Antique Hotel Rachmaninov
Author: Anothertravelguide.com1 COMMENT
The location is ideal - a stone's throw from the Kazan Cathedral and the Vanity luxury shopping centre the rooftop of which houses currently one of the most popular panoramic restaurants in St Petersburg - Terrassa. The building hosting Antique Hotel Rachmaninov is the house where the world-renowned composer Sergey Rachmaninov spent his childhood years. (His former flat, now restored in keeping with the spirit of the time, is now the luxury suite of Hotel Rachmaninov. The dining room, featuring authentic 19th century furniture, is remarkable for its charming if somewhat museum-like atmosphere; ambience-wise it is definitely one of the best rooms in the hotel. The rooms (25 of them) are comparatively small (some with a view of the yard) - just the required minimum of comfort, no more than that - clean, yet touched by the inescapable patina of time. On the other hand, the combination of the price, location and quality is more than acceptable. The hotel lobby and passages are decorated with black-and-white photographs by artists represented at the downstairs Rachmaninov Dvorik gallery which features mostly works by the young St Petersburg photographers.
5 Kazanskaya
www.hotelrachmaninov.com
Your comments
Kate Miller
Visited: 1 - 7, April 2010
That was our first visit to Russia, Saint-Petersburg and we were very excited! Our Russian daughter (our son’s wife) was born here. We are so grateful we had the opportunity to visit such a wonderful city! We were looking for a hotel near the center, so it would be convenient to see all the sights. Looking through the big list of hotels, we noticed this hotel with the melodious name, “Rachmaninov”. Our family knows this great composer very well, and since he immigrated to America and lived there for 15 years we proudly acknowledge him as an American composer as well.
Our week in Saint-Petersburg was magnificent! Our stay in the hotel was perfect as well.
It felt like living in the beginning of the 20th century. The interior design reflects that epoch really well. The architecture was very old fashioned and was full of antique things.
But the most amazing thing about our stay was that we lived in the museum, in Rachmaninov’s memorial room. We were amazed how the hotel’s owners drew a line between music and painting. Famous artists, our contemporaries listening to Rachmaninov’s music and sensing him, reflected their feelings and emotions, using the hotel’s doors as canvases of their paintings. And we could See Rachmaninov and all his passion through that.
Amazing that it’s not only about hotel’s interior design. There is a painting exhibition in the hall of the hotel w here you can find works by modern conceptual artists. You also can buy them for your home collection.
Sometimes in the evenings we would sit in the guest room and would play grand piano with great pleasure.
We would like to thank the administration of the hotel for the atmosphere of the old Saint-Petersburg that they give to their guests.
Miller Family, AZ, USA