Russia’s 5 Most Over-The-Top Hotels

Russian hotels regularly top “world’s most expensive” lists, so it should come as no surprise that rooms across the country take luxury to new levels. Here are 5 of the most over-the-top experiences that money — lots of it — can buy.

The Ritz-Carlton, Moscow

Forget vodka. At the O2 Lounge crowning the Ritz-Carlton you can order shots of oxygen to go with your sushi, while looking down on Red Square and the Kremlin. Rooms come with polished cherrywood furniture, Frette linens, feather bedding and heated marble bathroom floors. Gothic iron staircases and black pillars lead to the Lobby Lounge, where the who’s who of Russian society eat caviar: beluga, salmon, golden.

Hotel Baltschug Kempinski, Moscow

HRH Princess Michael of Kent and David Linley are the talents behind the Princess and Linley suites respectively. The breakfast spread in Restaurant Baltschug Grill is one of the most lavish in town — scrambled eggs with caviar, for starters — while the spa offers yoga sessions overlooking the Kremlin, massages incorporating rose quartz and Philippine seashells plus royal grooming treatments by Truefitt & Hill.

Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow

Book a Russian bath at this Moscow stunner and you’ll be presented with a selection of oak, birch and eucalyptus branches for the sauna component of your treatment, followed by a full body peel and organic honey mask and, two hours later, a soap massage. The bliss continues in Café Ararat, the hotel’s Armenian eatery, where delicacies such as ryazhenka and Armenian cognacs are served in a palatial dining room designed with marble columns and traditional carvings.

Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya

The heritage lobby has 12-meter-high bronze ceilings draped with enormous chandeliers. Bronze statues, marble pillars and gilded cornices complete the dramatic entrance. From here, guest rooms are accessed via a sweeping staircase overhung with another chandelier — this staircase was, until recently, the longest of its kind in the world. The Gothic-style Janus Restaurant is also a festival of marble and dark oak, and offers Russian specialties such as okroshka soup with kefir, sparkling water and vegetables.

Corinthia Hotel St. Petersburg

Formerly the Nevskij Palace Hotel, the Corinthia reopened in 2009 following the extensive restoration of two adjoining 19th-century buildings, now home to suites and executive rooms. The makeover retained heritage elements, including black marble floors and a lavish staircase in the glass-encased lobby. Guest rooms and suites, however, were given a contemporary retouch and now come with polished blonde-wood floors, colorful throws and artwork spotlighting St. Petersburg; some suites also come with private balconies and round-the-clock butler service. In a nod to the building’s history, the hotel is also home to a small museum paying homage to the Samoilov family of actors who lived here in the 1800s.

Do these over-the-top Russian hotels wow you? Tell us about the most sophisticated hotel experience you have ever had!

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Russia’s 5 Most Over-The-Top Hotels