A book in the series THE MOST FAMOUS HOTELS IN THE WORLD presents the exciting story of the Grand Hotel Europe.
Ever since it opened its doors in 1875, it has stood as testimony to the excellence of Russian hospitality. The tsarists regarded it as their playground, the Communists turned it into the 'House of the Soviet Clerk' and perestroika changed it into Russia's first five-star hotel.
Tchaikovsky spent his honeymoon there, for Turgenev there was no better place in the whole of St Petersburg, Rasputin dined there, George Bernard Shaw met Maxim Gorky in a private dining room, Dmitri Shostakovitch played a sonata for Sergey Prokofiev in his suite, Elton John performed at the restaurant, Bill Clinton enjoyed it as much when President of the United States as years later, when he arrived as a private person. Jane Fonda cooked her own food in her suite. Queen ElizabethII praised the hotel's kitchen.
This is the tale of a fascinating city and the story of Russia's oldest grand hotel.

A book on the history of the Grand Hotel Europe is now available both in Russian and English languages.  The second revised and updated edition is published by the Austrian publisher Andreas Augustin and uses materials from St. Petersburg historian Igor Bogdanov, author of three books on the history of the hotel.  The book relates not only the 130-year history of our legendary hotel, inextricably linked with the fate of Russia's greatest figures, but also describes the hotel as it is today.  The limited edition book is leather-bound and may be purchased at the Grand Hotel Europe.