Hotel Review: Prezident Palace Belgrade

Prezident Palace Belgrade’s stunning lobby.

The Prezident Palace is Belgrade’s newest and most opulent hotel. While many hotels these days are opting for a minimalist, contemporary interior design concept, the Prezident Palace has not been afraid to stand out with its luxurious, French Baroque-style architecture.

In an extremely central location just minutes away from the famous Knez Mihailova Street, National Museum, Skadarlija and the National Theatre, we had to check out this hotel for ourselves. How did it measure up? Read on and find out.

My room at Prezident Palace Belgrade

Marie Antoinette restaurant, found within the hotel

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Getting to Prezident Palace Belgrade

Asher hanging out at the Prezident Palace Belgrade’s lobby

The easiest way to get to Prezident Palace Belgrade will depend on where you’re coming from.

If you’re arriving at Belgrade Central Bus Station like we did, your best bet would be to take a Yandex Go taxi. Yandex Go is a Russian-based rideshare app that works similarly to other rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft, although the main difference in Belgrade is that you won’t pay exactly the fare that comes up initially when you input your destination. This is just a fare estimate, but because Yandex Go works more like a taxi-calling service than an actual rideshare, you might end up paying more or less than the estimated fare, depending on your route and traffic conditions.

There’s an app called Car:Go that supposedly is highly recommended by locals, but it appears you need a local number in one of the participating countries. Since we arrived early in the morning and all stores were closed, we couldn’t use this option to opted with Yandex instead, and it worked relatively well. If you can access a local number before you arrive in Serbia, this might be an even better option for you than the Yandex Go app. In any case – by car, the journey from the bus station to Prezident Palace takes about 12 minutes.

It's possible to take the local bus, but it takes about 30 minutes. Even walking takes just over 30 minutes, so we would recommend going with a Yandex Go taxi. We would advise against hailing taking a taxi from the street or getting into one of the cars already waiting at the station, because Belgrade taxi drivers don’t have the best reputation – they are sometimes known to scam unsuspecting tourists.

It’s a similar story if you’re arriving from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. While you can take the bus, your journey will likely last over an hour and involve at least one bus transfer. The most convenient option is to also take a Yandex Go taxi or Car:Go rideshare, and this will take just over 20 minutes.

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My room at Prezident Palace Belgrade

Chilling out at this opulent room!

I can quite honestly say that I’ve never stayed in a hotel room like my room at the Prezident Palace Belgrade. Like I mentioned before, I’m so used to staying in minimalistic, contemporary-styled hotels that this one was styled in a totally unexpected way.

Having said this, I was surprised in a very, very good way. I grew up with a mother who loved this kind of French interior design and would always buy decorations for our family home in this style, so it brought back a lot of good memories. My room was super spacious, opulent, luxurious and everything you would expect a 5-star hotel room to look like.

My room also happened to have a view overlooking Belgrade city.

Love the darker colour scheme of the rooms here, as well as the unique furniture choices.

In particular, I loved the use of the rich wood tones and ornate furniture choices (e.g. the antique-style telephone). A unique choice that I definitely appreciated.

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Food and Beverage at the Prezident Palace Belgrade

Delicious breakfast at Prezident Palace Belgrade.

I think the dining experience at Prezident Palace Belgrade was my favourite aspect of my stay! Prepare to be wow-ed when the elevators open to the dining hall upon your first breakfast. Firstly, let’s talk about the venue – an opulent ballroom-style dining room featuring velvet blue seats, a painted ceiling and a view overlooking Belgrade – what more could you want for breakfast?

Another look at this absolutely stunning dining hall.

Breakfast buffet spread at Prezident Palace Belgrade.

Then, let’s get into the food itself. If you’re a fan of cold and cured meats, Prezident Palace has got you covered. Hot treats such as arancini balls and sausages? Check. Deserts such as cakes, chia seed pudding and donuts? Check. The breakfast at Prezident Palace was extremely impressive and memorable.

Beyond breakfast, the Marie Antoinette (the name of the hotel’s restaurant), stays open from 12:00pm to 12:00am and serves local Serbian cuisine as well as classics such as steak, pork ribs lamb cutlet and black angus burgers.

Desert selection during breakfast.

Loving the food… and the view!

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Facilities, Hotel Grounds & Other Activities

Immaculately designed hotel lobby of Prezident Palace Belgrade.

I had so much fun having a mini-photoshoot at the Prezident Palace’s lobby. The hotel’s lobby resembles the interior of a royal palace more than it does a hotel – golden chairs, impressive artwork, beautiful chandeliers and more. You could easily spend a few hours just chilling out here, taking in the lavish interior design choices.

Asher enjoying his photoshoot at the lobby!

Beautiful artwork at Prezident Palace Belgrade.

The lobby even features a grand piano.

One of the hotel’s main drawcards is its stunning rooftop pool, overlooking Belgrade city. Although the pool was closed during my stay because of the winter season, I was still able to enjoy the sweeping views from above and imagine how enjoyable it would be to take a dip in the right weather.

Rooftop pool at the hotel.

Enjoying the fitness centre at Prezident Palace Belgrade.

I also got to enjoy Prezident Palace’s well-equipped fitness centre for some pretty comprehensive workouts. The gym is in the same area as the hotel’s spa and wellness area.

The spa and wellness area features a swimming pool, Finnish sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and more. This whole area is truly stunning and I could go on and on about it, but it’s best for you to experience it for yourself!

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Staff

How were the staff at the Prezident Palace Belgrade?

I arrived at about 4am and was greeted by friendly staff at the reception who promptly came to my help. Within minutes, the room was ready and I was off to bed!

All staff members I encountered were extremely helpful, polite and friendly. Serbians have a reputation of being this way and the staff at the Prezident Palace certainly upheld this.

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Final Verdict – Should I stay at the Prezident Palace Belgrade?

So would I recommend staying here?

This was my first time in the Balkans and I honestly didn’t know what to expect from a 5-Star hotel in Serbia. What I can say for sure is that the Prezident Palace Belgrade is truly a must-stay hotel. Among others, here are my top reasons to stay here:

• Super convenient location. Walkable to all attractions such as Republic Square, Skadarlija, Belgrade Fortress and Knez Mihaila.

• Unique, lavish interior design that you will rarely find in any other hotel.

• Fabulous dining experience featuring all types of cuisines, all in the comfort of a superb dining hall with a view.

• Well-equipped fitness centre and relaxing wellness area. Rooftop pool is a massive bonus as well.

Ralph at Skadarlija

You can take a closer look at the Prezident Palace Belgrade by clicking here.

For more information about the hotel, check out their Official Website.

Are you visiting Belgrade and looking for a place to stay? Let me know in the comments below!

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