It’s much too early to be arriving at a hotel. My watch says 4.30am and I’ve just landed at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport for a long week in Russia’s capital city.
One of Moscow's exclusive shopping centres
The concierge at the Ararat Park Hyatt has organised for a Mercedes to transfer me. We glide effortlessly through the towering suburbs before arriving near to Red Square. The driver turns left at the HsUM store and we’re there.
“Good morning Mr Richardson,” says the night manager, as I step from the car. “We are delighted that you are here.”
He takes my bags, escorts me to the lift and installs me in Room 517. There is a bowl of fresh fruit, a guide to the hotel and security passes to get me in and out of various rooms.
The night manager asks if he can be of further assistance before adding: “Though, I am sure, after your flight you will just want to sleep.” If he were being scored for service and charm, he’d get 10 out of 10.
A solider patrols the Kremlin
Moscow is a beguiling and intriguing city that is rapidly becoming one of Europe’s must-visit destinations. The fall of the Iron Curtain and its embrace of Western-style commerce has transformed its fortunes.
Today, it is one of the world’s richest and most glamorous cities, a playground for discerning travellers who want to immerse themselves in history, culture, art and the world’s finest shops.
The Ararat is one of the city’s finest hotels, a haven for businessmen and women as well as travellers looking to luxuriate between sightseeing excursions, dinners and city tours.
It is located in the heart of Moscow, in the immediate vicinity of the Bolshoi Theatre and only a few minutes’ walk from the Kremlin, Red Square, the Parliament of Russia and Moscow’s central business district.
It’s a world-class, beautifully appointed venue that oozes class. Being a fan of fine food, I made the most of the hotel’s restaurants, enjoying delicious European-style platters in the Park Restaurant before indulging in my number one foodie passion, sashimi, in a ground-floor lounge-cum-eaterie.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
The Ararat’s many other charms – shopping arcades, an exceptional gym and sauna, a business centre and more besides – would have been enough to keep me entertained for three full days.
However, I was determined to explore the city and visit iconic sites. Red Square did not disappoint. The cavernous space was enclosed by St Basil’s Cathedral, the Kremlin, the Lenin Mausoleum and the GUM department store.
The GUM store is indicative of the change that Russia has undergone. Once it was filled with bric-a-brac and clutter. It was a chaotic store filled with items that down-at-heel Muscovites queued for. Today it is the city’s equivalent to Harrods and bursts with designer names like Dior, Hugo Boss and others.
The Kremlin is like nothing else on earth. It has the same gigantic size of, say, France’s Palace of Versailles, and queues of tourists line up early each morning to get in.
St Basil’s Cathedral looks like a collection of upturned tutti frutti ice cream cones. It is at the heart of Russian culture and during my tour around it I marvelled at the choral singers who performed an angelic liturgy.
There was plenty more to see. Near to the Ararat Park Hyatt is the HsUM store, which is even more opulent and extravagant than the GUM. I rooted around for bargains during a 50 per cent off sale but, despite the discount, found myself unable to part with £300 for a pair of shoes.
Further away from the centre were sights like the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. The ground floor was packed with antiquities and byzantine art, gothic and renaissance art and a number of masterpieces.
The first floor, meanwhile, groaned beneath the weight of post-impressionist and modernist pieces by greats like Picasso, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gaugin and the Russian-Jewish artist Chagall.
A mile further out, I found the Tolstoy House. It had been maintained in the style that Count Lev Tolstoy and his large family would have enjoyed. The rooms in which he wrote masterworks like War and Piece and Anna Karenina provided great inspiration.
All too soon, I was back at the Ararat Park Hyatt for my Mercedes ride back to Domodedovo Airport. In my brief time in Moscow, I’d fallen in love with the city. Despite the communication obstacles caused by a different language and alphabet, I’d been enthralled.
TRAVEL FACTS
Rates for rooms at the Ararat Park Hyatt vary, according to length of stay and time of year. Prices are typically around £300 per night. For further details visit http://moscow.park.hyatt.com, email moscow.park@hyatt.com or write to Ararat Park Hyatt, 4 Neglinnaya Street, Moscow, 10912, Russia.
Flights to Moscow are available from Birmingham from £157 including taxes from Swiss International Airlines. Air France operates a route from £192. Other carriers include Lufthansa, Flybe, BMI British, British Airways and Brussels Airline.
You also need to obtain a visa and prices vary according to the company you use and whether you need your visa in a hurry. You should also obtain a letter from the hotel in which you are staying, confirming your trip, which makes it easier to process your visa. We used www.russiavisa24.co.uk
Share this article:
What are these?