Russian hotels regularly top "world's most expensive" lists, so it should come as no surprise that rooms across the country take luxury to new levels.
Here are 10 of the most over-the-top experiences that money — lots of it — can buy.
The Ritz-Carlton, Moscow
Even breathing here can cost a fortune.
Forget vodka. At the O2 Lounge crowning the Ritz-Carlton you can order shots of oxygen to go with your sushi, while looking down on Red Square and the Kremlin.
Rooms come with polished cherrywood furniture, Frette linens, feather bedding and heated marble bathroom floors.
The Ritz-Carlton Suite has a grand piano, library and sauna, as well as drop-dead-gorgeous views of St. Basil's Cathedral.
Gothic iron staircases and black pillars lead to the Lobby Lounge, where the who's who of Russian society eat caviar: beluga, salmon, golden.
The Ritz-Carlton, Moscow, Tverskaya St. 3, Moscow; +7 495 225 888; from RUB 29,000 (US$931) per night; www.ritzcarlton.com
Hotel Baltschug Kempinski, Moscow
Royal designers and majestic views.
The Kempinski isn't only host to royalty, it was in part designed by royalty.
HRH Princess Michael of Kent and David Linley are the talents behind the Princess and Linley suites respectively. The former is decorated with lace and chintz and the latter is done up in a masculine combination of Italian marble and sustainable hardwood furniture.
The breakfast spread in Restaurant Baltschug Grill is one of the most lavish in town — scrambled eggs with caviar, for starters — while the spa offers yoga sessions overlooking the Kremlin, massages incorporating rose quartz and Philippine seashells plus royal grooming treatments by Truefitt & Hill.
Hotel Baltschug Kempinski, Moscow, Ul. Balchug 1, Moscow; +7 495 287 2000; from RUB 21,000 (US$674) per night; www.kempinski.com
Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow
One bath time the kids won't mind.
Book a Russian bath at this Moscow stunner and you'll be presented with a selection of oak, birch and eucalyptus branches for the sauna component of your treatment, followed by a full body peel and organic honey mask and, two hours later, a soap massage.
The bliss continues in Café Ararat, the hotel's Armenian eatery, where delicacies such as ryazhenka and Armenian cognacs are served in a palatial dining room designed with marble columns and traditional carvings.
The Presidential Suite features priceless artworks strung across the living/dining areas and bedroom, replete with a four-poster bed, while the Winter Garden suites have glass walls and rooftop terraces commanding views over the city's Bolshoi Theatre and State Duma.
Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow, Neglinnaya Street, Moscow; +7 495 783 12344; from RUB 25,200 (US$809) per night; moscow.park.hyatt.com
Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya
With all the billionaires it hosts, this much head room is a necessity.
It may be located in one of Moscow's so-called Seven Sisters skyscrapers, built in the 1950s in a Stalinist neoclassical style, but the Leningradskaya is more posh than proletariat.
The heritage lobby has 12-meter-high bronze ceilings draped with enormous chandeliers. Bronze statues, marble pillars and gilded cornices complete the dramatic entrance.
From here, guest rooms are accessed via a sweeping staircase overhung with another chandelier — this staircase was, until recently, the longest of its kind in the world.
The Gothic-style Janus Restaurant is also a festival of marble and dark oak, and offers Russian specialties such as okroshka soup with kefir, sparkling water and vegetables.
Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya, Kalanchevskaya St. 21/40, Moscow; +7 495 627 5550; from RUB 11,700 (US$376) per night; www.hilton.com
Corinthia Hotel St. Petersburg
Museum included.
There's more… read the rest of the article "Russia's Ten Ritziest Hotels" on CNN Travel
