Raffles to Enter Moscow, Paris

Raffles Hotels & Resorts has gotten a foothold in Moscow; it will open a 130-room hotel in the Kitay-Gorod district three minutes from Red Square in 2011. The hotel is being developed from what was the former private residence in the mid-17th century; it subsequently was extended to include shops and furnished apartments.

Not surprisingly, Raffles Moscow will be all luxury; it will include a RafflesAmrita Spa, which will be one of Moscow’s largest, as well as six restaurants and bars and an indoor pool.

The hotel will be part of a larger development that will include apartments, galleries and an 18th-century Russian Orthodox Church. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company opened a hotel in Moscow last year to great success, according to sources.

Raffles, meanwhile, previously announced it will open a hotel in Paris to manage Le Royal Monceau hotel, which is currently undergoing a major refurbishment.

Visit www.raffles.com.