Opened in 1905, the Metropol Hotel is situated on Theatre Square in the historic heart of Moscow. Like the other grand hotels of the era, the Metropol set the standard in its city for luxury and service. It was the first hotel in Moscow to have hot water and telephones in the rooms, international cuisine in the restaurants, and an American bar off the lobby. Thus, within days of its opening, the Metropol became the preferred stomping ground not only for cosmopolitan travelers, but for the glamorous and well-to-do of the city.
In Amor Towles' novel A Gentleman in Moscow, fiction melds with reality at the Russian capital's Metropol Hotel. The century-old Metropol is where the gentleman of the title, Count Rostov, spends more than 30 years after being condemned in 1922 to life under house arrest for being an unrepentant aristocrat.
Rostov has charmed readers around the world, and the Metropol is now sharing in the count's success by offering guests A Gentleman in Moscow atmosphere.
