Hotel National

Hotel National stands at the point where Tverskaya Street meets Mokhovaya Street, directly across from the Kremlin walls and the Alexander Garden. Opened in 1903, it is one of the two surviving grand hotels of pre-revolutionary Moscow, with the Metropol, and the one with the closest view of the Kremlin towers. The building is a federal cultural heritage site, and its rooms are furnished with antique pieces rather than reproductions.

History

The hotel was built for the Varvarinskoye joint-stock company between 1901 and 1903 to the design of the architect Alexander Ivanov, and it opened in 1903 as one of the most expensive hotels in the city. Its position at the top of Tverskaya made it the address of choice for visiting industrialists and diplomats in the last years of the empire.

In March 1918 the Soviet government left Petrograd for Moscow and the National became the First House of Soviets. Lenin and Nadezhda Krupskaya lived in room 107 for the first days after their arrival, before moving into the Kremlin. The hotel later housed foreign guests of the Soviet state and reopened to ordinary travellers in the 1930s. During the Soviet period a large ceramic panel of industrial scenes replaced the original decoration on the corner facade, and it is still in place.

The building closed in 1991 for a four-year reconstruction and reopened in 1995 with its interiors restored. Marriott operated it under The Luxury Collection label from 2009 until the group left Russia in 2022, since when it has been run by its owner, the Safmar group.

Architecture and design

Ivanov's design is eclectic in the manner of the 1900s, mixing classical columns and pediments with Art Nouveau ironwork and a rounded corner that turns towards Manezhnaya Square. The entrance leads to a marble staircase and a lobby with original stained glass. The upper floors hold a collection of antique furniture, clocks and paintings, much of it moved into the hotel from aristocratic houses after 1917, which gives the suites their particular character.

Rooms and suites

The hotel has about 200 rooms and suites. The rooms on the Mokhovaya side and at the corner look straight at the Kremlin, the State Historical Museum and the domes of the Cathedral of the Annunciation, and these views are the main reason to choose the National over its neighbours. Several historic suites keep their original plans and are furnished with period pieces.

Dining

The hotel's main restaurant occupies the first floor on the Kremlin side, with windows along Mokhovaya Street, and there is a lobby bar and a cafe. The restaurant's terrace rooms are used for breakfast with a view of the Kremlin towers.

Wellness

The hotel has an indoor swimming pool and a fitness centre, unusual in a building of this age in the historic centre.

Weddings and events

The National hosts weddings and meetings in its historic halls on the first floor, which face the Kremlin, and in smaller rooms suited to board meetings and private dinners. Wedding photographs are taken on the staircase and at the corner windows.

Location

The hotel is at Mokhovaya Street 15/1, at the foot of Tverskaya Street. Red Square is three minutes on foot, the Bolshoi Theatre five, and Okhotny Ryad metro station is at the door. The Aeroexpress train links Belorussky station, two metro stops away, to Sheremetyevo airport.