Mystery of the Disappearing Fountain
The Shalyapin bar at the Metropol Hotel is the most famous bar in Moscow. In the 1920s and 1930s, it was the haunt of the notoriously pro-Stalin New York Times journalist, Walter Duranty. Duranty held court there, leaning on a stick to take the weight off his peg-leg, while he pontificated to other journalists and anyone who would listen about the glories of the Soviet Union.
These days there are not many foreign journalists in Moscow, and probably their expense accounts do not stretch to Metropol prices. But if they ever return, they will find the Shalyapin bar reborn.
A friend just back from Moscow has provided some pictures of the new bar:
This is what the old bar looked like - a dark and unwelcoming corner by the side entrance:
Since Covid and western sanctions over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine have reduced the number of Western tourists, the hotel has been undergoing some modernisation. This has to be done with delicacy since the hotel built in 1905 is a historic monument. Conservationists were alarmed at the rumour of a plan to remove the marble fountain in the centre of the hotel’s dining room. For decades the fountain has had a place in the hearts of Muscovites: in Tsarist times the New Year was not properly celebrated until a guest was thrown into the fountain. In Soviet times, dancing around the fountain to music from the band made up for the indifferent quality of the food.
Is the fountain still there? Yes and no.
From this picture you can see the dining room with painted glass dome that has survived two world wars and two revolutions. The fountain – encased in brown material – can just be seen to the right of the picture, wrapped up like a three-tiered wedding cake. Is the fountain about to be removed? My friend was assured by the staff that a special event required the fountain to be covered up, and it would be restored as it was in the old days. I’m unconvinced. What kind of special event necessitates the covering up of the iconic fountain?
I mentioned the decline in tourists. My friend says that European and American visitors have been replaced by tourists from East Asia – mainly Chinese. The Hermitage in St Petersburg is as crowded as ever. The sanctions that we hear are being tightened are no bar to tourists who want to come to Russia. You can book a room at the Metropol from anywhere in the world, and hotel prices in Russia are hardly a bargain. But if all you want is a sumptuous breakfast that would fill you up for the day, breakfast at the Metropol today costs 4,600 roubles, or £42/$54.
Alan Philps’s book about the Metropol Hotel, ‘The Red Hotel: The Untold Story of Stalin’s Propaganda War’, is now in paperback in the UK and the USA