Metropol

Hotel Metropol owes its birth to the famous patron of art Savva Mamontov. To build a hotel of a European level, he gathered together young talented artists and architects: Walcott, Vrubel, Kekushev, and Chekhonin. The hotel building is an outstanding example of the modernist era, the Silver Age of Russia art (the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries). Hotel Metropol was opened in 1901. The Muscovites would come in crowds to see the "Tower of Babel of the 20th century":that was how Hotel Metropol was called those days. None of the other hotels in Russia except the Metropol could boast of hot water, refrigerators, elevators, and telephones. The rooms and restaurants were occupied with sophisticated public. The Metropol would often see famous manufacturers (Morozov, Ryabushincky) and the people of art (Bryusov, Komissarzhevskaya, Shalyapin, Rakhmaninov).     In 1917, the new masters came to Hotel Metropol - and the gun roar broke in. The Bolshevist government moved from Petrograd (former St. Petersburg) to Moscow, and Hotel Metropol turned into the residence of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (RCEC). It was then called the Second House of Soviets. Chicherin, Sverdlov, and Bukharin lived and worked at the Metropol. In the 1930s the Metropol was given back its original status of a top-class hotel. If the Soviet government wished to win the favor of the foreign guests, among who were Bernard Shaw and Bertold Brecht, it would usually accommodete them in the Metropol. During the World War II correspondents of Western newspapers and magazines prevailed among the hotel's lodgers, a press center was organized at the hotel. In the mid-1950s "the Khrushchev Thaw" set in. More and more foreign tourists would come to Moscow and stay at the Metropol. The ordinary Soviet citizens would not stay at the hotel as a rule, although there was a 70-bed hostel for those coming on business trips. The payments in some hotel bars and restaurants were made in hard currency only, i.e. those places were mostly attended by foreigners. The years were passing by - and Hotel Metropol was growing old and ramshackle. In 1986, it was closed for renovation. After the long debate on the renovation concept the architects found the golden mean: it was decided to reconstruct Metropol using the old drawings while at the same time equipping it to the latest technological standards. Metropol owes its second birth to concerted efforts of Russian and Finnish architects, engineers, artists. The perestroika period in the USSR (1985-1991) coincided with the Metropol renovation period (1986-1991). The Hotel was closed for renovation back in the USSR, but opened in 1991 already in the new Russia. Foreign commissions were right in their high appraisal of the restored splendor of the hotel as well as of its highly-qualified staff. The Metropol received the highest hotel rank - five-star brand. In 2001, Hotel Metropol celebrates two significant dates: one hundredth anniversary since the opening day, and ten years after it has been fully renovated. The prominent Russian stage director Konstantin Stanislavsky used to say that "a theater starts with a cloakroom". To rephrase, it is possible to say that a city starts with a hotel. Hotel Metropol has rightfully become a symbol of Moscow for many foreign tourists and businessmen. Some of Moscow's old buildings indeed possess a magnetism of the kind. They attract events; within their precincts human fates have been intertwined; they become a part of the history One of such buildings is Hotel Metropol. Besides fulfilling the responsibilities of a hotel at large, the Metropol carries out a mission of a "historic hotel", a hotel-museum. Everyone who 1 visits the Metropol will have a glimpse of Russian history and culture, and the staff of the hotel will do their best to make the guests feel themselves at home.

Paul Thereaux (1968 when traveling the world) Savva Mamontov (1841-1918) -  Russian entrepreneur and patron, the initiator of the construction of the "Metropol", who attracted the best artists and architects of late 19th - early 20th centuries to the elaboration of the design. William Valcott - architect,  author of the "Metropol" facade design. Lev Kekushev - architect, author of the original design of the "Metropol", many of his ideas were realized during the construction of the hotel. Mikhail Vrubel (1856-1910) - artist after whose design the majolica panel "The Princess of Dreams" was created. Nikolai Andreev - author of the "Seasons" bas-relief on the hotel facade. A. Golovin - author of majolica panels of the hotel facades. Savva Morozov - Russian entrepreneur and patron who owned a  private restaurant room on the seond floor of the "Metropol". Today his private room has been rebuilt into the "Savva Morozov" banquet hall. Fyodor Shalyapin - great Russian singer, repeatedly visited and sang in the hotel restaurants. Georgiy Sedov - famous Arctic explorer who stayed in the "Metropol" in 1912 before he set out for his last expedition. Valeriy Bryusov - Russian poet, leader of symbolists. He was an editor-in-chief of the "Vesy" journal and the "Skorpion" publishing house located in the "Metropol" building. Grigoriy Rasputin - royal family's favourite, he was fond of  arranging his famous drinking-bouts in the "Russkaya Palata" (now "Boyarsky") restaurant. SOVIET PERIOD (1917 - 1986) Vladimir Ilujch Lenin (1870-1924) - leader of the 1917 revolution. Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, repeatedly spoke  at meetings of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in one of the restaurants of the "Metropol"  transformed into the Second House of Soviets in 1918. Georgiy Ivanovich Chicherin - people's commissar of foreign affairs after the revolution; he lived and worked in room 2264. The room's interior has been kept intact. Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin  - outstanding bolshevik who lived in the "Metropol" in 1920s-30s. Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov - the first chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, initiator of shooting up of the royal  family. His study-room was in the "Metropol" building (now room No. 2218). Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin - the second chairman of the All-Russian Cenral Executive Committee elected to the post at the meeting held in the "Metropol's" restaurant. Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin - head of the Soviet state from the late 1920s to the early 1950s. He took part in the sessions of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee held in the "Metropol's" building during the first years after the revolution. In 1951 he attended the banquet organized in the Red Hall in honour of leader of the Chinese revolution Mao Dzedun. Sergei Prokofiev stayed  in the "Metropol" when he came from the emigration in 1927. Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin stayed  in the "Metropol" in 1937 when he came from the emigration. George Bernard Shaw, great English play writer, stayed in the "Metropol" during his visit to the USSR in 1931. Bertold Brecht, famous German writer and playwright, stayed in the "Metropol" in 1942. Sergei Yesenin and Isidora Dunkan, Russian poet and ballerina, frequently  visited the "Metropol" hotel in 1920s. John Kennedy, American president stayed in the "Metropol" in the early 1960s. Alexander Vertinsky, Russian pop-singer  stayed in the "Metropol" with his family after his return from the emigration in 1943.   PERIOD AFTER 1991 J. Chirac - President of France J. Chretien - Prime-Minister of Canada B. McDugl - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada T. Chiler - Prime-Minister of Turkey F. Gonzales - Prime-Minister of Spain Javier Solana - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain H. Maria Aznar - Prime-Minister of Spain K. Silva - Prime-Minister of Portugal H. Vodrine - Minister of Foreign Affairs of France O. Skalfaro - President of Italy M. Komuro - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan R. Hashimoto - Prime-Minister of Japan K. Simitis - Prime-Minister of Greece G.H. Bruntland - Prime-Minister of Norway Al Gore - Vice-President of the USA O. Bongo - President of Gabon Prince Michael of Kent Prince Filipp - Belgium F. Mayor - Chairman of the UNESCO M. Rostropovich Van Klibern Jehudi Menuhin Steven Seagal Arnold Schwarzenegger Harrison Ford Michael Jackson Patricia Kaas Sylvester Stallone Montserrat Caballe Elton John Catherine Deneuve Marcello Mastroianni H.R. Capablanca Andre Agassi Pete Sampras Damon Hill