Zagreb’s main railway station and the Esplanade face each other across a short walk through the gardens, and the geography is no coincidence. The hotel was built for the train. When it opened on 22 April 1925, its purpose was to give passengers of the Orient Express, the legendary service between Paris and Istanbul, a suitably grand place to break their journey in the Croatian capital.
The Orient Express last passed through Zagreb in 1977. The Esplanade carried on. Now more than a century old, it remains what it has been since the 1920s: the place where Zagreb goes to celebrate, to negotiate and to be seen.
A Building Made for Arrival
The architecture still speaks of the golden age of rail travel. Marble staircases rise from a lobby of polished wood and brass; wide, curving corridors lead to rooms that have been renovated several times without losing their sense of proportion. The centrepiece is the Emerald Ballroom, a circular room beneath a great glass dome that has hosted the city’s grandest balls for generations.
The hotel’s history mirrors the country’s. In 1964, it became the first hotel in a socialist country to join the InterContinental group; in 1988, it joined The Leading Hotels of the World. It has weathered war, political upheaval, earthquakes and a pandemic while remaining recognisably itself. In 2025, its centenary year, it received a Michelin Key.
The Rooms the City Uses
Like every great hotel, the Esplanade is known as much for its public spaces as for its bedrooms. The Esplanade 1925 bar and lounge is where much of the city takes its morning coffee and evening cocktail. Zinfandel’s, the main restaurant, serves international and Croatian cooking and is recommended by the Michelin Guide, while the terrace overlooking the square fills on the first warm afternoons of spring.
“Meet me at the Esplanade” remains one of the most natural sentences in Zagreb. Few hotels manage to be both a landmark for visitors and part of the daily routine of their own city.
The Next Chapter
The Esplanade is now in the middle of the most significant investment in its recent history. A comprehensive renovation running through 2026 and 2027 covers all of its rooms, the conference spaces, Le Bistro and the reconstruction of the celebrated Oleander Terrace. The hotel remains open throughout, with the work carried out in phases, and once complete it is set to join the luxury Almanac Hotels brand. The approach is designed to modernise the hotel while preserving its Art Deco character.
Zagreb in Winter
The Esplanade is at its most atmospheric as the year closes. From late November, Advent in Zagreb transforms the centre: Zrinjevac Park, a short walk from the hotel, fills with lights, music and wooden stalls, while the Upper Town glows above. Zagreb’s Advent has been named Europe’s best Christmas market multiple times, helping make the Croatian capital one of the continent’s most rewarding December city breaks, a genre we explored in our guide to the Christmas market hotel.
For Robb Chateau, whose Adria editorial home is Zagreb, the Esplanade holds a particular place. Croatia’s hospitality story is usually told from the coast, from Split and Dubrovnik to islands such as Dugi Otok, home to Villa Nai 3.3. The Esplanade is a reminder that the country’s grand hotel tradition also has deep roots inland, beside a railway line, a century ago.
What Endures
A century of change has left the Esplanade’s essential character remarkably intact. There is still a sense of occasion on arrival, a service culture that treats returning guests as part of the house, the tradition embodied by the crossed golden keys, and a building that carries the glamour of the age that created it.
The Orient Express no longer stops in Zagreb. The hotel it brought into being is still waiting just across the gardens from the platform.
Plan a stay at the official Esplanade Zagreb Hotel website.
Featured photo: © Esplanade Hotel
