The Prince of Wales began visiting Romania in the late 1990s. That factory has long since vanished from what is today the right-next-door village of Zalánpatak, population 94. In the 16th century, Bálint Kalnoky was the first documented owner of the Zalán Valley, and about 100 years later a series of houses was built for glassblowers at a nearby glass factory.
The story of how King Charles came to own a guesthouse in Romania starts with one of Mr. Every room comes with a bulb of garlic nailed above the inside of the door, a wink at the infamous neck biter’s most acute food allergy. “Always a cliché.”īest to leave the Dracula gags to the count because he has included a pretty good one in the guesthouse. As a count from Transylvania, he would like to cordially invite everyone to spare him the Dracula jokes. He speaks with an unplaceable pan-European accent and seems ready to be amused by nearly everything - with one exception. Kalnoky, who is tall, urbane and fluent in five languages, was raised in exile in Paris, where his family resided after Communists took over Romania. The guesthouse is far from the most luxurious, but it offers this singular distinction: For about $200 a night, meals included, commoners are graciously welcomed. He bestrides a real estate empire worth $25 billion, according to Forbes, a portfolio that includes 56 cottages, 12 homes and seven palaces. That is only the most famous of the king’s residences.
On Saturday, the English monarch will be crowned with all the bunting and pageantry that has made the British royal family peerless masters in the fine art of pomp, with festivities that begin with a processional from Buckingham Palace. It’s the royal treatment, King Charles-style. The only contemporary touches are electric kettles, radiators and bottled water.
It will open the door to one of seven rooms, all of which look as though they were furnished with a Romanian edition of House Beautiful, circa 1740. Check-ins are handled in the communal dining room and den where a woman, who is the cook, hands over an antique key. There isn’t a front desk or even a lobby at the Prince of Wales Guesthouse, a trio of rustic buildings beside a 350-year-old village in Zalán Valley in Transylvania.
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