemporary business travelers. Designed by architect Ivan Savković (who in 1950 co-designed the post-Second World War building housing the Serbian Chamber of Deputies), it was one of the first major buildings in Belgrade designed in the modernist style, applying a minimalist design of the façade and relying on simple geometric lines rather than ornate decorations. It has since been given the status of a protected building as a significant architectural milestone in Serbian architecture.
Hotel Astoria was built by hotelier Djurdje S. Ninković as a family-run hotel with approximately 80 guest rooms, a restaurant, bar, and purpose-built architect's studio for his son-in-law, architect Ivan Savković. The hotel stretches over 3,600 m2 and is located in the center of Belgrade next to the main Railway Station. Previously, Djurdje Ninković built and ran hotel Pošta on the other side of the Savski Trg (Sava Square) in Belgrade. Djurdje Ninković died in 1940, and his son, Mile, and daughter, Nina, continued running the business.
In 1948, the hotel was forcibly nationalized by the Communist Government of Yugoslavia [1]. Astoria was run as a government-owned hotel, officially having the status of a 'socially-owned concern,' until 2009. In March 2009, the hotel was privatized by the Privatization Agency of the Government of Serbia.[2]
Unhappy seeing the family hotel sold by the Government of Serbia without having passed any Law of Denationalization or Restitution for property seized by the previous Communist regime, Djurdje Ninković, the son (and nephew) of the owners, occupied the hotel between 3-30 March, 2009. The occupation of the hotel caused significant media coverage and contributed to public debate regarding the failure of the Serbian government compensate owners for property forcibly seized by the communists. The new "owner" closed Hotel Astoria in July 2009 for renovations. It re-opened under a different name, Design Hotel Queen Astoria, at the end of November 2010. The hotel is still subject to a number of pending court cases disputing ownership.
Hotel Astoria played a role in the development of democracy in Serbia, as it was the place where the Founding Committee of the Democratic Party held meetings from the end of December 1989 in preparation for the re-establishment of the Democratic Party. It was also the site where the Democratic Party's first political program was published in January, 1990, and the site of the preparations for founding party conference held in February of that year. Following the founding party conference, the Democratic Party had its first central office in the hotel between February and October, 1990.[3]
The Hotel Astoria was also the home of the first central office of the Democratic Party of Serbia for a few months from July 1992, after a centre-right pro DEPOS coalition faction split from Democratic Party to form the Democratic Party of Serbia (See Vox Iuris, December 2009).