Ambassador Hotel

The Ambassador Hotel in St. Petersburg, Russia, is located in the city’s “musical neighbourhood” – Kolomna. While being the home of St. Petersburg’s Conservatory and Mariinsky Opera and Ballet Theatre, Kolomna does not owe its reputation to this fact alone. Historically, this was the neighbourhood where some of the greatest Russian classical composers lived – the likes of Mussorgsky, Glinka, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev, as well as many others. To an extent, the tradition is kept up today. None other than Sergei Shnurov, the front-man of the rock band Leningrad, lives in an apartment in the house with the Atlantes on the Kriukov Canal embankment.

Before the 1917 revolution, the land that now belongs to the Ambassador Hotel was occupied by the Landrin confectionery factory, a purveyor to the Imperial Court of Russia. Among other candy products, Landrin produced Montpensier candy, or fruit drops, which were popularly known as “landrinki.” They came in round tin boxes and are sometimes mentioned in Russian classical novels. While researching the factory’s history, the Ambassador Hotel came across an amazing chocolate truffle recipe, which can be sampled in the Lobby Bar on the hotel’s ground floor.

Over the 13 years since the Ambassador Hotel opened for business in St. Petersburg, it has become a “Cultural Mecca” of sorts for the city. Internationally renowned artists not just stay in the Ambassador - they actually perform here on a regular basis. 

The hotel is proud to list the following artists among its steady guests: R.G. Viktiuk, stage director, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, Rimas Tuminas, Creative Director of the Yevgeny Vakhtangov National Academic Theatre, I.S. Churilova, opera singer, soloist of the Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Novosibirsk, guest soloist at the Mariinsky Theatre, Ovanes Aivazyan, opera singer, Merited Artist of the Republic of Armenia, soloist of the Alexander Spendiarov Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Armenia, guest artist at the Mariinsky Theatre, M.A. Gulegina, internationally acclaimed vocalist, Merited Artist of the Republic of Belarus, People’s Artist of North Ossetia, V.I. Sukhorukov, theatre and film actor, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, Y.A. Bashmet, music conductor, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union.