Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow
As the first international five-star hotel in post-Soviet Russia, the Kempinski has kept up with the competition via constantly renovated luxurious interiors, top-notch amenities and pristine service. The prime location across the river from Red Square and the Kremlin doesn’t hurt either.
Location
10 / 10
Located across the Moskva River in the refined historic district of Zamoskvorechye. More than half of the rooms of the Baltschug offer spectacular views of the Kremlin or St Basil’s Cathedral. It’s a 10-minute stroll to Red Square, GUM department store, Zaryadye park, as well as the Tretyakov Gallery. In 20 minutes, you can reach Bolshoi Theatre, Gorky Park and the Soviet-era statues of Muzeon Park by foot. There are also two metro stations (Novokuznetskaya and Tretyakovskaya) within a 10-minute walk.
Style and Character
9 / 10
The building, formerly the Hotel Bucharest, dates back to 1898 and was designed by famous Moscow architect Alexander Ivanov. The façade (the only original part of the hotel remaining), is handsome enough, with restored decorative figures overlooking the river, and neoclassical elements. The light and airy lobby makes a refreshing change from the usual five-star ostentation, though the marble columns and floors, elegant furnishings and soothing colour schemes still ooze refined class.
Service and Facilities
10 / 10
Staff are discreet, polite and highly efficient. The Les Clefs d’Or concierge offers guests guided tours of Red Square and other main sights and can make arrangements for theatres, museums, galleries, restaurants and transportation.
Amenities are impressive: on the ground floor is a gift shop and a Truefitt & Hill barber shop. A beauty centre provides provides tailor-made treatments, ranging from anti-ageing to hydrating facials. The basement level has a fitness centre and a sizeable indoor pool with whirlpool baths and saunas. There are 12 conference rooms, the most charming being the eighth-floor Library Room, which has sweeping views across the river and the Kremlin from its balcony.
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Laundry
- Room service
- Pool
- Sauna
- Spa
- Wi-Fi
- Fitness center.
Rooms
9 / 10
The hotel’s rooms and suites are spread across eight floors, have mostly been refurbished over the last few years. There’s a decent variety of rooms: the décor of the remaining un-renovated doubles feels a little staid (with its classic reds and whites) but still generously sized, highly comfortable and come at more affordable rates.
The more recently refurbished rooms include the Grand Deluxe rooms and suites, decked out in soft beiges and royal blues, light-coloured quality woods and marble bathrooms. More impressive are the circular Kremlin suites, which are set in the hotel’s tower and have views right over the Kremlin, and the Red Square suites, which have particularly large black-and-white bathrooms. There are also four suites designed by the likes of Princess Michael of Kent and David Linley, featuring four-poster beds and comfortable chaise longues.
All rooms come with safes, minibars and work desks, as well as Kempinski cosmetics, tubs and robes in the bathrooms. Suites get coffee machines and separate living rooms; all receive complimentary newspapers and mineral water daily.
Food and Drink
9 / 10
The expansive Lobby Lounge bar is a great place to enjoy homemade desserts and pastries, as well as alcoholic beverages and a daily Baltschug High Tea. The pleasant Café Kranzler serves as a bar and lounge, and has a fabulous outdoor terrace for warmer weather, plus a menu of European and Russian dishes, premium steaks, homemade pizza and a signature dish of vareniki (dumplings) with suluguni cheese and champagne sauce and morels.
Breakfast is served at Baltschug Grill. With more than a hundred dishes, including traditional Russian pancakes with red caviar and sour cream, meats, fishes, fruits and mueslis, vegetables and cheeses, hot dishes prepared à la carte, as well as syrniki (quark pancakes) and traditional Russian porridge, you won’t go hungry.
Value for Money
9 / 10
Double rooms from RUB 15,000 (£175) in low season; and from RUB 25,000 (£300) in high. VAT is 18 per cent extra. Breakfast RUB 2500 (£30). Free Wi-Fi.
Access for guests with disabilities?
There is one adapted room and all facilities are accessible for guests with disabilities. A wheelchair is available upon request.
Family-Friendly?
There are connecting rooms and the concierge will make recommendations for families. Mini robes, special cosmetics and a room service menu are given to children.
Ulitsa Baltschug 1, Moscow, 115035, Russia.
00 7 495 287 2000kempinski.com/moscow
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