Here’s looking at Red Square: The view from the Ritz-Carlton Suite
By now most wealth-watchers are well aware of Moscow???s status as the new capital of luxury…well…everything. The new rule: If it is fancy and it is had somewhere else, it must now be available in Moscow.
Early last month, this seemingly unstoppable trend continued with the opening of a long-awaited Ritz-Carlton. This is a brand-new concept for Russia, which goes a long way in explaining why the look and feel is classic all the way, with the designers opting for (a very expensive interpretation of) the brand’s classic wood paneling/lots of marble thing — interestingly, a look that’s being eliminated as fast as possible in other markets.
Set just off Red Square, the hotel is within walking distance of classic Cold War sites such as the Kremlin, the Bolshoi Theater and Lenin???s Tomb. Rising 11 floors from the heart of the Russian capital, 344-room city-unto-itself includes the Moscow’s largest rooms and suites (starting at a whopping 452 square feet), complete with Portuguese marble baths and (mercifully) free Wi-Fi.
Elsewhere on site, there’s a 21,000 square foot/14-room spa, glass-domed indoor swimming pool, a nightclub, a Lobby Lounge with sushi chef and vodka sommelier and 1,800 Russian antique artifacts found from the former Soviet Union Russia.
Of course, most of the local fabu-locracy won???t visit the new property until after their summers in the South of France — hopefully, when they get back, they’ve got some money left for the hotel’s Tsar???s Breakfast, which includes a Kobe beef steak with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and truffle omelet, foie gras ???Au Torchon??? with caramelized apple and pain brioche, Beluga caviar with blinis, sour cream and quail eggs and Italian prosciutto and cheeses — all washed down with fresh juices and a bottle of Crystal champagne. It may be a hefty $700, but that’s pocket money for Moscow’s new-monied oligarchs.
— David Kaufman