Flagship Hotel In Moscow To Close

MOSCOW— Moscows Intourist Hotel, which catered almost exclusively to foreigners during the Soviet era, is closing, Russian television reports. The 20-floor hotel, built in 1970 and situated near the Kremlin and Red Square, is being pulled down to make way for a new, more upmarket hotel, according to reports on Russias TV6 and state-controlled RTR television. The Associated Press said phone calls to Intourist went unanswered on Jan. 7. The hotel will be dismantled this spring. A smaller, five-star hotel is due to open at the site by 2004, the reports added. Alexander Kudryavtsev, president of the Russian Academy of Architecture, told RTR that architecturally, the Intourist will not be missed. But Vakhtang Tsulaya, the hotels general manager, said the giant building, widely considered to be an eyesore, was built in the style of its times. And aesthetics aside, Tsulaya said the Intourist was important during the Soviet era. “From the practical point of view, it was a big help for us — we lodged foreign tourists here,” he told RTR. Visitors to post-Soviet Moscow now have a wider choice of hotels, but the Intourist has never completely fallen out of favour with foreigners. Its central location and relatively inexpensive prices — the cheapest room was $70 — made it popular for budget tourists.