The "Unique Castle Award of Year 2018" goes to Strmol Mansion

The Strmol Mansion, a 13thcentury castle, located in the village of Cerklje na Gorenjskem, just a short drive from Ljubljana International Airport, received the prestigious award “Unique Castle of the Year 2018. The hotel, which was revamped into a luxury hotel in 2012, impressed international expert committee with the level of service, design and inclusion of local contents.

The hotel is considered a cultural monument of national importance and managed by JGZ Brdo, a state-owned company, which runs also other high-level protocol venues in Slovenia, is one of the oldest and best preserved castles in Slovenia and reportedly also one of the two Slovenian castles with original equipment. The hotel is also a member of the Schlosshotels & Herrenhauser (European Castles & Historic Hotels), a network connecting best romantic castle hotels, historic country homes, manor houses, estates, inns and restaurants in Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic. 

A visit to Strmol Mansion is a journey back in time. Here, you can experience, how the life of a castle lord looked like. The mansion’s last owners were Rado and Ksenija Hribar, wealthy industrialists, who hosted several parties for the Slovenian elite. The Hribars owned the successful Šumi candy producing company and weaver Pletenina, which were among the most successful companies in the the former Yugoslavia. Rado Hribar was also a banker and arts collector and his somewhat eccentric wife had an unusual pet: a crocodile, which she used to walk around Tivoli park in Ljubljana. But their story has a tragic end: they were executed by the then security intelligence forces in January 1944.

Their story inspired the award-winning novel "To noč sem jo videl" (I Saw Her That Night) by acclaimed Slovenian author Drago Jančar.

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