Hotel’s long history began over 100 years ago. The building was formed in 1903 on the basis of the tenement houses located at the junction of Dworcowa and Dyrekcyjna Streets. Guests were delighted by its luxury, modern furnishings and architectural taste, and the place quickly became one of the most popular hotels in Silesia. Monopol Hotel gained prestige and high esteem, soon proven by the presence of eminent and wealthy guests visiting Katowice. In the early 1920s the Monopol welcomed the young capitain Charles de Gaulle. True splendour was brought to the Hotel with the wedding of the world famous tenor singer Jan Kiepura with the Hungarian-born soprano singer Marta Eggerth in October 1936. Other notable visitors though the years included Karol Szymanowski (one of the superior rooms is named after this great Polish composer), the piano virtuoso Arthur Rubinstein and the writer Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, among many others. After World War II, the hotel gradually lost its glamour, and was finally closed over twenty years ago, toward the end of 1980s. The new and beautiful Monopol Hotel in Katowice welcomed its guests again in September 2003. Today, almost 120 years after its creation and almost 20 years after its re-opening, it still delights with luxury and style.
