We explore the very real history of the Hotel Metropol in Moscow through the lens of Amor Towles' bestselling novel, A Gentleman in Moscow. The fictional Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is a member of the aristocracy at a very inconvenient time—the Bolshevik Revolution. Saved by a twist of fate, instead of an execution, he faces house arrest at the Metropol for the rest of his days. Over the next few decades we see the Soviet dream rise and fall through the eyes of the Count and a cadre of comrades who all discover in their own ways just how much a person can adapt and endure in difficult times—but fate is not equally kind to all.

Pick up a copy of A Gentleman in Moscow and learn more about the real Hotel Metropol here.*

📖 Join our book club here.

📚 Shop our bookshelves here.*

☕️ You can support Hotel History (and our caffeine addiction) here or on Patreon.

📰 Sign up for our free newsletter, The CHECK-IN.

Follow us: TikTok | Instagram | X

🎶 Music

"June (Tchaikovsky)" by Vladimir Takinov is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

*affiliate link