The history of this hostel starts at the end of the 18-th century and is connected with the process of inhabiting the oldest settlement in the
High Tatras - the
Old Smokovec.
It is a favourite place for many visitors. When the number of longer hikes to the
Grand and
Small Cold Valley and to surrounding pinnacles rose up, the
Rainerova mountain-cottage was built on the Starolesnianska Poľana in 1865 and the Ruženina mountain-cottage was built close to
Hrebienok ten years later. Next to this chalet, right on the path to the
Cold Creek Waterfalls, the cold-creek spas was founded as well as the hotel Spiš (1884), the hotel Kolbach and the Spas house (1894) were open to public by the Spišská Sobota Forest Company. The spas became more demanded after the
mountain railway to
Hrebienok was finished in 1908. Unfortunately, further expansion of the spas was stopped by fire in 1927.
A year after (1928) the Legiobank in Prague, which owned the above-mentioned
mountain railway, decided to build a restaurant and a hotel next to the upper end of the railway at
Hrebienok. After the bankrupt of Legiobank the hotel was transformed into a sanatorium house called Hrebienok, too. Because of the old age of the building it was necessary to repair it in 1988. Current design of the building only barely reminds the old one.
