Grand Hotel Europe Opens First Ice Bar in St Petersburg
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, December 8, 2005. As temperatures plummet below freezing in St Petersburg, the Grand Hotel Europe has just unveiled the city's first open air Ice Bar. Located on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Mikhailovskaya Ulitsa, the bar offers a luxurious selection of bracing drinks including Louis Roederer Champagne, fine Russian vodkas and mulled wine, as well as three different kinds of black caviar and oysters.
Sculptors from St Petersburg's Ice Studio have painstakingly created a beautifully ornate Ice Bar, crafted from ice prepared last winter from one of the Shuvalov lakes near Ozerki. The elegant bar counter design with balusters is most attractive at night and complements the Grand Hotel Europe's splendid baroque facade. As temperatures get even colder this winter, ice flowers will appear on the tables and waiters will be dressed in traditional Russian outfits with fur hats, jackets and gloves. The Ice Bar is planned to be open until April 1, 2006, subject to climate conditions.
Orient-Express Hotels Ltd acquired the majority share of the Grand Hotel Europe in February 2005. The hotel is an historical landmark dating from 1824, located in the heart of St. Petersburg, across from the Shostakovich Philharmonic, next to the Russian Museum and the Moussorgsky opera and ballet theatre and within walking distance of the Hermitage Museum and the Winter Palace Square. The hotel's 301 rooms include 89 suites, 17 of which have terraces overlooking the Russian Museum in Arts Square. It has seven restaurants and bars that include the art nouveau splendour of L'Europe, serving French and European specialities beneath an original stained glass ceiling. A classic double room at the Grand Hotel Europe is priced from US$350/ lb201.90 per room per night.
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