Moscow’s New Ritz-Carlton Hotel
Luxury Accommodation in Russia Overlooking Red Square
With Moscow fast gaining a reputation as one of the world's most expensive cities, it was time it got a fancy Ritz-Carlton hotel right next to Red Square.
On 1 July 2007, the Moscow Ritz-Carlton Hotel opened its doors for business. This is a luxury hotel aimed more at Moscow’s 35 billionaires and their friends than the normal tourist, but it never hurts to dream, does it? That said, even basic accommodation is getting increasingly expensive, and it may not be long before staying at the Ritz-Carlton doesn’t seem such an impossibility.
Facilities at the Moscow Ritz-Carlton
This hotel has everything you can imagine, and then some. You can start in the Russian empire style lobby and go up as high as the twelfth floor, rooftop sushi bar, and you’ll find decadence wherever you look. Or wherever you drink, since there is also a vodka sommelier to advise you on exactly which vodka suits the occasion.
In your room, even the “smallest” ones (with 1390 square feet) feature separate dressing rooms, marble bathtubs, bidets, two sinks and heated floors, plus a flat screen TV and DVD player and free wireless internet access.
There are four restaurants and bars in the Moscow Ritz-Carlton, including the Jeroboam restaurant for Russian-accented cuisine, the rooftop sushi bar, and the Italian-influenced Caviarterra brasserie. And when you need to relax there is also a spa center with 14 individual treatment rooms for all the pampering you need.
Location of the Moscow Ritz-Carlton
It’s not too difficult to get your bearings in Moscow by looking out of a window at the Ritz-Carlton. There are amazing views over the Kremlin and Red Square, with St Basil’s Cathedral in the foreground. The hotel is actually built on the site of the old Intourist Hotel, which featured in so many foreigners’ tales of communist Russia.
So How Much Does It Cost?
You probably don’t really want to know. A basic room starts at around $1000 per night. If you’re a top of the range guest you can use the presidential suite for just 16 times that amount, complete with a bullet-proof dining room and its own autonomous power supplies and communications channels. Other crazy extravagances available at the Moscow Ritz-Carlton include items like a $68,000 per bottle wine. Enough said?
If you, like many of us, can’t quite afford the price tag, the Ritz-Carlton management claims that you are still welcome to look. Whether this is true in practice or not remains to be seen, but at opening time the theory was that even an ordinary Muscovite was welcome to come in for a relatively inexpensive cup of coffee.
