Farewell to a landmark

It has long been a landmark for tourists and locals alike - but at the end of March, Zakopane's Hotel Giewont will close its doors for good. The owners, Orbis, told the newspaper Gazeta Krakowska that the decision to end the buildings run as a hotel had been taken, and would not be reversed. A spokeswoman for the company said that the cost of upgrading the building to meet top-end, modern standards of hospitality could not be economically justified. However, the building will for the time being remain the property of Orbis. There is an ongoing legal dispute about who owns the freehold rights to the land on which the hotel stands. The company is said to be in talks about the sale of the hotel itself, but no further details were available.