Hotels

The 1984 Winter Games required a massive logistical expansion of Sarajevo's hospitality infrastructure, blending world-class modernist landmarks with thousands of private citizen homes. This network enabled the city to host the "Olympic Family" and international spectators simultaneously, establishing Sarajevo as a modern global destination while fueling a permanent westward urban expansion.

Fast Facts

Total Visitor Capacity: Approximately 20,000 beds were secured for tourists and spectators
Official Hotel Count: 9 new hotels were constructed and 5 existing hotels were reconstructed specifically for the Games
The "Olympic Family": The newly built Holiday Inn served as the primary headquarters for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its administrators
Athlete Housing: Participants were housed in two primary locations: Olympic Village A (Mojmilo) and Olympic Village B (Hotel Igman)
Media Capacity: The dedicated Press Village at Dobrinja provided 8,500 beds across 2,117 housing units
Citizen Hospitality: Residents offered more than 15,000 beds in private apartments and family houses to meet the influx of visitors
Management Agency: Logistical coordination for visitor stays was handled by the specialized agency ZOITOURS
Operational Staffing: To maintain international standards, the Holiday Inn alone employed 400 workers during the Olympic period

Planning the Olympic Stay: A Logistics Network of 20,000 Beds

The organization of the XIV Olympic Winter Games sparked a period of "thorough planning" regarding how to house thousands of international participants and spectators in a city that previously lacked sufficient capacity This challenge was met through an integrated urbanistic program that aligned temporary Olympic needs with Sarajevo's long-term city development goals

The specialized agency ZOITOURS was tasked with fulfilling diverse requests ranging from high-end luxury to budget-conscious stays. The finalized plan utilized a total of 19,400 beds for tourists, categorized across several types of accommodation: modern city hotels, mountain recreation centers, newly built boarding houses, company-owned rest-homes, and weekend cottages

A significant pillar of the planning effort was the "unreserved willingness" of Sarajevo’s citizens to personally contribute to the Games' success Residents voted to tax themselves an extra 1.2 percent to fund preparations and offered over 15,000 beds within their own homes This massive private-rental scheme was categorized by the Sarajevo Tourist Agency to ensure that housing was conveniently located to make the organization of traffic and shuttle transport significantly easier

The "Olympic Family" Hub: Holiday Inn as IOC Headquarters

To host the "Olympic Family"—a term encompassing International Olympic Committee (IOC) members, international sports federations, and high-level administrators—Sarajevo required a landmark facility that could meet rigorous international standards The result was the Holiday Inn Sarajevo, a bold modernist structure that became the city's benchmark for luxury and modernity

Designed by renowned Bosnian architect Ivan Štraus, the hotel was built between 1981 and 1983 in the Marijin Dvor neighborhood, positioned along the city’s main traffic artery Štraus took a significant "architectural risk" with the design: a ten-story cube paneled in surprising, bright yellow aluminum plates The structure's interior was equally striking, featuring a massive central atrium designed as an "indoor city." This space, modeled after the traditional Ottoman-era Morića Han, allowed guests to access restaurants, a casino, and shopping boutiques without ever leaving the building

The hotel officially opened on October 6, 1983, with IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch as its first guest Samaranch occupied the "Presidential Suite" on the fifth floor, room 530, later expressing his delight at the hotel as a prime example of Sarajevo's successful preparations Operationally, the facility was more than just a hotel; it functioned as a command center equipped with:

340 rooms and 16 suites (providing 714 to 760 beds)
Congress halls and information centers for official proceedings
Modern PTT (Post, Telegraph, and Telephone) connections, including international direct dialing—a rarity in Sarajevo at the time
Exclusivity: During the Games, the hotel was not open to the general public, reserved entirely for official Olympic delegations and their guests

Because protocol requirements for the Games were so extensive, organizers also built the Hotel ZGP to house additional guests of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) that the Holiday Inn could not accommodate

Alpine Environments: The Bjelašnica and Jahorina Mountain Hotels

High-altitude accommodation was strategically developed to place athletes and technical officials directly at the point of competition. On Mount Jahorina, the focus was on high-capacity comfort near the ski runs, while Mount Bjelašnica and Mount Igman featured architecturally significant lodges designed to blend with the Dinaric Alpine landscape

On Jahorina, Hotel Vučko (1984) served as a primary hub for top-level comfort. Designed by Zlatko Ugljen, its architecture abandoned rigid hotel sequences in favor of a "primary sculpture" of wood and decorative details, notably featuring a roof lowered to just 220 cm above the ground Nearby, Hotel Bistrica and the Jahorina Hotel provided essential "cosy stays" in immediate proximity to the competition pistes

Bjelašnica and Igman featured several key operational sites:

Hotel Igman: Positioned at an altitude of 1,200 m near the Nordic discipline grounds, this 164-room facility functioned as "Olympic Village B" Designed by Ahmed Džuvić, it used slanting wooden facades and steep sloping roofs to capture the forest scenery, creating an "intimate and warm atmosphere" through the use of traditional Bosnian building materials
Hotel Smuk (Bjelašnica): Marketed for its authentic mountain atmosphere
Hotel Famos (Bjelašnica): Built to accommodate athletes, this facility shared the modernist angular facade and diagonal pine wood siding characteristic of the era's Olympic mountain architecture
Hotel Borik (Igman): A reconstructed facility that served as a supplemental site for the Igman Olympic Village

These mountain hotels were not merely seasonal lodges; they were envisioned as the foundation for a long-term tourist-sports program, intended to transform the Sarajevo region into a year-round Mediterranean alternative for winter sports

The Satellite Villages: Athlete and Media Housing at Mojmilo and Dobrinja

The massive scale of the 1984 Games required the construction of dedicated residential zones that moved beyond the hotel model. These "villages" were planned not just as temporary housing, but as permanent extensions of Sarajevo’s urban landscape, specifically targeting the western outskirts of the city

Olympic Village A (Mojmilo) served as the primary residence for athletes and officials. Completed in 1983, it consisted of several large blocks containing 639 apartments To provide a comprehensive living environment, the village was equipped with:

A dedicated medical center and cafeteria
Social and entertainment facilities, including a disco, a movie theater, a game room, and a weight room
Capacity for 2,400 residents, with sleeping arrangements typically involving three to four people per room

Adjacent to Mojmilo was the even larger Press Village at Dobrinja, designed specifically to house the massive influx of media personnel. This complex was vast, featuring 2,117 housing units across 92 buildings, providing a total of 8,500 beds While the architecture of these villages was often described as "bland yet functional," the interiors were comfortably furnished with a "mild dose of rustic and national folklore" to introduce the Olympic spirit to the guests.

For athletes competing in Nordic disciplines, cross-country skiing, and biathlon, the Olympic Village B (Hotel Igman) provided auxiliary high-altitude housing This secondary village allowed competitors to stay at an altitude of 1,200 meters, ensuring they were acclimated to the environment and located within four kilometers of the ski-jump sites

Olympic Operations: Security, Protocol, and the Guest Experience

During the Games, the operation of Sarajevo's hotels transformed into a high-stakes coordination of security and international protocol. The Holiday Inn, as the epicenter of the "Olympic Family," maintained a staff of approximately 400 workers to provide seamless service for elite guests Security was a primary concern; a specialized checkpoint similar to an airport terminal was established at the Holiday Inn entrance to screen all guests and official visitors

The guest list across the city’s top hotels read like a global "who's who" of the era, including:

Royalty: King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and King Olav V of Norway
Political Leaders: Premier Peter Lougheed of Alberta (host of the upcoming 1988 Calgary Games) and Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, Director-General of UNESCO
Celebrities: The American actor Kirk Douglas, a personal friend of Tito, who was famously reported to have spent "liberally" at the Holiday Inn casino

Operational standards were dictated by the need to provide "top-level accommodation and comfort" in a way that showcased Yugoslavia's technical achievements For the press, this meant more than just beds; it required a robust technical infrastructure. The Holiday Inn provided international direct-dialing telephones and dedicated meeting halls, while the Main Press Centre at Skenderija and the TV Centre worked in tandem with housing sites to ensure a constant flow of information. Even the mountain hotels, such as the Igman and Vučko, cooperated closely with their respective "villages" to optimize training and housing conditions for athletes and coaches

Beyond the Games: Post-Olympic Tourism and the Shift to "War Hotels"

In the years following the 1984 Winter Games, Sarajevo’s Olympic hotels remained at the center of the city’s social and cultural life. By the late 1980s, the Holiday Inn had become a prestigious location where the "suits of Socialism" rubbed shoulders with Western pop culture, hosting celebrities like Elton John and Rory Gallagher. However, the onset of the Bosnian War in 1992 forced a "destructive metamorphosis" upon this hospitality network, transforming symbols of brotherhood and unity into military strongholds and shelters for survival.

The Holiday Inn: From "Olympic" to "War Hotel"

The most drastic transformation occurred at the Holiday Inn Sarajevo. In early 1992, the hotel was used as the headquarters for Radovan Karadžić’s Serbian Democratic Party (SDS). On April 6, 1992, shots were fired from the hotel into a crowd of peace demonstrators, leading to the structure being stormed and briefly ransacked. By June 1992, it reopened as the city’s primary "war hotel," serving as the headquarters for the international media descending on the city.
Positioned directly on the frontline of Sniper’s Alley, the hotel was subject to constant shell and sniper fire, with its south side eventually rendered uninhabitable. Despite losing 75% of its windows and losing regular water and electricity, it remained the only large hotel in Sarajevo to function throughout the siege. Its survival was attributed to several factors:

The Media Presence: The residency of major agencies like BBC, CNN, and Reuters turned the hotel into a "protected space" where the risk of international condemnation deterred a total assault.
Wartime Operations: Management secured food, water, and fuel for generators through the black market war economy.
Multi-Ethnic Resilience: A reduced, multi-ethnic staff worked without pay, risking sniper fire to provide "grace under fire" services, including dinners by candlelight when electricity failed.

The Mountain Ruins: Igman and Jahorina

While the city-center Holiday Inn survived through its media status, the mountain hotels faced total devastation. Hotel Igman, once a Brutalist masterpiece for athletes, was transformed into a facility for survival before being "brutally torn apart" and burned in 1993; it remains a silent monument to wartime destruction. Similarly, Hotel Jahorina was used to house refugees before being destroyed by an accidental fire in September 1995. Hotel Borik, which served as a command center for military operations on Mount Igman, was also burned and destroyed during the conflict.

Visiting Today: Reconstruction and the Living Olympic Legacy

Today, Sarajevo’s Olympic hospitality landscape is a study in contrasts, where fully restored landmarks stand alongside haunting reminders of the conflict. The city has successfully reclaimed its identity as a premier winter destination, with its 1984 heritage serving as a major draw for both luxury travelers and history enthusiasts.

The Rebirth of an Icon: Hotel Holiday

The former Holiday Inn, now operating as Hotel Holiday under the Hotel Europe Group, has been thoroughly rehabilitated. Its iconic yellow facade was restored in 2017, deliberately maintaining Ivan Štraus’s original postmodern design as a tribute to the city’s Olympic roots. The interior remains a "city within a hotel," blending 1980s retro aesthetics—such as the expansive lobby chatter and nostalgic travel agency corridors—with modern amenities like a 1,000 m² wellness center and high-tech conference halls.

The Olympic Mountains in 2026

The high-altitude venues have seen significant, albeit divergent, transformations:

Mount Jahorina: The mountain has re-emerged as a high-end luxury resort. A new €56 million "Hotel Jahorina Mountain Resort & Spa" has been developed on the site of the former ruins, aiming to provide five-star personalized service that honors the area’s historical nature.
Mount Bjelašnica: This center has focused on restoring its status as a competitive Olympic venue, featuring modernized vertical transport, snowmaking systems, and a range of renovated hotels.
Mount Igman: Unlike its counterparts, Hotel Igman remains a crumbling Brutalist relic. Though it has never been put back into operation, it has become a destination for urban explorers and hikers who trek through its empty, bullet-scarred halls to feel the "former size and importance" of the Olympic site.

For the modern visitor, staying in these venues offers more than accommodation; it is an "emotional journey" through Sarajevo's survival and rebirth, where the scars of the past are integrated into a vibrant, living history.