The Grand Reconstruction of the Historic Pacai Palace Has Been Completed: a Luxury Hotel Will Open Here
The two-year-long restoration of the historic Pacai Palace and the construction of a five-star hotel in the Old Town Vilnius on Didžioji Street has been completed. The project was implemented by the general contractor Conresta and the developer UAB “Blendas” from NT group of companies. The investment in the hotel amounted to about 20 million euro.
The hotel with a total of 104 rooms, of which 10 are suites, is part of the international Design Hotels network. There will also be the 14 Horses Brasserie, Sofija Bar, Pacai SPA, a sports area, and four meeting rooms here.
The hotel is distinguished by its unique architectural concept combining historic authenticity with modern luxury. The Pacai Palace was included in the list of cultural heritage, therefore even 298 square metres of unique 16th-20th century wall paintings were preserved during the restoration of the palace, some pavement of old Vilnius, masonry walls were retained, the palace facade was preserved.
“The professionally restored wall decor testifies of the Pacai Palace luxury. It can be considered one of the richest palaces in Vilnius with the preserved authentic decorative interior painting,” says Audronė Kaušinienė, the head of the restauration project.
According to Lukas Laukaitis, the director of the construction company Conresta, this project was the most complicated in the history of the company. “No other hotel in Lithuania has such an area of preserved wall painting, we carried out both reconstruction and new construction work here at the same time; archaeologists and restorers worked in the palace continually. To make the idea of the hotel come true, we had brought together the largest project team we ever had. Despite all the challenges, we are satisfied with the result and there is no doubt that such an impressive hotel will attract a lot of aesthetics and history lovers to Vilnius,” he rejoiced.
The hotel attracted a lot of interest even before the completion of its construction. People were wondering, if they would have the opportunity to take a look at the architecture and interior of the building reminding of history. “The restaurant and bar terraces will be opened in the courtyard, where all residents of the city and hotel guests will be invited to spend their time. Many historical frescoes are uncovered in public spaces and rooms: you can see here the Athena sculpture from the 19th century found by polychrome research, historic columns and vaults, so the hotel guests will surely see the results of the restorers’ work,” says Kęstutis Kazlauskas, the director of the Hotel Pacai.