History

The Metropol was originally envisioned by Savva Mamontov — a celebrated patron of the arts and owner of Russia’s first private opera company — as a “theatre with a hotel.” Mamontov sought to create a true palace of the arts in the heart of Moscow, directly across from the Bolshoi Theatre: a vast complex with a three-thousand-seat auditorium, art galleries, a grand hotel and a first-class restaurant.

To bring this ambitious idea to life, Mamontov assembled leading creative minds of the era. He invited architect William Walcot, as well as prominent artists including Mikhail Vrubel, Nikolai Andreyev and many others. An open architectural competition was held, with the winning design submitted by Nikolai Shevyakov and Lev Kekushev. However, the commission ultimately went to the English architect William Walcot, whose project had originally placed fourth.

Later, when Mamontov was no longer a shareholder and the concept evolved from a “theatre with a hotel” into a “hotel with a restaurant,” Shevyakov and Kekushev returned to the project, working alongside Walcot. Mamontov continued to attract the finest artists of his generation — among them Vrubel, Andreyev, Sergei Chekhonin and Alexander Golovin — entrusting them with the design of the Metropol’s faсades and interiors.

When the Metropol opened in January 1905, it immediately became a magnet for Muscovites. Crowds gathered in front of the building, lingering to study its unusual and striking appearance: the majolica panels by Vrubel and Golovin, the sculptural friezes by Nikolai Andreyev, the decorative vases by Pyotr Vaulin, the curved balustrades and, above them, the enormous glass dome engineered by Vladimir Shukhov. People tried to decipher the Nietzsche quote running across the façade — nothing of this kind had ever appeared in Moscow before.

1. The most prominent element of the Metropol’s exterior is the “Princess of Dreams” (“Princess Greza”), a large ceramic panel repeating Mikhail Vrubel’s painting based on Edmond Rostand’s play. The original work — commissioned by Savva Mamontov for the Nizhny Novgorod Fair — had been poorly received by the public. As a reminder to those “ignorant of art,” Mamontov transferred the composition into majolica and placed it on the hotel façade for all to see.

2. Alongside “Princess of Dreams,” more than a dozen colorful panels of various sizes decorate the exterior. Many of these are works by Alexander Golovin and Sergei Chekhonin, including majolica compositions such as Thirst, Life, and Worship of Nature.

3. Beneath the windows and balconies of the fourth floor runs a quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche: “It is an old story once again — when you build a house, you realize you have learned something.”

4. At the same level, the building is encircled by The Seasons, a sculptural frieze created by Nikolai Andreyev.

When the Metropol opened in early 1905, it represented the height of modern comfort: electric lighting, hot running water, telephones in every room and newly installed elevators. Its grand restaurant, able to accommodate up to two thousand guests, quickly became a centerpiece of Moscow’s social life. Under the direction of the celebrated French chef Édouard Nignon, it attracted prominent families such as the Ryabushinskys, Morozovs and Stakheyevs, and hosted memorable banquets marking events like Sergei Diaghilev’s departure abroad or the anniversaries of The Golden Fleece. In the hotel’s famous Winter Garden, long tables were arranged for hundreds of guests, and some of the most spectacular parties in pre-revolutionary Moscow took place there.

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 brought inevitable changes. One floor of the hotel was converted into a hospital, and in the restaurant a collection mug was presented with the bill to gather donations for the army. Yet the Metropol remained one of the city’s social centers; although retail alcohol sales were banned across Moscow, the hotel restaurant — then owned by a consortium of wine merchants — continued to serve champagne and cognac.

The year 1917 transformed the Metropol dramatically. During the October Revolution, Junkers loyal to the Provisional Government barricaded themselves inside the building, turning it into a fortress and defending the approaches to the City Duma and Red Square from advancing Red Guards. Artillery shelling left the hotel with shattered windows, damaged majolica panels and walls pitted with bullet marks. Even so, life inside the besieged hotel did not fully stop: rooms with boarded-up windows remained occupied, the kitchen continued working and dinners were still served.

Contemporary witnesses left vivid accounts of those days. One recalled: “The scene was terrifying. Shells kept hitting the walls of the hotel, exploding with an incredible crack. Bricks, iron, glass flew from the walls onto the sidewalk. It seemed as if someone was crushing a strongly ringing object in some giant mortar.”

Among the civilians unexpectedly trapped in the building was Tomáš Masaryk — later the founder of independent Czechoslovakia. He spent six days inside the fortified hotel and later wrote: “I ended up in the famous Metropol Hotel, which the Junkers had turned into a makeshift fortress. I spent six hard days there under Bolshevik siege. When the Junkers quietly left, and the next day the Bolsheviks took the fortress-hotel, I was chosen as a spokesman by the foreigners, while the Russians chose a Pole — none of them dared to take that role.”

In early 1918, when the government of the new Soviet Russia moved to Moscow, the organs of state power were temporarily housed in the city’s finest hotels. The Metropol was assigned to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), the Soviet parliament, as well as several people’s commissariats, including the Commissariats for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. The new elite also settled here: in the former luxury suites lived party and government leaders such as Bukharin, Sverdlov, Antonov-Ovseenko, Chicherin and Krylenko, while more modest rooms and former private dining rooms converted into dormitories housed commissariat staff and their families. The head of VTsIK, Yakov Sverdlov, lived and worked in the Metropol, and the grand hotel effectively became a dormitory under a new name — the Second House of Soviets. The Winter Garden was turned into the VTsIK meeting hall (Lenin often spoke there), and the former American Bar became a canteen. One of the façades was even updated with a Lenin quote: “Only the dictatorship of the proletariat is capable of freeing humanity from the yoke of capital.”

Yet even in this new role, the Metropol did not completely cease to function as a hotel. Diplomats and foreign merchants still needed somewhere to stay, and the Soviet authorities had to share the building. The restaurant also continued to operate: food was obtained by every possible means, and even in times of famine it remained open — though guests were sometimes required to pay in gold. During the years of the New Economic Policy, when VTsIK moved to more suitable premises, the restaurant returned under Sergei Chekhonin’s glass ceilings in the Fountain Hall and once again became one of the most luxurious venues in Moscow.

Alongside party and Soviet officials, accommodation vouchers for the Metropol were also issued to artists who had managed to find work in Soviet institutions. Among them were poets Rurik Ivin, Anatoly Marienhof and Osip Mandelstam. Sergei Yesenin often visited the Second House of Soviets — calling on friends and dining in the restaurant. In 1923, together with a group of fellow Imaginists, he opened the literary café Kalosha inside the Metropol.

In 1925, the Fountain Hall of the Second House of Soviets hosted the First International Chess Tournament, featuring the reigning world champion from Cuba, José Raúl Capablanca. Around two thousand people attended the games each day. Those who could not get into the hall gathered outside the Metropol’s entrance and followed the moves by radio; the crowds grew so large that traffic on Theatre Passage had to be stopped. The seemingly invincible Capablanca finished only third; first place went to the Soviet champion Efim Bogoljubov. During the tournament, director Vsevolod Pudovkin shot his debut film Chess Fever, in which Capablanca appeared as himself.

In April 1929, the Soviet government established Intourist, a state-owned joint-stock company responsible for attracting and hosting foreign visitors. Its creation marked a decisive shift in the USSR’s attitude toward international tourism: foreign currency was urgently needed for the country’s industrialization, and the authorities were prepared to do everything necessary to bring that currency in. Around the same time, the finest pre-revolutionary hotels were consolidated into a single Hotel trust, which became part of Intourist in 1933. Naturally, the Metropol could no longer remain a dormitory for Soviet officials. It once again assumed its original purpose — the leading hotel of Moscow.

During these decades, the Metropol welcomed some of the most famous figures of global culture and politics. Among its guests were Bernard Shaw, Bertolt Brecht, Henri Barbusse, John Steinbeck, Marlene Dietrich, Claudia Cardinale, Jean Marais, Marcello Mastroianni and the pianist Van Cliburn. Returning émigrés such as Alexander Kuprin, Sergei Prokofiev and Alexander Vertinsky also lived here. In 1950, Joseph Stalin hosted a reception in the hotel’s Red Hall in honor of Mao Zedong to celebrate the signing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty.

Remarkably, until the mid-1960s, apartments occupied by families who had settled in the Metropol during its time as the Second House of Soviets still remained inside the hotel. For years, two parallel worlds existed under one roof — Muscovites living ordinary domestic lives and foreign visitors arriving from abroad. Among the hotel’s long-term residents was the celebrated writer Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, whose book The Little Girl from the Metropol recalls her childhood spent within its walls. In the 1940s the singers Vadim Kozin and Alexander Vertinsky lived here as well.

From June 1948 to March 1949, the Israeli Embassy operated from the hotel’s third floor. Golda Meir — the first ambassador of the new state and later its prime minister — also lived in the Metropol. She later wrote: “It was a hotel for foreigners, and it felt like a relic of another era. Large rooms with glass candelabras, long velvet curtains, heavy plush armchairs — and even a piano in one of the rooms.”

From 1986 to 1991 the hotel closed for a major reconstruction. Extensive historical and architectural research preceded the work, and the country’s best restoration specialists were involved. The careful restoration of the unique historical interiors allowed the Metropol to preserve its individuality, while complete technical modernization transformed it into one of the first hotels in Russia to achieve five-star status. With this renewal, the Metropol once again secured its place among the world’s leading hotels.

In August 2012, after nearly a century of state ownership, the Metropol once again became a private hotel. The following year, a new management team led by General Manager Dominique Godat launched an ambitious, full-scale renovation aimed at transforming the Metropol into one of the world’s most modern luxury hotels while carefully preserving its historic character.

In 2013, chef Andrey Shmakov took charge of the hotel’s culinary direction. His talent and vision soon brought the Metropol recognition from leading international gastronomic guides, including Gault & Millau and La Liste. In 2015, the restaurant SAVVA opened on the site of the former American Bar, offering contemporary Russian cuisine and quickly becoming one of Moscow’s most acclaimed dining destinations.

In 2017, the Metropol announced the completion of the first of three major renovation phases, unveiling 28 newly restored rooms. Their interiors were recreated based on original early-20th-century designs, while their functionality and amenities met the highest modern standards of international luxury hospitality. One year later, the hotel’s historical main entrance reopened: for the first time since 1905, guests could once again approach the Metropol from Revolution Square (formerly Voskresenskaya Square), just as they had at its grand opening.

By 2019, the number of renovated rooms had reached 70, offering guests a wide selection ranging from updated Executive Rooms to spacious Ambassador Suites. At the same time, the hotel continued to preserve its rare historic rooms with original early-20th-century interiors — maintaining the unique heritage that has defined the Metropol for more than a century.

In October 2020, following an extensive renovation, the SAVVA restaurant reopened and, just a year later, became one of the first in Russia to earn a Michelin star — a global symbol of culinary excellence. During the same period, the hotel launched Metropol Delivery, bringing its signature gastronomic traditions closer to Moscow residents.

In 2023, the Shalyapin Bar reopened after a renovation. The updated Grand Lobby & Bar blends early-20th-century elegance with modern mixology. Its cocktail menu, created in collaboration with the renowned El Copitas Bar (The World’s 50 Best Bars 2021), is inspired by key moments in Feodor Chaliapin’s life.

In 2025, marking the hotel’s 120th anniversary, Metropol introduced a new collection of Author Suites, including the Representative, Grand Superior, Deluxe, and Deluxe Suite categories, with Premier Suites soon to follow. Designed by the international studio Denniston under Jean-Michel Gathy, the interiors combine modern style with bespoke elements, vaulted ceilings, crystal lighting, and a refined color palette. Rooms are equipped with smart-home technology, spacious marble bathrooms, and premium appliances; higher categories feature living rooms and walk-in closets. Several suites offer views of the Kremlin and the Bolshoi Theatre, while three unique rooms include private patios.

The 120th anniversary became a major milestone. In June 2025, the hotel hosted a gala dinner featuring a multimedia performance about Metropol’s history and a special musical program attended by prominent cultural figures, artists, and media representatives.

Thus, the years 2020–2025 marked a period of renewal and growth for the Metropol, reinforcing its status as a historic yet forward-thinking hotel that continues to develop its hospitality traditions and set new standards of luxury.