A variety of architectural solutions of modern hotel complexes. The main factors in the formation of hotel architecture Entrance group of the hotel

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The architecture of the capital's buildings makes it possible to determine with an accuracy of a decade when and under which ruler they were erected. Not all residential buildings built in the last century have survived to this day. What can not be said about hotels. In this article, we will consider five “hotel heroes” in various categories, whose “life path” can tell about political and historical milestones in the development of the city of Moscow.

Five stars - hotel "Moscow"

The Moskva Hotel, occupying an entire block, was one of the first hotels built in Soviet Moscow. The massive building plays a dominant role in shaping the area immediately adjacent to the Kremlin. "Moscow" is distinguished by complex architectural plasticity, designed to coordinate the structure with the neighboring Kremlin and the building Historical Museum. The construction of the hotel was carried out from 1933 to 1935 according to the project of architects L. Saveliev, O. Stapran and A. Shchusev.

Okhotny Ryad, considered at the beginning of the 20th century one of the most unsanitary districts of the city, became the first Moscow district to undergo a radical reconstruction in the 1920s. Which is not surprising: after all, numerous shops and taverns were located there. The Soviet authorities decided to "clean up" the city center, and build something monumental on the site of the shopping arcade. In 1922, they planned to build the Palace of Labor here. The conducted representative competition for the best project did not lead to embodied results. Due to financial difficulties, construction was postponed. However, work on the reconstruction of the development began: in the same year, the Alexander Nevsky Chapel on Manezhnaya Square was demolished, in 1924, mass demolition of retail shops began in the southern part of Okhotny Ryad (mostly wooden buildings). In 1930, the Paraskeva Pyatnitsa church was demolished, and all market trade was transferred to Tsvetnoy Boulevard.

The original project of the Mossovet hotel (project name), completed in the late 1920s by young architects O. Stapran and L. Savelyev, was decided in the spirit of constructivism and was in obvious contradiction with the existing historical appearance of the area. The severe asceticism of the massive building did not fit in with the ensemble of the Kremlin, the development of Okhotny Ryad, Tverskaya and Mokhovaya streets.

Saveliev's variant

Aleksey Shchusev was invited as a co-author, called to correct the "mistakes" of the project. The frame box of the building was already being completed by that time, and it was not possible to make significant changes. However, Shchusev, with great ingenuity and tact, made changes to the project, adding laconic decor in the spirit of neoclassicism, without violating the constructivist basis of the building design.

General plan (Schusev)

As a result, a strict and monumental eight-column six-storey portico with an open terrace, spacious loggia-arcades in the center of the main facade, and numerous balconies appeared. The corners of the building were punctuated by turrets. The building itself acquired greater plasticity due to the more pronounced articulation of the main facade.

Especially for the hotel, the architects made 18 sets of furniture from different tree species. And on December 20, 1935, the first visitors were able to see all the luxury of the first Soviet hotel.

Room plan

They say that some citizens awarded with a trip to "Moscow" were so afraid of messing up the interior of the rooms that they slept right on the floor. In addition to workers and collective farmers, Alexei Stakhanov, Valery Chkalov, Demyan Bedny, Georgy Zhukov, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Mikhail Zharov, Arkady Raikin, Yuri Gagarin, Boris Yeltsin were seen among the guests, and Robert De Niro became the last "star" resident.

At the same time, Shchusev completed the sketches of the second stage of the hotel, but it did not come to the construction of new buildings. The 10-storey building overlooking the Revolution Square (the facade of the building of the Lenin Museum), and the 6-storey building facing the Theater Square, began to be built only in 1968. To implement the project, it was necessary to demolish a number of buildings adjacent to the Moscow from the east, including the old Grand Hotel. Architects A. Boretsky, D. Solopov and I. Rozhkin generally took into account the compositional ideas laid down by their predecessors. The second phase of the hotel was commissioned in 1977, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution; thus, the buildings of the Moskva Hotel occupied a whole block. However, the decor of the new buildings turned out to be drier in design; The 6-storey building was generally designed in the spirit of an ordinary concrete box, which, according to some experts, brought a sharp dissonance to the Theater Square ensemble.

Drinkers have probably spotted the facade not only in old Soviet films, but also on the label of vodka. According to legend, state security analysts came up with the idea to place the building there. It was believed that bosses and creative personalities use such vodka, and accordingly, according to the Chekists, they will someday stay in a hotel, which they often see on their table. And there it will be possible to listen to them and draw conclusions.

In 1942, the national poet of Belarus, Yanka Kupala, died in Moscow. He slipped on the marble stairs and fell down the stairs from the 10th floor. The police considered this an accident, although there were rumors among the people that the NKVD had a hand in this death. And when the hotel began to be dismantled in 2003, there were rumors that Beria’s secret bunker was found on the sixth floor: its walls were one and a half meters thick, so the builders had to work hard to dismantle this shelter. Explosives were found under the building, which were planted at the beginning of World War II to blow up the hotel if the Germans got to it.

But then it was not necessary to destroy the hotel. This began to be done 60 years later, when the building was declared unsafe. The last guests received as a bonus a voucher for staying in new hotel in a week. The authorities promised that it would be possible to use the gift as early as 2010.

Hotel "Moscow" on a postage stamp of the USSR, 1946 The building of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (left) and a fragment of the hotel "Moscow" on a postage stamp of the USSR, issued for the 800th anniversary of Moscow

There is a legend that I.V. Stalin personally approved the final project of the hotel, presented by Shchusev, and it was this circumstance that caused the noticeable asymmetry of the main facade of the building. The architect prepared a draft of the main facade with two design options for approval. Both options were combined in one drawing and separated by an axis of symmetry: a stricter version was depicted on the right side of the drawing, and a variant with a large number of decorative details was shown on the left side. Stalin put his signature in the middle: none of the designers dared to clarify what exactly Iosif Vissarionovich had in mind, and Shchusev implemented both design options in one facade, in literal accordance with the approved drawing. Allegedly for this reason, the projections of the main facade differ from each other. Is not more than beautiful legend. Stalin did not sign the drafts. In fact, everything turned out to be much more prosaic: the signature under one of the variants of the facade, divided by the axis of symmetry, was put by Shchusev. Further, the drawings went to the builders, who did everything as in the figure. At that time, in parallel with the construction of the building, scaffolding was erected, which hid the mistake until they were dismantled.

The total area of the complex will be 183,000 sq. m. The project of a new building on the site of the destroyed hotel was developed by the architect of the State Unitary Enterprise “Mosproekt-2 named after. M. V. Posokhin” by V. V. Kolosnitsyn. The reconstruction customer is OAO Dekmos.

Four stars - hotel "Cosmos"

The Kosmos hotel complex was built to serve the XXII Summer Olympic Games, held in Moscow in 1980.

Hotel "Cosmos". 1980s

The architecture and design of the building overlooking VDNKh and the monument to the Conquerors of Space were developed jointly by a team of Soviet and French architects (V. Andreev, T. Zaikin, V. Steiskal - Mosproekt-1; O. Kakub, P. Zhuglyo, S. Epstein — France).

The hotel included: 1718 standard rooms for 2 beds, 53 two-room suites, 6 four-room suites and about 3600 places of the hotel catering network.

When planning the premises, we had to strictly adhere to Soviet standards, which not only differed greatly from Western ones, but were also much stricter. The French company Sefri was engaged in the construction of the building.

The official opening of the hotel took place on July 18, 1979. It was attended by many prominent political figures, businessmen, pop stars. Specially invited singer Joe Dassin sang.

"Cosmos", unlike similar "Dawn" and "Tourist", is a twenty-five-storey building, reminiscent of the shape of a horseshoe.

During the Olympic Games, the hotel housed the Olympic press center. There were also many other public events in the hotel: the Festival of Youth and Students, the TV shows "Morning Star", "Song of the Year", the competition "Crystal Boat", and in 2004 the project "People's Artist-2" was held in the Cosmos Hotel. Among the guests of the hotel were such famous personalities as: Joe Dassin, Alla Pugacheva, Garry Kasparov and other famous people.

Also, "Cosmos" became famous for the fact that Tõnis Mägi performed the song "Olympiad 80" at the main entrance to the hotel.

And in the film "Day Watch" the hotel was the headquarters of the dark forces. Part of the filming was done in a hotel.

However, despite the fact that the developers of the hotel claimed that there was no doubt about the safety of the facility, in 2010 an employee of a cleaning company who monitored the cleanliness of the hotel hairdresser was boiled alive in the elevator shaft. The tragedy occurred when she was going down the elevator to the basement floor with bags of garbage. When the elevator doors opened, the main heating pipe suddenly burst. The temperature of the liquid (water with the addition of special additives) in the tanks at the time of the accident was about 130 degrees. A powerful stream of boiling water doused the unfortunate. The woman died on the spot. The accident on the heating main occurred as a result of the failure of the valve.

Currently, Russian and foreign tourists and business people, participants of exhibitions that take place at the All-Russian Exhibition Center, everyone who is comfortable with the location of the hotel.

Three stars - hotel "Izmailovo"

The history of the Izmailovo Hotel is closely connected with the history of the city of Moscow. In 1980 Moscow was chosen as the center for the Olympic Games. The city was expecting a large influx of foreign athletes, fans and reporters, attracted by the spectacular games and competitions of the central sporting event of the year.

It was decided to build a hotel in the greenest district of Moscow - Izmailovo.

A large team worked on the Izmailovo Hotel construction project: architects D. Burdin and Yu. Rabaev, engineer E. Skorodumov, famous sculptor Z. Tsereteli and many others.

As a result, a worthy architectural monument was built in Moscow in four years, for which the authors were awarded a state prize.

Despite the fact that participation in the 1980 Olympic Games was boycotted by most of the capitalist states, a lot of guests and participants gathered.

According to the idea of the creators, the hotel and tourist complex was supposed to be connected with the Olympic Games at all levels: both in terms of space and color. The Olympic rings, the symbols of the Earth's continents, were taken as the basis. That is why the Izmailovo Hotel is a complex of five high-rise buildings of 30 floors each, two of which are connected by ends. And the names of the buildings were given by the letters of the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Vega, Gamma-Delta. The buildings of the complex were located around the square on which the concert hall was built.

The people called them in the Russian manner - "ABVGD-oyka". All 5 buildings could simultaneously accommodate up to 10 thousand people, which was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. Of course, during the construction of such an object of international importance, the advanced technologies of that time were initially laid down, the interior of the hotel and equipment corresponded to world standards of safety and service.

Thus, the hotel heat supply system is not inferior to the three district boiler houses in terms of its capacity. During the construction of Izmailovo, innovative developments of Soviet scientists were also applied: a system for automatically accounting for numbers, mechanical dust and smoke removal. The developers also introduced a fundamentally new system of ventilation and air conditioning, sprinkler fire extinguishing.

After the Olympic Games, Izmailovo was transferred to the department of hotels of the USSR and the buildings were opened to accommodate ordinary citizens and guests of the capital. Later, the hotel complex received more participants in mass and all-Union international events - the Games good will, Festival of Youth and Students, Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. According to the Soviet classification, the level of service in Izmailovo corresponded to the level of Intourservice.

After the collapse of the USSR, a period of reforms began, and the Izmailovo hotel complex did not escape the problems of that time: centralized management of the hotel complex and budget funding ceased. It should be noted that the management of the Izmailovo hotel did not make the worst decision - the enterprise was corporatized and put up for a privatization mortgage auction, and not completely, but by buildings. Such a move allowed potential buyers to more profitably privatize hotel buildings in parts. Thus, Izmailovo in the structure of the hotel business in the 90s began to position itself as 5 independent hotel enterprises. This division is run by commercial and economic activity exists even now, but Muscovites still perceive their favorite "ABVGDeyka" as a single hotel complex.

Currently, all buildings of the Izmailovo hotel and tourist complex correspond to a three-star level of service according to international certification.

Two stars - hotel "Slavyanka"

Hotel "Slavyanka" is also a hotel "with history". This year she turned 77 years old, most of which she was known as the hotel of the Central House of the Soviet Army (CDSA), becoming "Slavyanka" only in 1995.

It was built on the site of the demolished church of John the Warrior on Bozhedomka. The place itself was connected with the army.

Many famous military leaders, in particular, A. I. Pokryshkin, I. N. Kozhedub, stayed at the Slavyanka Hotel at different times. During the Great Patriotic War, the most distinguished front-line soldiers who came to the capital to receive government awards and underwent rehabilitation after treatment in hospitals were accommodated here. At this time in the history of the hotel there were moments when folding beds were even in the corridors. Many nights spent on them future generals and marshals of our army. The French pilots of the Normandie-Niemen regiment also lived here.

Comrades-in-arms could find the lost brother-soldiers. Heroes of the defense of the Brest Fortress often met there. There are many testimonies of casual meetings of veterans who thought they would never see each other again.

The current management of Slavyanka would like to have a corner of the history of the hotel, but so far they cannot find many important documents. For more than 60 years, the hotel was a structural subdivision of the Central House of the Soviet Army, but there is not a word about it in the documents. Only personnel orders remained.

Muscovites and guests of the capital, who pass by a gray seven-story building, at the entrance to which there are sculptures of a pilot and a tanker in the form of the 30s of the last century, believe that inside the military hotel has not changed much since its opening.

The film crews of the historical film even approached the management of Slavyanka with a request to shoot in the old interiors. Imagine the director's surprise when it turned out that there was practically nothing left of the hostel hotel, as it had been for many years, of the old pre-war and post-war environment. Except perhaps only the sculptures at the entrance, which have become a bright attraction of the Slavyanka and near which both domestic guests and foreigners love to be photographed.

And today in Slavyanka every guest is welcome, but a special attitude here, of course, to military personnel and members of their families. It offers visitors - 305 comfortable rooms of various categories. The Slavyanka Hotel has a convenient location: in the city center, not far from the Theater of the Russian Army and the Olimpiysky sports complex. At the same time, the prices for accommodation are affordable for many.

Congress hotel - "Iris Congress Hotel"

The concept of progress in medicine has been associated with the name of Svyatoslav Fedorov for many decades. In the sixties, he set about solving the most difficult problem in the medical and social aspects - replacing the clouded lens with an artificial one. And in the late seventies, he offered the world another innovative technology - getting rid of patients from myopia with the help of incisions ("notches") on the cornea.

After multifaceted experimental studies, Svyatoslav Nikolayevich carried out the first successful implantation of an intraocular lens in the USSR, thereby opening a new direction in science. The following decades proved the prospects of the scientific direction he had chosen. Only in Russia S.N. Fedorov and his students performed about 1.5 million such operations.

However, few people know that Svyatoslav Fedorov was involved in the opening of the first world-class chain hotel in the USSR.

In 1989, he decided to build at the MNTK "Eye Microsurgery" luxury hotel for wealthy foreign clients who came to Moscow to have eye surgery. The French company Bouygues was invited to design and build the hotel.

The Iris project was the first for the company in Russia. In the future, Bouygues had many successful projects in the Russian Federation - construction shopping centers"Atrium" and "Mega Belaya Dacha", as well as the reconstruction of the Main Building of Moscow State University in Moscow, the building of the Hyatt Hotel in Yekaterinburg, etc.

Fedorov suggested that Foreign citizens they will be more willing to come to the USSR if they are offered all the conditions for living at the highest level.

The architecture of the hotel was unique for Russia. Many people associated the outer cladding of the hotel with coastal hotels of world resorts.

In addition, for the first time in the hotel, a huge atrium was realized, with a dome resembling an eye iris. And the hotel itself was shaped like a human eye.

The French network Accor was involved in the management of the hotel. It was one of the first foreign operators in the emerging Russian market. The French operated the hotel under the luxury brand Pullman Iris 5* which opened its doors to its first guests in early 1991.

Some of the name of the object was associated with the Latin word "iris", which means the iris of the eye, others were deciphered as capital letters of the names of Fedorov's wife, Irena, and himself, Slava.

In 1993, the management company replaced the hotel brand with a more democratic one - Sofitel Iris 5 *.

Many citizens in times of scarcity came to Iris to get acquainted with French cuisine, as the Champs-Elysees restaurant functioned on the ground floor, where you could feast on oysters and Beaujolais.

However, after the collapse of the USSR and the success of Japanese doctors in the field of ophthalmology, Fedorov's plans collapsed like a house of cards. Iris never saw the influx of wealthy, visually impaired guests. And in 1998, the Accor chain withdrew from the project, and the hotel, which was built on credit funds, went under the hammer after the tragic death of Fedorov.

However, with the development of the hotel business in Russia, it became clear that the hotel, whose location is far from the city center (Korovinskoe shosse, building 10), can in no way be called a "five-star". The hotel is changing owners, who are transforming the management system, seeking to find a niche for Iris in the market. The hotel was renamed into "Iris Congress Hotel".

The focus on conferences and events has been a lifesaver for the hotel's economy. Positioning in this perspective allowed doubling the object's revenue. A new owner, Amtel Properties, appeared in the mid-2000s, increasing the focus on congress services.

And the fact that the registry office works next to the hotel provided the Iris Congress Hotel with orders for weddings and other holidays for years to come. Since in terms of the ratio of quality and services provided, few of the capital's hotels can compete with Iris.

An interesting fact is that in one of the halls of the hotel Fedorov planned to build an operating room. And according to legend, he managed to carry out several successful operations in it.

For all 20 years, famous people have become its guests: prominent politicians, scientists, musical groups, domestic and foreign pop stars, eminent coaches and athletes - participants in the Formula 1 race, famous football, basketball and hockey teams.

And now the hotel retains its identity and history. Thus, the unique architecture and interiors attract the attention of not only guests, but also filmmakers - feature films and TV series are regularly filmed within the walls of the hotel.

The hotel has 201 rooms, including 20 two-room suites and one presidential suite. Iris also includes: a fitness center, 12 conference rooms and meeting rooms, a multifunctional transforming hall with a stage, a business center, a parking lot and several barbecue lawns.

Anastasia Kremenchuk

Do you want to practice hotel business? Do you have a general concept and business plan? You can go directly to the design stage of the hotel.

The design of hotels (hotels) is one of the most significant stages preceding the construction of an object of any scale and purpose.

The concept developed at the stage of drawing up a business plan is taken as the basis for designing a hotel. Design allows you to get a complete picture of how the hotel will look from the outside and what will be inside.

The plans include not only the architectural design of hotels, the calculation of the number and area of rooms, the location of the lobby bar, but also the layout of all mandatory areas, the general style solution, the selection of furniture, the arrangement of the necessary equipment, the placement of engineering networks and communications. This rule remains unchanged both for a country hotel and for resort area. Designing an ordinary hotel, eco or spa hotel requires the coordinated work of a large team of specialists: from builders and technologists to designers and architects. Everything is important: from the selection of finishing materials to determining whether 50 seats are enough for a restaurant at a hotel with 60 rooms.

Working design of hotels from the Fantalis team

Our team, at your request, will carry out all stages of designing hotels for 2, 3, 4 and 5 stars, including the development of architectural and planning solutions.

Our clients receive a complete and exhaustive package of drawings and plans that comply with Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 16, 2008 No. 87 "On the composition of sections of project documentation and requirements for their content."

The presence of this package of documents allows you to easily obtain permission to build hotels, as well as hotels with a swimming pool or other additional services.

The work of our company involves the following steps:

Hotel master plan development

The development of the general plan of the hotel includes sections that make it possible to carry out conciliation procedures in the shortest possible time and begin work related to changing the landscape of the site. We perform:

development of a planning scheme for a land plot. This drawing assumes an indication of all objects placed on the site;
planning, landscaping solutions, plans for planting plants, placing lighting fixtures;
plans for the construction of all buildings and structures with a detailed description of all stages;
plan of earth masses;
plan for the placement of engineering communications, connection to the main networks;
landscape design, landscaping of the adjacent territory, including vertical planning;
development of a plan for sanitary protection zones with justification of the boundaries for each capital facility;
development of a plan for the protection of buildings and structures from natural disasters, including from a large volume of storm water, flood water, when groundwater rises, from earthquakes, etc.;
binding to roads and interchanges.

Working design of the hotel

If the hotel project needs to be submitted for state expertise, the work is carried out in 2 stages:

Hotel design - stage "P";
Development of the working documentation of the hotel - stage "RD".

In addition, projects are being developed for connecting engineering networks, fire alarms. For seismic areas Special attention focuses on the issues of stability and reliability of buildings. At the first stage, drawings of all buildings are developed, including technical extensions and premises.

Mandatory attention is paid to the organization of the movement of transport, the placement of recreation areas and landscape design. For each of the hotel buildings, a bill of materials is compiled with an indication of the volumes.

Design and construction company "Fantalis" specializes in the development of hotel projects: from the level of 2 stars to 5 stars with a range of additional services at the hotel. We have experience in solving all possible problems that accompany the design of hotels, accommodation of entertainment facilities. Each of the company's specialists is responsible for a separate stage of work, but together they form a well-coordinated team capable of preparing a project of any complexity and purpose. After all, each type of architectural solutions has its own specifics. And it is physically impossible to know everything. And we chose our direction - the development of original and unique solutions for hotels.

Passage of approval procedures

The specialists of our company will not only develop a hotel project that will pass the state examination without comments and modifications, but will also help with the passage of mandatory examinations and approvals in state authorities, if necessary.

Benefits of designing a hotel from Fantalis

In order for all our projects to be of high quality, to satisfy all the needs of the client, we have developed the “5E” rule

We are always mindful of costs! The investor must not only invest in construction, but also make a profit. We believe that unnecessary and inappropriate pathos should not ruin customers. But our projects are never boring!

Ecology - above all! We do not use materials with formaldehyde, harmful volatile substances. When designing an ECO hotel, we use only natural materials. Our hotels are always ECO! When developing projects, the features of the landscape on the site are taken into account. We don't destroy what we already have to build something new!

Payment utilities takes the lion's share of all the profits received from the hotel. We care about the energy efficiency of all buildings and structures. Savings - your additional profit

Your customers will always be comfortable in the rooms, and in the lobby, and on the territory of the hotel. We will help you to correctly determine its visual positioning in the eyes of your audience. For a hotel, "aesthetics" is an important component of success!

Your staff gets a comfortable place to work, and customers - to relax. There will be no “just in case” rooms at your facility. Everything will work for you!

Completed hotel projects

You can see all hotel projects in the "Our projects" section.

Do you want to minimize costs, not pay for unnecessary “bells and whistles” and get the best project? Contact Fantalis.

There are millions of different hotels around the world. They are all completely different and unique. Some hotels are cozy and modest, while others are luxurious and expensive. But there is another category as well. These are hotels that take your breath away when you look at them. When everyone, having looked at the photo with one eye, will say “Well, wow!”.

A luxury hotel on the island of Santorini (Greece) is located at an altitude of 90 meters above sea level, on the beautiful rocks of the caldera. It is considered one of the most amazing hotels in the world. With a snow-white facade and a delicate overall design, it is simply impossible not to notice. The amazing location of the hotel brings it a huge number of advantages. Firstly, from every point of the hotel offers a breathtaking view of the sea. Secondly, being high in the rocks, far from civilization, the Katikies hotel offers its guests privacy and a carefree holiday. The architecture was adapted to the surrounding landscape, matching its natural forms. But despite this, the amazing white hotel-resort stands out from other buildings. The hotel has two huge swimming pools, an outdoor jacuzzi and, of course, impressive and breathtaking landscapes around.

This wonderful hotel is located in the small village of Conca Dei Marini, located between Italian cities Amalfi and Praiano. The hotel and spa complex is set on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Gulf of Salerno. very romantic and beautiful place reminiscent of hotels from old movies. However, this is how it is, because it was built in the 17th century, but at that time it was a monastery. Later, the building turned into a hotel that impresses with its beauty, unique history and architecture. After the reconstruction, it has retained its charm that has existed for many years.

The luxurious hotel has 20 rooms overlooking the ocean, coastline and tiered gardens. Over the years, some changes have been made to landscape and interior design. Many of the original elements of the building have been retained, but some new elements have been added. The hotel now features a stunning cliff-edge swimming pool and luxurious spa.

Ladera Resort is located on the island of Saint Lucia. In total it consists of 9 villas and 23 suites with open walls. The so-called Open Wall system is that the west side of each of the rooms is completely open and offers a magnificent view of the mountains and the Caribbean Sea. The idea of an open-walled resort was first realized in 1992. Since then, it has become a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. All suites and villas have their own pools. The amazing resort is on the fine line between luxury and minimalism.

The layout of the rooms has been carefully thought out to provide guests with maximum comfort and privacy. All guests can enjoy life and recreation away from civilization. This is facilitated by relaxing spa treatments, beautiful restaurants and many interesting events that are regularly held here. The rooms are decorated with beautiful French furniture and accessories made by local craftsmen, as well as 19th-century wickerwork. In addition, all villas and suites are decorated with paintings by local artists.

The Radisson Blu Hotel has gained worldwide recognition not because of its stunning location or spectacular views from its rooms, but because it houses the world's largest cylindrical aquarium. It is called Aquadom and is filled with about 1 million liters of sea water. 1500 tropical fish of 56 species swim in the aquarium, and miniature reefs are located at its bottom. The state of the amazing and unique aquarium is monitored by the specialists of the Sea Life Aquarium in Berlin, located next to the hotel. The aquarium, which consists of four parts connected together, is made of acrylic glass and has a cylindrical shape. The aquarium is located on a 9-meter concrete foundation. The aquarium and the hotel were built at the same time, or rather, the hotel was built around the aquarium, turning it into the main attraction of the hotel. The glass elevator allows visitors to go up to the observation deck, located under the glass roof of the hotel. For those wishing to spend more time here, the hotel offers 427 suites with tropical underwater views or city views.

The amazingly beautiful Glass Igloo Hotel is located in Finland. The windows offer a delightful winter landscape. Without a doubt, everyone, admiring the charming view, will want to spend as much time outside as possible. Unfortunately this is not possible due to the cold weather. But there is one place where the conditions are just perfect. This is a glass villa in the Kakslauttenen hotel. Here winter looks even more beautiful than it really is.

After a busy day at work, guests can unwind in the transparent rooms and fall asleep under the stars. The glass domes give a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape as well as the sky. The main idea is to create the impression of sleeping outside under the stars, but at the same time in warmth and comfort.

Jade Mountain is an unusual resort located in St. Lucia, in the eastern part caribbean. It is located above the Anse Chastanet beach resort. The hotel has bold architectural details, wonderful pools and bridges connecting private rooms with the rest of the resort. Fine columns highlight the local architecture. The resort offers its guests an exclusive restaurant, a terrace, and a spa. Everything at Jade Mountain Resort is made with a focus on rest and relaxation. There are no telephones, no radio, no television. Internet access is available only at the reception.

The most amazing thing about it is the layout of the rooms. Each room at Jade Mountain Resort has only three walls. Each suite has luxurious bedrooms, a living room and a private pool with amazing sea views. And the absence of a fourth wall is a huge plus, because the open space allows you to admire the beautiful landscape, feeling like a part of nature.

Soneva Gill by Six Senses is simple wonderful place holiday home located in the Maldives. The hotel occupies one of the largest lagoons in the region. The resort consists of oversized water villas. Each villa offers breathtaking ocean views. Favorable weather and beautiful white sandy beaches make the region ideal for a resort.

The resort is a 20-minute boat ride from international airport in Male and occupies one of the 1190 islands that make up the Maldives. The luxury resort offers a new type of living, different from any hotel or resort. Here, guests can rent one of the stunning houses and enjoy life surrounded by water. It's a strange but amazing feeling to look out a window or an open door and see the water all around.

The Plaza Athénée is located in Paris and is considered to be one of the most luxurious hotels in the world. Chic design, stylish interior - a successful combination of innovative accents and traditional classic details. The hotel is located on Avenue Montaigne, known as a haute couture street. Charles de Gaulle Airport is 30 minutes by car from the hotel. Staying at this hotel will turn into a real fairy tale. The hotel has a business center, fitness center, sauna, spa, conference rooms, dining room, several restaurants. Each room has DVD players, plasma TVs, safes and internet access. For those who want to take a break from family life, babysitting services are available. It is worth noting that pets are also allowed in the hotel.

Today, people increasingly want to find something attractive, but unique and unusual. This is exactly what the Grotta Palazzese restaurant can rightfully be called. Palazzese is a unique and delightful restaurant located inside a vaulted limestone cave. The restaurant is only open during the summer months. The limestone cave overlooking the sea is another detail that makes this place unique. Guests of the hotel can enjoy their dinner here and at the same time admire the beautiful scenery, listen to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore and feel the sea breeze caressing the skin. This place is definitely worth a visit, if only for the thrill of dining in a cave near the sea. The hotel is located a little higher. Both the hotel and the restaurant have a very sophisticated look.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

The hotel is located in Singapore and has many unique elements. Marina Bay Sands, considered the most expensive hotel in the world, offers 2560 rooms. It also has the world's largest outdoor swimming pool, 200 meters above ground level. The pool is three times the size of the Olympic pool and is located on the 55th floor. So those who are afraid of heights should be especially careful. Marina Bay Sands also has a casino, a convention center, a theater and a lotus flower museum, so there are many other places besides the pool that can attract visitors. The hotel was designed by architect Moshe Safdie.
If there is a desire to completely retire, hide from the world, then it’s worth going on vacation, allowing you to be alone with yourself away from the hustle and bustle of big cities.

Hotel Ukraina is one of the seven Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow. The hotel building was being built at an accelerated pace International Festival youth and students, which was scheduled for 1957. Hotel Ukraine in Moscow originally included 1000 hotel rooms and 254 apartments.

The outer part of the building is decorated with obelisks, vases made of sheaves of wheat, and decorative walls made of five-pointed stars. The interior of the hotel is also characterized by lush decorative decoration with marble and picturesque plafonds. Hotel Ukraine 206 meters high with a spire, consists of three parts. The central part of the hotel includes 34 floors.

The hotel is located in an important, from the point of view of urban planning, place near the Dorogomilovskaya bend of the Moscow River on the Taras Shevchenko embankment. The building was erected even before the construction of the Novo-Arbat bridge and the active development of the adjacent part of Kutuzovsky Prospekt.

The skyscraper was supposed to become a vertical marking the beginning of the newly laid Kutuzovsky Prospekt. According to the master plan for the reconstruction of Moscow in 1935, the projected avenue was supposed to be called Constitution Avenue and it was supposed to pass by Poklonnaya Gora through the Dorogomilovsky District to the center. Now it is Novy Arbat and Kutuzovsky Prospekt.

Architects of the hotel "Ukraine"

The architect of the Ukraine Hotel was A. Mordvinov, who specialized more in the high-speed construction of new Moscow quarters. His ideas were more in line with solving problems with a catastrophic lack of living space for the citizens of Moscow.

Therefore, he involved the newly released architect V. Oltarzhevsky, who took part in the work on the project of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition in Moscow and was repressed in the 1930s on charges of sabotage, to work on the project of the Hotel Ukraine.

After the death of I. Stalin, the architects of the skyscraper had to make excuses for its construction for a long time. With the filing of N. Khrushchev, an incredible criticism of both the structure and the architects who created it began. Most of the architects who took part in the work on skyscrapers, including the Ukraine Hotel, lost their Stalinist awards and high positions. Architect A. Mordvinov was shamefully removed from the post of President of the USSR Academy of Architecture.

Construction of the hotel Ukraine in Moscow

The architects and builders of the hotel Ukraine faced a difficult task. The bank of the Moskva River is not the best place for the construction of a high-rise building. The design of the building assumed that the foundation of the entire structure should go to a depth of 11 meters and 6 meters below the groundwater level.

There were two solutions to such a difficult task in those years, or the already well-known system of freezing the soil or lowering the water with the help of a network of pumps. More than 900 pumping units were provided for the diversion of groundwater in the pit.

Hotel Ukraine got its name only under N. Khrushchev, before that, at all stages of architectural planning and construction, the project was called the Hotel Building in Dorogomilovo.

Fully architectural ensemble was completed only at the end of the 60s, when the appearance of Arbatskaya Square and Novy Arbat finally took shape. The Taras Shevchenko embankment and the square laid out on it successfully complemented the appearance of the Ukraine Hotel.

Engineers, when planning Constitution Avenue, planned to build it up with houses three times less in height than those erected. However, in connection with the criticism of the project by N. Khrushchev, buildings were erected on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, catching up with the height of the Ukraine Hotel and significantly detracting from its appearance.

The magazines of that time wrote that “the eerie bulks that grew on the sides of the new highway wiped out the hotel spire with their dullness, which against their background looks like a medium-sized seedling stretching from under the asphalt of Novy Arbat.”

In 1957, at the time of its opening, the Ukraine Hotel was considered the largest in Europe. The restaurant of the Stalin skyscraper was also a landmark of Moscow in its own way. From above, the whole building is a rectangle, one side of which is the main element - a high-rise building directly to the hotel itself, and two long and symmetrical sides make up residential buildings.

The golden hue of limestone near Moscow, used for facing the building, emphasizes the richness of the facade. The majesty of the building is emphasized by the colorful mosaic in the high-rise part of the building, the extensive use of bas-reliefs and three-dimensional sculpture.

One of the legends about Stalin's skyscrapers says that the projects of the pyramids were the basis for the projects of all buildings. Indeed, among the design drawings of Ukraine there is a drawing reflecting the idea of a pyramid.

It is their proportionality that contributes to the harmonious perception of skyscrapers. The architect of the Ukraine Hotel A. Mordvinov based the project on a versatile pyramid. The architectural image of the skyscraper embodied the universal principles of harmony.

Interior of the hotel Ukraine in Moscow

The room fund of the hotel Ukraine was designed and equipped according to the highest standards of that era. Equipment for preparation and heating of air was practically silent. The building was provided with a general dust removal system.

The building was provided with several restaurants and shops. The halls of the restaurant were made in typical Stalinist architecture. The closed rectangular architecture, the monumental enfilade did not fit in with the restaurant function at all.

One of the European guests of the Hotel Ukraina wrote that "when having breakfast in the restaurant hall, I experienced the full severity of the building, pathos, excessive pomposity, and my own insignificance." According to the plan of I. Stalin, it was precisely such feelings that should have arisen among all visitors to the Moscow skyscrapers.

The large dimensions of the halls and individual elements of the restaurant were completely disproportionate to a person, and even more so to a seated person. The use of expensive materials in decoration, elite fabrics and utensils made eating not just an uncomfortable event, but a very dangerous ritual. One awkward movement of the guest and for the damaged tablecloth or dishes it was necessary to pay a large fine.

It is impossible not to mention the KGB post on one of the floors of the building. The Soviet government could not allow such an object as the Ukraine Hotel, which also received foreign guests and was located within walking distance from the Foreign Ministry building, not to have special equipment for listening to conversations and monitoring guests. And as you know, a post with on-duty employees of a specialized department was necessarily exhibited to the equipment.

High-rise reconstruction

In 2005, the building of the Ukraine Hotel in Moscow was put up for auction. The Moscow government was forced to sell the building, as there was no co-investor willing to invest almost 60 million dollars in its reconstruction. More than 20 little-known companies participated in the auction. Biscuit LLC won the auction and paid $275 million for the high-rise building.

The building has been completely renovated. The interior decor elements, the facade, including the 73-meter spire, were updated. During the reconstruction, one of the eight decorative towers collapsed on the restaurant building. There were no casualties in the accident, as it all happened at night.

During the analysis of the destroyed structure, architects and experts agreed that the collapse occurred due to the use of low-quality building materials in the construction of the Ukraine Hotel back in the 1950s. But despite this, its further operation is considered safe.

Today, the skyscraper not only fulfills its main purpose as one of the best hotels Moscow, but is also a bright landmark of the city. In 2010, the renovated skyscraper began to receive guests under the Radisson Royal brand (Radisson Royal). The management of the building has been entrusted to The Rezidor Hotel Group. The new Radisson Royal Hotel is part of the international Radisson Hotel chain.

One of the conditions for the reconstruction of the Ukraine Hotel in Moscow was the preservation of its historical appearance and interior decor. Now in the pompous halls of the skyscraper are:

Restaurant "Tatler Club" A. Novikov.
Beef bar "Junior".
Restaurant "Veranda".
Iranian cuisine restaurant "FARSI".
Restaurant of Italian cuisine "Bono".
"Mercedes Bar".
Karaoke bar "Troubadour".
Restaurant for two "Romantic".

The highest point of the building - a glass veranda under the spire of the Ukraine Hotel, or as it is now called the Radisson Royal Hotel, is occupied by the Romantik Restaurant. At almost 200 meters high, there is a magnificently decorated table and two most comfortable armchairs, just for two.

And the main decoration of this restaurant is not its snow-white decoration and romantic atmosphere, but of course the view! View of Moscow from the center to the outskirts. By the way, the restaurant "Bono", located nearby, is included in our two ratings "The most expensive restaurant in Moscow" and "Panoramic restaurants of Moscow".

The cuisine of the restaurant fully corresponds to the height of the restaurant itself, each dish is unique and is a masterpiece of culinary skills. Dinner in such an unusual place is remembered for a lifetime, and the story of the evening spent on one of the highest and most unusual rooftops in Moscow will be passed on as a family legend.

Diorama Moscow - the capital of the USSR

Hotel Ukraine in Moscow not only fulfills its function of receiving guests, but also serves as a hall for a large number of items of artistic value. In the main gallery of the first floor there is an amazing historical exhibit - Diorama Moscow - the Capital of the USSR. The diorama is a miniature Moscow of the 70s. The diorama is not only a cultural and historical monument, but also a masterpiece of panorama art.

The diorama surprises with a very high level of accuracy. The layouts of the depicted objects are particularly reliable. The diorama is made on a scale of 1:75, which allows you to see in detail the entire center of what was then Moscow.

The total area occupied by the diorama is 306 square meters. m. and is equipped with mechanisms that reproduce the corresponding time of day. The diorama was created in the art workshop of Yefim Deshalyt for the National Exhibition in the USA by order of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The diorama was exhibited in many countries of the world, giving an opportunity to make a virtual journey behind the Iron Curtain to the capital of the Soviet Union. The diorama at the exhibition in Leipzig won a gold medal as a work of high art.

In the USSR, the Diorama was exhibited at VDNKh and in one of exhibition complexes Moscow. In 2007, especially for the reconstructed hotel Ukraine in Moscow, at an auction, the Diorama was bought by the new owners of the building. In 2010, the restoration work on the Diorama was completed and it is now on display.

Berth hotel Ukraine in Moscow

Berth of Ukraine in Moscow, located on the Taras Shevchenko embankment opposite the square in front of the hotel. The pier, like the embankment, was built in 1961 to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of the Ukrainian poet T. Shevcheno, complementing the architectural composition of the structure. The berth is equipped for disembarkation and embarkation of passengers. The pier of the Radisson Hotel is usually called a pier, despite the fact that in the river fleet the more common term is a pier.

Near the pier do not make a stop "river trams" - pleasure boats of the Capital Shipping Company, making regular river trips along the Moscow River. The mooring of the hotel Ukraine is intended only for the mooring of motor ships of the Radisson Royal flotilla. The Radisson cruise along the Moskva River on modern and comfortable yachts begins from the pier of the renovated hotel.

Flotilla Radisson Royal

In 2009, 5 magnificent pleasure yachts were launched, custom-designed for Radisson Royal:

Ferdinand.
Scarlet.
Celebrity.
Chapel.
Bon Voyage.

Snow-white yachts surprised and delighted not only the travelers themselves, but also Muscovites, who were surprised to watch the smooth sliding of motor ships along the waters of the Moscow River. The trip on the pleasure boat from the Radisson flotilla was mainly entertainment for foreign tourists. But in recent years, Muscovites have begun to increasingly buy tickets for cruises on the Moscow River.

In 2013, the Radisson Royal flotilla was replenished with improved yachts with class 1 saloons and open decks, allowing you to feel the journey along the water surface of the Moscow River: enjoy the sun, headwind and splashing waves:

Butterfly.
Montana.
Felicita.
Primavera.
Beauty.

Cruises on the Moskva River from the Radisson Royal pier are held every day all year round. Motor ships are equipped with all necessary equipment to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers. Panoramic glazing of all yachts of the Radisson Royal flotilla allows you to admire the center of Moscow without any interference. Outdoor decks are a great place for a photo shoot.

All ships have restaurants and bars where you can have a nice dinner and admire different panoramas of Moscow.

In Russia and the CIS, interesting hotel projects are rare - for obvious reasons. However, there are several hotels. Our selection includes ten Russian designer hotels, two in Georgia, and one each in Azerbaijan and Ukraine, with room rates ranging from 2,350 to 30,000 rubles per night.

Barvikha Hotel&SPA

Where: Russia, Barvikha, Rublevo-Uspenskoe highway, 114/3
When open: late 2008
Architecture/Design: Antonio Citterio, Ekaterina Rutkovskaya
How much is the night: on booking.com - from 30,000 rubles. per double room (breakfast included)

The hotel building would fit perfectly into the Expo town, which, as you know, is always designed by the very best architects. At the same time, it is perfectly inscribed in the surrounding landscape - and here we mean not only the most expensive village in Russia, Luxury Village, where the hotel is located, but also the pine forests near Moscow: the hotel’s wooden facades become, as it were, their continuation. The interior is also dominated by natural materials (wood, marble, linen) and colors (chocolate, vanilla, sand), and the furniture made by B&B Italia according to Antonio Citterio's designs especially for the hotel does not shout about its exclusivity, but is organically included in the space. // barvikhahotel.com

11 Mirrors

Where: Ukraine, Kyiv, st. Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 34A
When open: November 2012
Architecture/Design: Anatoly Kirik and Marina Leo
How much is the night: on booking.com - from 18426 rubles. per double room (breakfast included)

In working on the project of this hotel, its owner Vladimir Klitschko became for the designers Anatoly Kirik and Marina Leo what Stalin was for Iofan: an ideologist and, in fact, a co-author. Which speaks only in favor of the boxer: the hotel has become the only one in the CIS that is included in the Design Hotels international association. In addition, in 2012 it won the International Hotel Award for Best Small Hotel. The narrow eleven-story building with a granite facade combines modern design and 19th-century architecture. The interior of the hotel is dominated by mirrors and glass - which means air and lightness, which are always in short supply in large capitals. // 11mirrors-hotel.com

Rooms Hotel Kazbegi

Where: Georgia, Stepantsminda, st. Vakhtang Gorgasali, 1
When open: summer 2012
Architecture/Design:
How much is the night: on booking.com - from 8469 rubles. per double room (breakfast included)

Climbing to the second highest point Caucasus Mount Kazbek, which in all its glory rises above the village. Nata Dzhanberidze and Keti Toloraya from the Rooms Bureau came up with a compelling reason not to leave the village. The mountains, which through the panoramic windows of all rooms enter the space of the hotel and construct it, certainly attract all the attention of the hotel guests. The interior, as it were, only frames this grandiose picture: natural wood, stones, light and air, home comfort that does not contradict modern conciseness - if there is a place more in tune with Kazbek, then only a tent under its top. // roomshotel.ge

This panorama deserves special attention.

W St.Petersburg

Where:Russia, St. Petersburg, Voznesensky prospect, 6
When open: June 2011
Architecture/Design: Vladimir Grigoriev / Antonio Citterio
How much is the night:on booking.com - from 14,160 rubles. per double room (breakfast not included)

Hotels of the W network have some constant that does not change from city to city (for example, a branded W-bed), and a variable that expresses the author's style of designers and architects. In this case, the Italian designer Antonio Citterio also had the task of fitting the hotel into a culturally and historically rich urban context. Citterio brilliantly coped with the task - literally in places: chrome and gold dominate in the color scheme. The restrained beauty, straight lines and open spaces characteristic of St. Petersburg form the interiors of the W Hotel, into which the dome of St. Isaac and other views of the city penetrate through the huge windows as the most important detail. // wstpetersburg.ru

JW Marriott Absheron Baku Hotel

Where: Azerbaijan, Baku, Azadlig square, 674
When open: December 2012
Architecture/Design: ReardonSmith Architects
How much is the night: on booking.com - from 10,007 rubles. for a double room with a single bed and from 12,508 rubles. per double room with double bed (breakfast not included)

It cannot be said that the architectural solution of the hotel was striking in its novelty and courage, but, perhaps, this is exactly what a lifetime monument to a successful resource-based economy should look like: glass, symmetry and elevation above the city. The specialists of the British firm ReardonSmith, with all evidence, acted within the framework of the order - and settled in this Procrustean box with all possible elegance. And although the rooms at the JW Marriott Absheron are quite standard for a five-star hotel, without interior revelations, the designer managed to solve the most difficult task in the lobby and other public spaces. Namely - to pronounce the word luxury so that it does not sound abusive. // marriott.com

Grand-Hotel & Spa Rodina

Where: Russia, Sochi, st. Grape, 33
When open: July 2006
Architecture/Design: Mateo Thun, Domus Aurea Design Interiors Group
How much is the night: on booking.comfrom 23 200 rub. per double room (breakfast included)

A vivid example of a sharp, and therefore spectacular, discrepancy between form and content: minimalism in the packaging of Stalinist architecture. The living quarters were designed by the court decorators of the Queen of the Netherlands Beatrix - Suzanne Logger and Patrick Brugman from Domus Aurea Design Interiors Group. They have developed every detail of the interior of all forty rooms of the hotel especially for Rodina. There is, however, a semantic link between the outside and the inside - public spaces with marble floors and crystal chandeliers, designed by the Italian Mateo Thun, throw a bridge from Stalinist neoclassicism to modern ideas of beauty and comfort. // grandhotelrodina.ru

Rooms Hotel Tbilisi

Where: Georgia, Tbilisi, st. Kostava, 14
When open: October 2014
Architecture/Design: Nata Janberidze and Keti Toloraya (Rooms design bureau)
How much is the night: on booking.com - from 19395 rubles. per double room (breakfast not included)

The second hotel of the chain, named after the design studio Rooms, which was engaged in the design of both hotels. Rooms Hotel Tbilisi is located in the very center of the Georgian capital in the building of the former printing house Samshoblo. Thanks to the efforts of Nata Dzhanberidze and Keti Toloray, the concrete ruins acquired a loft-bohemian chic. The key components of interior decoration are wood and leather. Plus, each room (141 in total) is decorated with handmade wallpaper, including silkscreen patterns. The lobbies and rooms are lined with vintage items that add to the atmosphere of the hotel. // roomshotels.com

DoubleTree by Hilton Moscow - Marina

Where: Russia, Moscow, Leningradskoe highway 39, building 1
When open: October 2014
Architecture/Design: ADM bureau, Frontarchitecture arch bureau together with Martin Hulbert Design
How much is the night: on the hotel website - from 12,000 rubles. for a room with two single beds and from 13,500 rubles. for a double room with one large bed (breakfast not included)

Located on the banks of the Moskva River, the hotel was designed by ADM according to the strict standards of the Hilton brand, in practice, which means extremely simple forms and straight corridors. The architectural studio Frontarchitecture was responsible for the interior design. The interiors are done in warm colors and furnished with natural materials. // hilton.ru

Mriya Resort & Spa

Where: Russia, Crimea, Yalta, p. Opolznevoe, General Ostryakova street, 9
When open: August 2014
Architecture/Design: Norman Foster
How much is the night: on booking.com - from 7,099 rubles. per double room (breakfast included)

This year-round resort, which includes a five-star hotel (408 rooms and 14 villas), medical and spa centers, was designed by the famous Norman Foster, the author of Wembley Stadium and the Millennium Bridge in London. In September 2016, the complex, shaped like either an elegant flower or an alien ship, was recognized as the best in Europe according to the World Travel Awards, an analogue of the Oscar for the tourism industry. // mriya.me

Boutique Hotel Rodniki

Where: Russia, Vladimir region, Alexandrov, 80 km from MKAD
When open: February 2013
Architecture/Design: Mikhail and Dmitry Ganevich from the architectural bureau "Atrium"
How much is the night: on booking.com - from 21,000 rubles. for a suite with a bedroom and a living room and a terrace overlooking the forest (breakfast included)

A complex consisting of 6 cottages (2 rooms each), a spa center and a restaurant, contrary to stereotypes about Russian country hotel does not look like a hut or a manor. Asymmetrical buildings made of concrete and glass with sloping roofs are made in a modern style. The interior decoration used mainly stone, wood and shingles. Each room is equipped with underfloor heating, a fireplace, a dressing room and a terrace with a garden. The hotel also has a complex with a Finnish bath and a Japanese furako bath. // rodniki-hotel.ru