Dacia Hotel

After the Union of Transylvania with Romania in the wake of World War I, the Hungary-related name of "Pannonia" was changed to the Romania-related "Dacia". Being the most beautiful hotel in the city, notables such as Liviu Rebreanu, Mihail Sadoveanu, Nicolae Iorga, and Octavian Goga stayed here.^[1]

The hotel was nationalised by Communist Romania after World War II.^[2]

In 1995, after the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the run-down Dacia Hotel was privatised.^[2] In 2007, it was bought by Romanian businessman Vasile Țânțaș for 1.7 million Euros.^[2] The 2008 financial crisis stopped the restoration project^[1] and the building was left to decay, which led to Țânțaș receiving a 6-month prison sentence, and in 2018 the property was purchased by Tamás Leisztinger [hu], a Hungarian investor close to the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán.^[2] Leisztinger was planning to reopen the hotel under its original name, Pannonia.^[2] In 2020, the troubled building was indirectly acquired by the Hungarian Közép-európai Épített Örökség Megőrzési Alapítvány (KEÉÖMA; "Central European Built Heritage Preservation Foundation"),^[3] established by the Hungarian government and whose public purpose is of acquiring and preserving former Hungarian properties in the Carpathian Basin,^[4] an irredentist term used in Hungary to include territories lost after WWI, with the declared goal of "preserving Hungarian cultural heritage".^[5] In September 2023, a major renovation and modernisation project was started, promising to restore the dilapidated building in minute detail, including the colourful Zsolnay roof tiles.^[3][6] As of 2023, a reopening was envisaged for the year 2025 under the management of the Hungarian Hotel & More Group, as part of the international Hotel Indigo brand which is owned by InterContinental Hotels Group.^[3][6] Once inaugurated, it will be the first Indigo hotel in Romania.^[6] In 2025, while extensive restoration works are well advanced, they are predicted to be finished by the end of 2026.^[7] The future Indigo Hotel will boast 62 rooms and a spa.^[7]