{"id":313,"date":"2020-01-06T10:47:34","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T10:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/?p=313"},"modified":"2022-01-02T11:39:48","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T09:39:48","slug":"new-years-eve-at-the-hotel-russ-svetlogorsk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/new-years-eve-at-the-hotel-russ-svetlogorsk\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year’s Eve at the Hotel Russ, Svetlogorsk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New Year’s Eve at the Hotel Russ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

31 December 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Rumour has it that the Hotel Russ has not only closed but in 2021 was demolished to make way for a brand-spanking new development complex. I am glad that I had the chance to visit this iconic building before it was consigned to history! R.I.P. Russ!!!\ud83d\ude2a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every year it\u2019s the same: what are we going to do, where are we going to go on New Year\u2019s Eve? I was in England over the Christmas period when my wife telephoned to discuss where we should see the New Year in. Such a question would have been unthinkable, and quite unnecessary, in Kaliningrad when we were younger, as there was always someone holding a party somewhere, but the years have taken their toll and most of our friends and associates, we included, have reached the age when raucous reverie no longer holds the attraction that it once did. To paraphrase the Ouse Valley Single Club\u2019s record, \u2018We\u2019re not as young as we used to be\u2019<\/a>. However, life is full of surprises, and just when I was thinking that it would be a night in with my old Kenneth McKellar Hogmanay tapes, here\u2019s my wife suggesting that we return to the Hotel Russ!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Year’s Eve at the Hotel Russ<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now, it had\nbeen almost 20 years ~ New Year\u2019s Eve 2000-2001 to be precise ~ since we last\ncelebrated New Year at the Russ (see my diary entry on this blog, when I get\ntime to write it!), and when I divulged our decision to my brother, who had\nbeen with us back in the day, all he could chortle was, \u201cOh, no! You\u2019re joking!\nRemember what it was like then. I bet it hasn\u2019t changed!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wondered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my previous article on the Russ<\/a> I had promised that we would return at some point in the future and review the Russ again, and as this occasion seemed as good a time as any, New Year\u2019s Eve at the Russ it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Kaliningrad, where we live, is only 1000 rubles (about \u00a311) by taxi away, we decided to make a short break of it, booking in for two nights. The New Year\u2019s Eve party tariff was, approximately, \u00a360 per person; the hotel tariff, \u00a340 per night for a double room. For your 60 quid each person received a meal of 9 courses and a choice of two bottles from three options, which comprised wine, champagne and vodka. Fruit juice, in copious amounts, was thrown in and, of course, the fee included the cost of entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not being\naltogether sure what time the event started, we had arrived early at 8pm,\ngiving us time to patrol the Russ to spot the deliberate changes. We had\nreturned to the Russ on three or four occasions since our first visit in 2000,\nnot to stay there, but for a drink at the bar, so we were aware that the hotel\nhad changed hands a number of times and of the changes made under different\nownerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n