Hotel Astoria (Saint Petersburg)
| Hotel Astoria | |
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| General information | |
| Location | Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Opened | December 23, 1912 |
| Owner | Rocco Forte Hotels |
| Management | Rocco Forte Hotels |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Fyodor Lidval |
| Developer | Palace Hotel Company |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 213 |
| Number of suites | 52 |
| Number of restaurants | 2 |
| Website | |
| thehotelastoria.com | |
Hotel Astoria (Russian: гости́ница «Асто́рия») is a five-star hotel in Saint Petersburg, Russia, that first opened in December 1912. It has 213 bedrooms, including 52 suites, and is located on Saint Isaac's Square, next to Saint Isaac's Cathedral and across from the historic Imperial German Embassy. Hotel Astoria, along with its neighboring sister hotel, Angleterre Hotel, is owned and managed by Rocco Forte Hotels and is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. The hotel underwent a complete refurbishment in 2002.
The Astoria was commissioned in 1910 by the Palace Hotel Company, based in the UK, which owned the land. It was designed by Russo-Swedish architect Fyodor Lidval, who developed a style based on Art Nouveau and also influenced by neoclassicism. The hotel was constructed by the German firm of Wais and Freitag.
It was built to host tourists visiting Russia for the Romanov tercentenary, a huge celebration of 300 years of Russian imperial rule in May 1913. Hotel Astoria opened on December 23, 1912. The luxurious hotel was used during the celebrations to house guests of the imperial family, and was afterwards popular with the aristocracy.Rasputin was said to stay there with some of his married lovers.
The Astoria soon proved such a success that the neighboring Angleterre Hotel was set for demolition for a huge expansion of the Astoria designed by Lidval, mirroring the existing building. However, the outbreak of World War I prevented this.
After the Russian Revolution, the Hotel Astoria housed members of the Communist Party. Lenin spoke from its balcony in 1919. During World War II, the hotel served as a field hospital during the Siege of Leningrad.Adolf Hitler reportedly planned to hold a victory banquet in the hotel's Winter Garden. He was so convinced Leningrad would fall quickly that invitations to the event were printed in advance.
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Wikipedia