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Once dubbed the ‘Second House of the Soviets’ and a one-time host to Michael Jackson, Moscow’s Hotel Metropol has been sold at auction for 8 billion roubles (£174 million).
Hotel Metropol was put up for auction as part of Moscow city government’s privatisation program.
Okhotny Ryad Deluxe, on behalf of founder and owner of hotel chain AZIMUT Hotels Alexander Klyachin, was the successful bidder, with only the second bid of the auction.
Despite, or perhaps because of the notoriety regarding its lack of hotel rooms, Moscow is an attractive market for high-end hoteliers and, with the Bolshoi Theatre and Red Square in the immediate vicinity, Hotel Metropol is about as attractive as it gets.
Upon its opening in 1901, the hotel was seen as a symbol of Russia’s growing prosperity. Fast forward not two-decades and it had been appropriated to become a headquarters for Vladimir Lenin and his government following the Soviets’ move from St. Petersburg to Moscow.
Metropol was converted back into a hotel before the Second World War, during which time it served as both a home and office to almost all the foreign journalists who were allowed to work in the USSR.
All of the antique furnishings and paintings currently housed in Hotel Metropol will be removed and distributed to museums.
