Cons: Few Romanian flavors on the restaurant menus, and the formal atmosphere and lack of kid-focused amenities may not suit families with young children or travelers looking for a more casual stay
Rates: From $395
In Romania’s capital, Corinthia Grand Hotel du Boulevard Bucharest resembles an elaborate wedding cake, with white-and-gold interiors, overflowing floral arrangements, tiered columns, and sparkling chandeliers. The hotel, fittingly, has hosted its share of grand celebrations over the decades, including royal festivities. It’s easy to imagine the ghosts of those parties—and the gowns, the music, the dancing—coming briefly back to life in the restored ballroom.
The Belle Époque building dates to 1867 and first opened as a hotel in 1873; it was the first hotel in Bucharest to have electric lights and an elevator. After a meticulous restoration, it reopened in March 2025 as part of the Corinthia portfolio. Much of the grandeur remains, from the restored ballroom to marble staircases and ornate architectural details, now joined by a new spa and a fitness center. With 30 suites, the hotel combines the intimacy of a boutique stay with the trappings of a grand European hotel. Suites start at $395, among the highest rates in Bucharest, but a relative value for this caliber of luxury in a European capital.
The hotel has 30 accommodations, all of them suites, giving the grand hotel an unusually intimate scale.
Courtesy of Corinthia Grand Hotel du Boulevard Bucharest
The hotel’s arrival reflects a changing Bucharest, a city where grand 19th-century buildings are being restored while bars and restaurants take over corners of its Communist-era architecture. “It’s the type of property that Bucharest needed to have, because there is no other [like it],” says Sandra Raileanu, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing.
The hotel’s combination of historic grandeur and contemporary tastes reflects Bucharest itself. The abundance of French-influenced 19th-century architecture helped earn the city the nickname “Little Paris.” But today the city is also full of innovators putting new spins on Romanian food and transforming former factories and warehouses into bars, restaurants, and cultural spaces.
Who’s Corinthia Grand Hotel du Boulevard Bucharest for?
Travelers who want to be in the heart of Bucharest and prefer glamorous, highly serviced retreats. This is a hotel for dressing up for dinner, ceding control of the itinerary to the concierge, and returning to an opulent setting after a day of sightseeing.
Who it isn’t for
Though some suites connect for family stays, the hotel offers few amenities or activities for young children. And travelers looking for Bucharest’s countercultural side will find more of it outside the hotel’s gilded walls.
The location: Old Town
Bucharest’s Old Town preserves some of the architectural grandeur that once earned the Romanian capital the nickname “Little Paris.”
Photo by Radu Bercan/Shutterstock
The hotel sits near the edge of Bucharest’s lively Old Town, at the intersection of touristy Strada Franceză (the oldest street in Bucharest, dating to the 15th century) and Strada Lipscani, both lined with outdoor-seating restaurants, antique shops, and bookstores. Head west along Regina Elisabeta Boulevard for cafés, patisseries, and some of the city’s art deco and Neo-Romanian buildings, such as the Bucharest National Opera House.
Just north, the Cișmigiu area has small wine bars, eclectic dancing venues such as Control Club, and bars tucked into repurposed buildings, including the former newspaper factory Palatul Universul.
With 30 suites, the hotel combines the intimacy of a boutique stay with the trappings of a grand European hotel.
The suites
From some of Corinthia Bucharest’s suites, guests can look out over the ornate rooftops and architecture of Old Town.
Courtesy of Corinthia Grand Hotel du Boulevard Bucharest
The hotel’s 30 accommodations range from 102-square-foot Junior Suites to sprawling 380-square-foot Signature Suites. Except for the three Junior Suites, all suites have separate living rooms. There are also Deluxe and Grand Deluxe suites; I stayed in the former and enjoyed the soaking tub in the marble bathroom. I also appreciated how the elbow-shaped hallway connecting the living room to the bedroom doubles as a walk-in closet. The Signature Suites include a private library that functions as an office. Depending on the room, windows overlook either a quiet inner courtyard covered in vines or the ornate architecture of Old Town.
The food and drink
Italian cuisine takes center stage at Sass’ Restaurant & Lounge, the hotel’s lively main restaurant, which transitions into an adults-only nightclub on weekend evenings.
Courtesy of Corinthia Grand Hotel du Boulevard Bucharest
Corinthia Bucharest has one on-site restaurant and a cocktail bar. Travelers like me who hope to immerse themselves primarily in Romanian cooking will want to venture beyond the hotel. Still, the hotel’s Sass’ Restaurant & Lounge, an offshoot of a Monaco institution, has exceptional Italian cuisine set in an energetic atmosphere. Leopard print and moody red lighting set the scene, as does jazz music from a live band that transitions to a DJ on weekend nights, when the restaurant becomes an adults-only nightclub with bottle service. The menu ranges from rigatoni with Wagyu Bolognese to lobster rolls with smoked mayonnaise.
The hotel’s Heritage Bar is more subdued, with plush velvet chairs, soaring windows, and a tucked-away fireplace room complete with a taxidermic peacock. The menu includes rare whiskies, cocktails made with ingredients such as apricot brandy and cardamom bitters, and snacks that include croquettes, truffle potatoes, and gold-leaf chocolates.
Staff and service
Soon after a booking is made, hotel staff reach out to ask what guests hope to do during their time in Romania and how they can help arrange it. Staff greeted me with champagne upon arrival and remembered my name throughout my stay. There’s a formality to the experience: Restaurant servers wear white vests and bow ties, while a doorman in gloves and a top hat welcomes guests from a red carpet framed by velvet ropes.
The concierge helped me arrange a guided tour of Bucharest with a local guide and a day trip to the castle-filled Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania. The team can also organize experiences including wine tastings, concerts, architecture tours, and helicopter excursions to visit a bear sanctuary near Brașov.
Service was attentive without being intrusive. The concierge team has strong opinions about how travelers should spend their time; those who prefer to hand over the planning may consider that confidence an asset.
Accessibility
One suite is fully accessible. Guests with mobility or other accessibility needs should contact the hotel in advance for details and assistance at +40-31-405-3031.
Afar was a guest of the Corinthia Grand Hotel du Boulevard Bucharest. Our coverage is independent; the hotel did not review or approve this story.
