The Cosmos Hotel Moscow is located in north-central Moscow in a green zone on one of the city's major streets, Mira Avenue, 20 minutes drive from the city centre. It is located next to the VDNKh exhibition center, close to Ostankino Telecom Tower, the Olympic Stadium and the "Sokolniki" Exhibition Complex.

Overview

The hotel complex was built to serve the XXII Summer Olympic Games held in Moscow in 1980. The building and the nearby monument "Conquerors of Space" were developed jointly by a team of Soviet and French architects: V. Andreev and T. Zaikin and B. Steiskal of Mosproekt 1; and O. Kakub, P. Jouglet, S. Epstein of France.[1] Construction of buildings was a joint venture with French property company Sefri[2] (today called Sefri Cime).

The hotel, with 1,777 rooms, is the largest in Russia. The hotel included 1,718 standard rooms, 53 double room suites and 6 four-room suites.

History

The official opening ceremony took place on 18 July 1979 and was attended by prominent politicians, businessmen, and stars of the Soviet system. Special guest singer Joe Dassin performed at the opening.

In 1990, the square in front of the hotel was renamed in honor of General Charles de Gaulle and on May 9, 2005, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Russian Victory Day, in the presence of Jacques Chirac, a monument to De Gaulle was unveiled.

In popular culture

The Cosmos Hotel was an important location in the Russian movie Day Watch.