Moscow Swissotel gets down to business

MOSCOW -- From the panoramic City Space Bar and Lounge high atop the new Swissotel Krasnye Holmy, Moscow spreads out in a 360-degree arc.

The view encompasses an illuminated Red Square, the gilded onion domes of Orthodox cathedrals and Joseph Stalins stolid Seven Sisters, massive skyscrapers the Soviet dictator built in 1947 on the 800th anniversary of the citys founding.

If Uncle Joes broad-beamed architectural Plain Janes represent the Moscow of the Cold War, the Swissotel Krasnye Holmy is the hot new kid on the block, all sleek, spiffed up and ready to tend to business.

At 34 floors the tallest hotel in town, the Swissotel, which opened last July, constitutes a glass-and-steel-clad spindle of 235 rooms, two restaurants and three bars, the most spectacular of which is the City Space, a top-floor aerie where fine Russian vodkas such as Kauffman and Yuri Dolgoruki are the lifeblood of an inchoate social scene.

City Space -- with its panoramic, glass-enclosed exposure and its welcoming intimacy, seating only 40 patrons -- succeeds in both wowing hotel guests and enticing the young Russian capitalists who work and live nearby to stop in for beluga caviar graced with herb blini -- at $115 a pop.

Part of the expanding Swissotel portfolio and managed by Raffles International, the Krasnye Holmy is located on the eastern tip of Kremlin Island, between the narrows of the Moscow River and the Obvodny Channel adjacent to the Kosmodamianskaya Embankment.

The location -- the Kremlin and Red Square are about two miles, or a 40-minute stroll, away -- appears to cut two ways.

Although the neighborhood is touted as the new business and culture district of Moscow, meaning the hotel should thus attract a representative group of business travelers to fill its rooms, its distance from the citys primary tourist attractions, such as Red Square and the Kremlin museums, may be a drawback for first-time leisure visitors.

Our neighborhood caters more to businesspeople, acknowledged Waike Papke, the hotels director of sales and marketing.

Not only are a large number of office buildings located in the vicinity, but the city ... is about to build a shopping and entertainment mall at the Paveletsky train station, only a few steps away from the hotel.

Construction should begin in the second half of this year, Papke added.

The property is well outfitted to serve the needs of the business class. Standard in-room amenities include a large desk; ergonomic chairs; free high-speed wireless Internet access; telephone with international direct dialing and voicemail; electronic safe; and the convenience of a 220-volt electric current.

Creature comforts, meanwhile, include king-size beds with feather comforters; espresso machines; flat-panel TVs; heated marble bathroom floors; stall showers and separate baths; 24-hour room service; and access to the hotels 19th-floor Executive Club Lounge for guests booking posher Swiss Business Advantage rooms.

As luxurious as rooms are, guests can enjoy further pampering at the hotels Amrita Spa -- the perfect antidote to a cold and snowy Russian winter afternoon.

Treatments range from facials and body wraps to scrubs and soothers. Kersten Florian cosmetics and skin-care treatments are the spas products of choice. 

With two excellent restaurants -- Concerto and Cafe Suisse -- on property, famished guests at the Krasnye Holmy dont have far to go to enjoy fine dining.

Concerto features Italian cuisine, from classics like minestrone soup and spaghetti with white clam sauce to the more adventurous risotto with pistachio and prawns in a beetroot sauce. The top ticket on the menu is $55 for a grilled fish platter.

The more casual Cafe Suisse, on the third floor, features a range of dishes, among them an assortment of Russian appetizers that includes blinis with black or red caviar as well as grilled meats and seafood. Imported lamp chops, at $31, top the pricing.

Guests can work off those rich Russian meals at the hotel fitness center, which features a swimming pool with hydromassage and Jacuzzi, Cybex exercisers and weight trainers, four treatment rooms, a sauna and a solarium.

For functions, the Krasnye Holmy offers several well-equipped conference rooms on the ground floor, as well as additional venues on the 29th floor that feature floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.

In a pinch, the facilities of the adjacent Moscow International House of Music, linked to the hotel by a covered walkway, are available for larger functions.

None of the above comes cheap, as you might expect in a high-cost global city such as Moscow. Rack rates start at $500.

But Papke said that weekend rates, starting at $295 per night for a double room with breakfast on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, can be quite attractive.

The Swissotel Krasnye Holmy is also represented in the programs of several international tour operators and travel groups, such as Exeter International and the Ensemble Travel Hotel and Resort Collection, she said.

Visit www.moscow.swissotel.com for more information.

To contact reporter Joe Rosen, send e-mail to [email protected].