Travel Notes

Future Hotels for High Flyers

THE FAMOUS

Petrovsky Palace, located on Moscow’s Leningradsky prospekt, across from the Aerostar hotel, is set to become a VIP hotel owned by the Moscow city government. 

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov wants to make the main building a place for receptions, while the wings will be turned into deluxe rooms. However, as Itogi weekly pointed out, if the hotel is to meet international classifications of “deluxe,” it must offer all the requisite comforts, including a swimming pool. But  Catherine the Great, who built the palace 200 years ago, did not include a swimming pool in the palace’s design. 

While the city government finalizes plans for the VIP hotel, the previous occupants are moving out. Since 1923, the Russian Air Force’s Aero-Engineering Academy named for Zhukovsky has resided in the palace. 

The palace was built in 1775-1782 and designed by the famous Russian architect Matvey Kazakov. Catherine the Great stayed at the palace two times – in 1785 and 1787. Tsars and tsarinas visiting Moscow from St. Petersburg typically rested at the palace overnight before making their formal entry to the Kremlin. Thus, the palace is often referred to as the Petrovsky Transit Palace. 

In 1923, under a direct order from Leo Trotsky, the Palace was given to the Air Force. In February 1998, a decree of President Yeltsin handed the Palace over to Moscow. 

MEANWHILE, Marriott was set to open its second Moscow hotel in November, the Aurora Marriott hotel, located on Petrovka street. The upscale hotel will have 228 rooms, two restaurants, meeting facilities and modern business communications capabilities. Room rates begin at $350 per night.

Defensive driving 

is the watchword when on Russian roads. Russia’s accident and accident fatality rates are nearly three times that of Western Europe, according to Vladimir Fyodorov, chief of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate. To begin with, the number of car accidents in Russia is on the rise, growing by 1.7% in the first eight months of this year, to total 26,661. Meanwhile, during the same period, the number of car-related deaths and injuries grew by 3.3%. Russia now counts 31 accidents per 10,000 vehicles, compared with Europe’s average of 11 to 12. What is worse, as many as 13 of every 100 victims of Russian car accidents die, compared with just four in 100 in Europe as a whole.

A NEW FORM for Russian citizens’ invitation of foreign citizens to visit Russia was introduced through a resolution of the Russian government. Moskovsky Komsomolets quoted the Consular Service of the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying that, from now on, all invitations must be printed on a standardized state form, which will be handed over to potential hosts by the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry and OVIR. This form will bear different degrees of protection against counterfeiting (in the past, all invitations could be written in free form, without specific standards). In addition, all Russian hosts must guarantee that the foreign guest will have a problem-free stay and depart Russia before their visa expires.

SPEAKING OF VISAS, 

the Parliamentary Assembly that is discussing and planning an economic and political union of Belarus and Russia has approved the first draft of a document setting a visa and border policy for the combined states. It envisions a common border and a visa for travelers that would be valid on the entire territory of present day Russia and Belarus.

IN THE WINTER, 

Alaska Airlines normally cuts back on its routes and the number of flights it makes to the Russian Far East. Enter Anchorage-based Reeve Aleutian Airways. The company offers weekly charter service for passengers and cargo between Anchorage and the cities of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. For more information, contact Reeve at 4700 W. International Airport Rd., Anchorage, AK 99502, ph. 907-243-1112