The Former Grand Hotel (Fostul Grand Hotel) is a historic early 20th-century building in central Galați, originally constructed as one of the city’s prominent hotels during a period of rapid commercial growth. After its hotel years, the building passed through several political and administrative uses, including service as the Galați City Hall.
Wealthy property owner Elie Climis commissioned the hotel, receiving permission for its construction in March 1911. Architect G. Loiso designed a substantial building with a ground floor and two upper levels, while an additional structure for the machinery supplying the building with electric lighting was approved the following year. The ground floor combined the hotel with commercial premises, while guest rooms were arranged along corridors on the upper floors.
During the interwar period, the Grand Hotel became a fashionable meeting place in central Galați, with a restaurant and various businesses operating at street level. Over time these premises included shops, a confectionery and pastry shop, newspaper offices and an automobile dealership, reflecting the commercial character of Strada Domnească during the period.
The façade combines Neoclassical and Baroque decoration around a strongly symmetrical composition. Two projecting bay windows flank the main entrance and rise through the upper floors, framed by vertical bands of geometric and floral ornament and crowned by semicircular pediments. Balconies, molded window surrounds and decorative plasterwork add further detail to the street frontage.
Nationalized after World War II, the former hotel was used by the communist authorities and became a headquarters of the Galați Securitate in 1950. By 1968 it housed the Municipal Popular Council, and after 1990 the building became Galați City Hall. The municipality stayed here until moving to its new headquarters in 2017, after the property had been returned to private ownership.
