Three major noble families played a role in the life of the castle and the estate of Szilvásvárad; the Keglevich, Erdödy and Pallavicini families.

The Keglevich count family received the then very valuable manor of Warad as a fief in 1666. The construction of the castle’s predecessor is presumably linked to the name of Count Béla Keglevich. The Keglevichs owned the castle for 230 years, until 1894. During the family’s ownership, the neoclassical reformed round Church, the school, the new count’s Castle with numerous manorial buildings and the Reformed cemetery were built. One of the charms of the church is the embroidered black silk satin tablecloth depicting the Keglevich coat of arms, produced by Mrs. Gabor Keglevich, born as Matilda Alexander.

A member of the Keglevich family, Nicholas (1798-1847) was the daredevil of the time. His national reputation was due to his eccentricity and stout pranks. It is no coincidence that as we know from Mór Jókai’s notes, János Kárpáthy’s figure (A Hungarian nabob ) and Count Bálvávy’s ( And yet move the Earth ) bloody, eccentric figure inspired by Count Szilvásvárad.

After that, for a short period of time, the Erdődy family was the owner and then the Pallavicini guard family became the owner. The Castle was transformed into a neo-baroque style by the Pallaviciniens and remained owned by the family until 1944. Count Charles Alphonse Pallavicini took care of his estates with great devotion, and although he reserved the right to decide on all matters, he actually loved the forest the most. His favorite estate was the Szilvasvarad – Nagyvisnyo, where he spent most of the year, especially the warm summer months, due to his favorable climate.

After the II. World War the castle was nationalized and has been working as a SZOT resort for many years. The Castles last more serious renovation was on the occasion of the World Championship in Szilvásvárad in 1981. Following the change of regime, like several other SZOT resort it is become part of the Hunguest hotel chain, and worked as a two-star hotel until 2005.

The dilapidated Szilvasvarad Castle was reconstructed by its current owners, renewed and shining in its Old Glory, in 2009. from mid-February, it is welcoming guests back as a four-star Castle Hotel.

The castle hotel commemorates these bygone times in many of its motifs, so it preserves traditions not only in name ( The Countess in Italian La Contessa), but also the memory of the Pallavicini family is preserved by the A’la Carte restaurant, which was named after Charles Pallavicini’s daughter Elizabeth, while the hotel suite pays tribute to the memory of Sándorfalva founder, the father of Charles Alfonso Pallavicini, Margrave Alexander Pallavicini.