London Hotel was considered to be one of the most luxurious hotels in the city Hotel ‘London’ was opened in 1875 on 21 Madatov Street. The architect was Otto Simons (1872). The building first belonged to Konstantine Zubalashvili after his brother Alexander Zubalashvili. In the beginning of 20th century after the death of Konstantine, his third son Petre inherited it.

One of the main charms of the hotel was the entrance hall and its staircase. The Interior of the building is decorated with unusual masterful artworks and original metal staircase. The hotel was not big. In 1896 there were 28 rooms there and the price of the room was 1-10 Maneti. In 1914 two rooms were added to the hotel.

It is also notable that Hotel London was the first building with electrification and a parking space.

The golden age for the hotel was 1880-1890. Famous foreign travelers from Russia, Europe and near East often stayed there. It was said that in 1888 a famous Russian composer Chaikovski stayed in the hotel, George Kurzon, Vice King of India and later Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom also stayed here in 1892. It is well-known fact that Knut Hamsun, a famous Norwegian writer and Nobel Prize winner in literature, used to stay here during his time in Tbilisi, in 1899.

At first an administrator of Hotel London was French Delor and Later for a long time the Richters-a wife and a husband ran the hotel. After the death of her husband Katrina Richter, a bustling little German lady, ran the hotel alone.

In 1914 when WWI started Petre Zubalashvili gave the building to the government where a hospital was opened. When the war was over London wasn’t restored but In 1925 it got a new name a ‘Central House of the Peasant.’ In 1950 the house was liquidated and the building was once taken by the Militia Division. It was said that prisoners used to be tortured in the basement of the building. Even today the doors in the basement have numbers.

Since 1960 people have been living here.

Advertisement