Coordinates: 55°45′24″N 37°37′00″E / 55.75667°N 37.6166667°E / 55.75667; 37.6166667

View of the eastern facade from Manege Square.

The Hotel Moskva name has been used for two identical buildings on the same spot in Moscow, Russia located near Red Square in close proximity to the old City Hall. The first Hotel Moskva was originally constructed from 1932 until 1938, it opened as a hotel in December, 1935. Designed by Alekseĭ Viktorovich Shchusev, it was built to be one of Moscow's finest hotels and was lavishly detailed with works of art and mosaics by some of the finest artists of the Soviet Union. The old hotel was demolished in 2004 for a modern reproduction with underground parking and other features not necessary in the 1930s. It is scheduled to open in 2009.

The lobby of the hotel contained an entrance to the Metro's Okhotny Ryad station.

[edit] Old Hotel

The old hotel was notable for its use of two different designs for the wings off of the central structure. The most popular explanation is that Shchusev submitted two different designs for the wings of the building, with the intention that Stalin would select one of the designs when he authorized the plans. However, he simply signed off the blueprints, likely failing to take note of the two choices. This confused the builders, and afraid to make the bold move of informing Stalin that he had failed to select a design, they simply constructed one wing of each on either side of the building. One design included large windows and a more ornate facade, while the other maintained smaller windows and the simpler details of the rest of the hotel's facade.[1]

The label of Stolichnaya vodka includes a drawing of the old hotel.[2]

[edit] New Hotel - 2009

A modern replica is currently being constructed. It replaces the multiple facades of the old hotel with a more rational implementation of Shchusev's submitted designs, with one of the two designs originally proposed for the wings being used, rather than the both of them. The construction of the new building topped-out on April 3, 2007 and construction of the interiors and the facade will continue through 2009.[3] The new hotel will be run by the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts chain. The new hotel will follow Shchusev's plans as accurately as possible.

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