The legendary Neringa has been reborn: here history dresses in new clothes

Rūta Tamulienė, president of the board of directors of the company Neringa Hotel and Neringos restoranas, which manages the four-star hotel, says that at the moment the hotel will only offer accommodation with breakfast in the rooms.

“Other operators in the building will not operate yet.” Neringa Restaurant, “Neringa Lobby Bar”, “Neringa Basement Bar” are equipped, but are waiting for the Government to allow catering services, “he said.

According to R. Tamulienė, the pandemic made it very difficult for guests to return, but in April the hotel expects to reach at least 20%. employment and focuses primarily on local customers.

“For now, we will focus on the local market, business people who go to work or people from Vilnius who just want to cheer up and come to the hotel for the night and have breakfast, for example, on a weekend,” said the interlocutor.

According to the chairman of the board of Neringa Hotel, there certainly won’t be many foreign guests, but there are already some.

Currently, staying in a standard single room with breakfast would cost 50 euros, in a standard double room with breakfast 60 euros, in the most expensive room, apartments, 160 euros for two with breakfast.

The panorama of Vilnius opens

The reconstruction of Neringa began in 2017 and completed in January of this year.

During this time, the old historic hotel and restaurant has been rebuilt, two more hotel buildings have been built, and an underground parking garage has been installed. After reconstruction, the area of ​​the building increased by more than a third, from 4 thousand. up to about 7 thousand. kv. meters, the number of rooms increased from 60 to 124. There were also three conference rooms and an increase in the number of bars. An exclusive Neringa Rooftop bar is installed on the roof of the building, offering a panoramic view of Vilnius.

“These bars are very popular in European cities, but they have not found their place in Lithuania yet. The upper bar offers a unique panorama of the capital from almost 360 degrees; on one side you can see the old town and the Gediminas tower, on the other side, the television tower and, on the other side, the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater. and the skyscrapers of Konstitucijos Avenue on the other side of the river. Here, the whole of Vilnius is like a palm tree, the atmosphere It is incredible, the feeling of being in a bubble that looms over the hustle and bustle of the city ”, said the President of the Board of Directors of the Hotel Neringa.

It was one of the most fashionable places.

The interior of the Neringa restaurant is included in the list of architectural monuments protected by the state. It was designed by architect brothers Algimantas and Vytautas Nasvyčiai. Neringa was a meeting place for intellectuals and bohemians of the Soviet era, where the most famous people of the time gathered: the poet Justinas Marcinkevičius, the director Vytautas Žalakevičius, the painter Stasys Krasauskas, the linguist Bronys Savukynas, the writer Juozas Baltušis.

Because of its interior and the exclusive public that gathered there, Neringa was considered one of the best and most fashionable restaurants in the then Soviet Union. Neringa, famous for its bohemian atmosphere, good food and live music, was not only surpassed by Lithuanian artists, but also by celebrities from other countries. And its current rulers assure that they have tried to preserve that aura that has surrounded the place for many decades.

The old interior has been revived

According to R. Tamulienė, the interior of the hotel, the materials, the furniture, the colors: everything is newly created, taking into account the history, the Lithuania and the inspiration of the legendary restaurant, whose motifs abound throughout the interior of the hotel. There were no significant changes in the restaurant part.

“We have invested infinite time and effort to restore the restaurant to the way it was envisioned and designed by architect brothers A. and V. Nasvyčiai. We spent a lot of time browsing the archives, the National Museum of Lithuania, looking for people who have accumulated historical photos of the restaurant. We found many photos of the first implemented project, visualizations of old interiors, all this helped a lot in the restoration of the restaurant “, said the interlocutor.

During the reconstruction of the Neringa complex, the inner courtyard was abandoned and in its place a small underground parking lot and an annex appeared.

According to R. Tamulienė, during the reconstruction, during the excavations remains of old furnaces dating from the 16th century were found. They have been saved:

“Surprises awaited us at almost every step, but we saw each challenge as one more opportunity. Most of the details of the restaurant have been restored and preserved. In addition, we restored patterns of tapestries, furniture and other interior items that had disappeared and eventually forgotten. The main objective was to preserve and, if possible, restore the original interior of the old 1959 restaurant. “

There is no shortage of coastal motifs

Laimutis Locheris’ wooden bas-relief “Voices of the Dunes” meets the hotel lobby. During the reconstruction, the tapestry “Leakage of water and sand” by Juozas Balčikonis was discovered. Previously it was thought that he had not survived. From now on, it will be hanging in Neringa’s Lobby Bar.

Both works have been restored.

Neringa also preserves the bas-relief Neringa created by the sculptor Juozas Kėdainis, which represents the recreation on the seashore, and the frescoes Neringa and Naglis painted with motifs based on the legends of Neringa and Naglis, created by the artists Vladas Jankauskas and Vytautas Povilaitis.

According to R. Tamulienė, the idea that unites the interior of the entire hotel is the restaurant Neringa and Neringa, a Lithuanian resort. Even the conference rooms are named after the seaside theme: “Marios”, “Jūra” and “Kopos”.

The main hotel is decorated with works by the artist Aušra Kleizaitė.

It is true that the restaurant furniture had to be rebuilt according to the archival material, because the original design of the Nasvytis brothers has not survived. The iron doors of the restaurant were also reproduced.

“Many companies have helped us implement this project. Most of the work was for our architects at Renova, our contractors at Merko statyba, our managers at Contestus, and our interior designers at Yes.design.architecture. These companies have been our core team, providing a plus on a day-to-day basis to this project for almost four years. We are extremely grateful to them for their time, professional work and effort ”, said the interlocutor.

More than 14 million LTL has been invested in the Neringa hotel and restaurant reconstruction project. of which about 2 million. euro – internal investment. The building is managed intelligently, the latest energy saving solutions have been installed.

From jazz to Kiev chops

According to R. Tamulienė, historically “Neringa” has always been a place for bohemians, dissidents, people who respect freedom of expression and thought.

“During the Soviet era, Neringa used to play jazz music that was not very tolerated by the occupying power, which probably started with the trio of Vyacheslav Ganelin, Vladimir Chekasin and Vladimir Tarasov, and became an integral part of the restaurant, thus that jazz will definitely be here, “said the director of the Neringa ensemble.

The interviewee confirmed that it will be possible to buy dishes that have become traditional in the restaurant. And first of all, of course, the famous Kiev cutlets. The menu also included befstrogen, broth with cakes, Neringa dessert and salad: “Honorata Lyndo, the long-time chef of the Neringa restaurant, has returned to us and we were eager to do so and therefore very happy to lead the kitchen again.

We are also happy that more seniors are returning to our team. Among them are Agnė Lenickienė, director of the Neringa restaurant, and Edita Liutkevičiūtė, director of the Neringa Hotel. Both have worked in Neringa for more than 10 years. When the opportunity to work at full capacity arises, we plan to create more than 90 jobs through both companies. “