The hotel was originally built as the Forum Hotel. Its construction was made possible by a favorable credit contract after an Austrian-Hungarian government agreement. Construction began in July 1979 based on the plans of the architect József Finta and the interior designer László Király.
The Forum Hotel opened on 28 November 1981, owned by a state-owned company, called HungarHotels. After the nearby Duna Inter-Continental it was the second hotel operated on a franchise agreement. The success was proved by the fact that the credit with interest given for 15 years was returned in the 7th year of operation.
In 1994 as the second phase of privatization the Forum Hotel went over into ÁPV RT’s ownership (as a state property) in order to prepare its sale. The tender took place in three phases. The first turn was invalid, at the second one Daewoo won, but after the announcement it was invalidated considering formal defects, and the third one InterContinental won. As of 1 November 1996 InterContinental owned the hotel with 95% after half a year the company bought the remaining 5% of employee shares. The contract contained the obligatory renovation condition and the restriction of no redundancies within a year. The name change from Forum to InterContinental took place on 6 May 1997. Thanks to the renovation between 1998 and 2000 the hotel became a 5-star property.[citation needed]
Previous hotels in the area
In the early 1900s the Danube-riverside was adorned by a row of hotels: The Carlton, Bristol, Grand Hotel Hungaria and Dunapalota-Ritz.
After World War II this row of hotels was almost totally destroyed. Its rebirth started at the end of the '60s with the construction of the Duna Inter-Continental in 1968, today known as the Budapest Marriott Hotel.
