Montenegro’s Budvanska rivijera Hotel Group has started updating the design for Hotel Mogren to meet new construction rules and technological standards before applying for a building permit, the company said. The permit is required before the state-majority-owned group can begin the hotel’s comprehensive reconstruction in Budva.
The group’s board of directors has approved a project brief for preparing the main design for the reconstruction, extension and addition of floors. Budvanska rivijera is Montenegro’s largest hotel company. For several years, Mogren has generated only non-accommodation revenue through the operation of Gradska kafana, leaving the planned work tied to a hotel that is not earning room revenue.
Under the new Law on the Construction of Buildings, the project needs a formal building permit from the competent state authority. The main design and technical documentation must first comply with the law, its implementing regulations and current technological standards. The company plans to apply for the permit after the design is prepared, then select a contractor and begin the final phase of the investment.
The previous rules allowed construction to start after a notification was filed, provided complete technical documentation and evidence of paid fees were available. Budvanska rivijera did not file the notification before the new rules took effect because of the complexity of the administrative and preparatory procedures. As a result, the project must follow the permit process rather than the earlier notification procedure.
In an opinion issued in February 2026, the competent ministry identified the need to align the technical documentation with the new requirements. Budvanska rivijera said the documentation must meet the law and its implementing regulations before it submits a building-permit application.
Earlier design and delayed work
Hotel Mogren stands opposite the walls of Budva’s Old Town, on urban planning plot UP 1.7a, Block 1B, within the Budva-centre Detailed Urban Plan. Budvanska rivijera hired Budva-based ID Studio d.o.o. in 2019 to prepare the main design for its reconstruction. The designer certified that project on 24 February 2020; it was reviewed and confirmed on 5 March 2020.
All permits and approvals required at the time had been obtained when the design was confirmed. Earlier, in late September 2019, Ana Samardžić, then Budva’s chief architect, approved the state-owned company’s reconstruction and extension plans. Those approvals preceded the new requirement to align the documentation with the construction law before seeking a permit.
A 2019 conceptual design envisaged keeping Mogren’s recognisable appearance while adding one floor and bringing the hotel to a five-star standard. The planning document for the site permits three additional floors. The earlier reconstruction plan divided the work into two phases, beginning with room renovations and an indoor pool.
The planned second phase comprised a floor of apartments and an outdoor pool. Those elements formed part of the earlier plan for the hotel; the current step is the preparation of a main design under the project brief approved by the board. The design must be brought into line with the requirements that now apply before the group can seek permission to build.
Reconstruction had been announced for October 2024 but was postponed because the Austrian Consulate had not moved out of the hotel’s first floor. The consulate is located on that floor. The postponed start followed the earlier design work and approvals, leaving the group to address the current documentation and permit requirements before construction.
Hotel portfolio and borrowing
Budvanska rivijera also manages the Palas and Castellastva Petrovac hotels in Petrovac, the Slovenska Plaža Tourist Resort, the Aleksandar Hotel in Budva and the Palas Lux annex. Mogren is part of the same portfolio, although its revenue for several years has come only from Gradska kafana rather than accommodation.
In the previous year, the group reconstructed four blocks at the Slovenska Plaža Tourist Resort, taking on 14 million euros in borrowing for that work. That borrowing was for the resort reconstruction, while the Mogren project is at the design-alignment stage. No amount for the Mogren reconstruction is included in the company’s stated project steps.
For Mogren, the next steps are to complete the main design, submit the building-permit application and select a contractor. Construction remains dependent on the required permit from the competent state authority.
