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The beautiful Neoclassical building of the Radisson Blu Royal Astorija in the Old Town of Vilnius is currently undergoing a full renovation with the purpose of relaunching the hotel as the second Radisson Collection hotel in the Baltic countries.

The Lithuanian capital is marking a historic milestone in 2023 – 700 years of history. Managers from Via Hansa & Borealis in the Baltic countries and Poland were visiting Vilnius last week to prepare for the celebrations and were very positively surprised by the developments in the city over the last two-three years: new residential areas, office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, etc.

Between the two world wars, when the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, was annexed by Poland, Kaunas became the capital of Lithuania. This resulted in both a political and urban bombshell for the otherwise medium-sized reality. New public buildings were needed, a new population arrived with needs for modern architecture. Between 1919 and 1939, over 12.000 buildings in modernist style were built in Kaunas, and over 6.000 of them still exist today.

While Kaunas, the 2nd largest city in Lithuania, is European Capital of Culture 2022, Vilnius starts preparing for its 700th anniversary in 2023. The world learned about Vilnius for the first time in 1323 from the letters written by Gediminas, the Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

As of January 22nd 2022, the Lithuania city of Kaunas along with two other cities – Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg and Novi Sad in Serbia – is holding the title of European Capital of Culture for one year, 12 years after the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, was European Capital of Culture in 2012. Kaunas, which is dating back to the 10th century, is the country’s second largest city with almost 600.000 inhabitants. It was the temporary capital of Lithuania during the two world wars and has changed dramatically into a modern and smart city over the last three decades.

The legendary Hotel Radisson Blu Klaipeda is changing its branding and will from October 1st become Hotel Mercure Klaipeda. The facilities and the amenities at the hotel will remain the same as before, as well as the price policy will remain the same, only the branding will change, and there will be some smaller adjustments to the standards of Accor.

Via Hansa & Borealis has for many year had a solid co-operation with the main hotels in Nida, the main resort on the Lithuanian side of the Curonian Spit, a 100 km long land spit connecting Klaipeda with the Kaliningrad Region. However, the main hotel in the resort, the Nidos Banga hotel, changed its operator this spring and half of the hotel has been closed.

The Hotel Radisson Blu Klaipeda has completed a full renovation of the hotel’s guest rooms. The interior based on the classic maritime theme prevailing until now has been replaced by a sophisticated contemporary Nordic style. The 74-room hotel remains the leading hotel in Lithuania’s port city.

Together with the cities of Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg and Novi Sad in Serbia, Kaunas in Lithuania has been designated as Cultural Capital of Europe for 2022. Kaunas is planning to use the celebrations to highlight Kaunas as a city, which is taking advantage of its history, dating back to the 10th century, to form a new modern legend about the city.

Vilnius will welcome another great addition to the city’s hotel scene when the new Hilton Garden Inn hotel will open in July. The hotel is located in the city center neighboring Lithuanian parliament building, many museums and the newly reconstructed Lukiskiu square and just in 15 minutes walking distance from the Vilnius Old Town.