Ever since the 19th century, the Zlatá Hvězda (Gold Star) Hotel has been the natural social centre of the upper section of today's Smetana Square. Originally, the hotel used to be a pub called U Modré hvězdy (At the Blue Star) where members of local guilds used to meet and where, in 1861, Božena Němcová spent the last weeks of her life (see the memorial plaque by František Kysela, 1932, on the facade). In 1898, the Vysoký Mýto builder Josef Drahoš demolished most of the building of the pub (No. 84) and commenced the construction of a building in the Czech Neo-Renaissance style, which included an interior hallway with a grand staircase. Thus, the new Gold Star Hotel (At the Gold Star, Star) was born. However, it was later strongly criticized for being too tall and for taking up too much of the building plot itself. In 1926, a cinema was built in its courtyard space (01-83).
The historicizing appearance of hotel facade was retained until the early 1930s. By then, the District Savings Bank had its headquarters there and initiated adaptations to the existing building – modifications to the facade and an extension in place of a house demolished next door (No. 83). The project was undertaken by Krč – Novotný – Tomka of Prague. Contrary to the slightly older modifications to the Town Savings Bank (01-112) and the Citizens Savings Bank (01-57) in the town square, the Prague builders refrained from applying any unnecessary ornamentation. They originally planned to two statues on the edges of the attic storey, but, following an intervention by the heritage institute, these were omitted. As opposed to the aforementioned buildings therefore, the Functionalist facade did not feature any sculptural or relief work. It did, however, match its surroundings thanks to its cornice set at the same height as those of the adjoining houses. The only feature enlivening the facade is the shallow horizontal “piano nobile-style” bay window, stretching across the first floor which contains the main saloon.
The facade of the Gold Star Hotel, together with the Masaryk District Technical College (04-659), are the most daring modern architectonic interventions in Litomyšl. This, for its time “radical”, design was only restricted to the exterior, with the interiors retaining their historicizing features, dating back to the end of the 19th century.
Construction work after 1989, primarily changes to the colour of the facade and window frames, suppressed the building's original Modernist style.