The building was built between 1879 and 1882, with Alexandru Orăscu as architect, the same one who had previously designed important buildings in Bucharest, such as the University and the "Bulevard" hotel, located at the intersection with Calea Victoriei. The building is located on Remus Opreanu Street, at number 13, on the seafront of the city of Constanța.
On June 1, 1882, the building on the seafront, considered one of the most modern of the time, was inaugurated. Alexandru Orăscu thus designed the first marine construction in modern Romania. The building had three floors and an attic, the main entrance was oriented to the West, with its back to the sea, and the facade elegantly reproduced the style of the University of Bucharest.
The architecture was in a sober neoclassical style, avoiding the heavy ornaments that were fashionable at that time. The building had 90 rooms, each with its own bathroom and, starting in 1905, with electric light, a luxury unmatched in the Balkans or in Romania at that time. The rooms offered views of the sea, the street that ran parallel to the beach, the Genoese Lighthouse and the residence of Prince Sturdza.
The British administrators of the hotel came up with an innovative idea to promote tourism: the full board system (all inclusive), with each room costing 20 lei per day. Although this amount was considerable compared to the incomes in Romania, the services offered justified the price: the comfort of the rooms, a restaurant with excellent service, an elegant English-style garden, where visitors could relax in the sun or in the shade, as well as a large pavilion facing the sea, where dancing evenings were organized under the light of gas lanterns.
For over thirty years, the "Carol" hotel was the undisputed leader in Romanian tourism, and Constanța became a top destination. Distinguished guests included members of the royal family, heads of government, ministers, parliamentarians, diplomats, businessmen, aristocrats, intellectuals, socialites from Bucharest and throughout Europe, as well as Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family.
Starting in 1924, the building was transformed into a space exclusively for officers of the Romanian Navy, becoming a military club and a place for accommodation and socializing. During 1924–1927, a floor was added, and during World War II, the building was not seriously affected, as it also housed officers of the German army, allies of the Romanians.
After August 23, 1944, the "Carol" hotel came under Soviet control, as did the entire city of Constanta. By 1956, the rooms were converted into dormitories for Red Army soldiers, and the former reception hall on the ground floor became the place where, night after night, the directives of the Soviet Communist Party and its leaders were read, in an improvised ideological school.
In the early years of the communist regime, tourism in Constanța was practically abolished. The buildings that had once been intended for tourists coming to the seaside for relaxation and entertainment were taken over by the state and transformed into the headquarters of companies or offices of the Communist Party.
Sursa: heritageconstanta.com
