The Kempinski Hotel Moika 22 St. Petersburg is a throwback to an earlier era, the days a century and a half ago when St. Petersburg was still very much part of Europe; its neoclassical exterior, in fact, was designed by a Dutch architect. These days, as Russia re-assimilates itself, this sort of thing is very much in demand — to this day the restaurants are French, and the tea room serves a traditional English service.
From within the rooms, though, it’s unmistakably St. Petersburg. The views take in the skyline and the Moika river, as well as the Hermitage Museum and the Winter Palace. Interiors pay homage to St. Petersburg’s history as a port city, in rich maritime blues and reds, and the comforts are about as luxe as you’d expect from a five-star hotel in 21st-century Russia — which is to say, very luxe indeed.
Old meets new, perhaps, is the theme, Tsarist Russia re-imagined for the post-Soviet era. There are more modern hotels in town, but few with as much character as the Kempinski Moika 22. The ninth-floor spa has an extraordinary city view, as does the top-floor restaurant — there’s no chance, in this hotel, of forgetting what city you’re in.
author watson@mouselink.net, source www.tablethotels.com
