By Ljilja Cvekic

BELGRADE (Reuters Life!) - "And who would you like to spend the night with?" asks the receptionist at Belgrade's "Mr President" hotel. It's not what you think.

Guests are asked to choose among Fidel Castro, Margaret Thatcher, Adolf Hitler or any of the 45-odd living or dead world leaders whose portraits grace the themed rooms.

"We were thinking, what does a mature businessman most desire? Power, of course. So, we decided to offer him the company of some of the most powerful people in the world," says hotel owner Dusan Zabunovic.

Silent and authoritative, they are perfect companions to the busy businessmen who form the hotel's core clientele.

"Usually on a business trip you're alone," Zabunovic said. "It's nice when someone is waiting for you, always ready to listen but without bothering you with a reply."

The selection knows no ideological or geographical barriers. Guests can pick Joseph Stalin or Vladimir Putin; Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill or Silvio Berlusconi.

Thatcher is the only woman. Her room has been booked non-stop since the hotel opened in November, a testament to the enduring appeal of the Iron Lady.

The hotel, a blend of modern glass and steel design with some retro elements, does not push room themes to the limit, going instead for light touches that reflect a leader's essence.

Castro's room is the smallest, just a bed and a desk to accommodate one's revolutionary musings. Hitler's suite is sombre, with straight lines and dark walls.

The German dictator's room is booked through to Jan. 1, 2009, but is proving controversial, having been the subject of a protest letter from the U.S. Anti-Defamation League.

"Should all the movies on Hitler be banned, all the textbooks mentioning him burned? He and his crimes cannot be forgotten, we cannot pretend he never existed," Zabunovic said.

"But we are not so adamant to keep him, we can change it without too much fuss," he adds. "The question is, who should replace him without outraging anyone?"

One idea is to turn Hitler's room into a "Dayton" room, with Slobodan Milosevic, Franjo Tudjman and Alija Izetbegovic, the Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian wartime presidents who met in the Ohio city in November 1995 to broker peace in Bosnia.

The biggest room, a top-floor penthouse, carries the name of socialist Yugoslavia's ruler-for-life, the late Josip Broz Tito.

Featuring a big jacuzzi and spectacular views of the Belgrade skyline, it appeals to guests from ex-Yugoslavia who knew Tito as a stylish hedonist who enjoyed the finer things and led the multiethnic state for 35 years of peace and prosperity.

"The Croats are the most keen on Tito's room," Zabunovic said. "The only complaint we get is that the portrait does not show him in his trademark white suit."

With a week to go to Serbia's presidential vote, the hotel is an oasis of calm in the charged atmosphere of the capital.

"Who'll win the elections? We actually don't care much for politics," says Obrad Stefanovic, the hotel's marketing chief. "We already have enough presidents here."