An architectural competition was held for the hotel, from which Svetlana Kana Radević emerged as the winner. Located directly on the banks of the Morača river, the architect combined the modernist tendencies of Yugoslav architecture with Montenegrin building traditions in her design. The façade is predominantly made of exposed aggregate concrete, which is characterized in large parts by the use of particularly big pebbles.

The Podgorica Hotel was awarded the Federal Borba Prize for Architecture, the most prestigious architectural recognition in Yugoslavia. Svetlana Kana Radević was the first Montenegrin architect and the first woman to receive this prestigious award, as well as the youngest winner (she was 29 years old at the time). The building was also presented at the Venice Biennale in 2004 and featured in the highly acclaimed MoMA exhibition on Yugoslav architecture in 2018. 

Despite this international attention and appreciation, previous applications for the building to be listed as a historical monument have been rejected. This is particularly unfortunate as it means the building is in threat of improper construction work. 

The building fell into disrepair around 2000. A new owner carried out renovation work in 2005, which changed the interior in particular. Towards the end of 2015, construction work began right next to the hotel walls on a new office tower, which disrupted the design of the surrounding area on the river bank. During this time, a Facebook group was formed which they named KANA (short for the rhetorical question of “Ko ako ne arhitekt?”, meaning “Who if Not Architect?”), which campaigns for the preservation of Svetlana Kana Radević's work.

A change of ownership took place around 2020. We are not informed about his plans for the building (last updated August 27, 2024).