經濟陰影下翻新後的莫斯科酒店

Alexey Shchusev was one of the most distinguished architects of the Soviet era, a designer of projects from the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale to Lenin’s mausoleum on Red Square. His design for the Hotel Moskva, however, was less successful. Legend has it that Stalin was shown alternative façades and unwittingly approved both. No one had the courage to press the question, so they built the two adjacent to one another. Attending the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Architects in 1937, Frank Lloyd Wright (whose wife had grown up in Moscow) reportedly condemned it as the ugliest building he had ever seen.

阿列克謝•蘇契舍夫(Alexey Shchusev)曾是前蘇聯時代最爲知名的建築大師，他設計的作品衆多，從威尼斯雙年展(Venice Biennale)的俄羅斯展廳到莫斯科紅場(Red Square)的列寧墓。但他設計的莫斯科酒店卻不盡如人意。坊間的說法是斯大林(Stalin)曾看過酒店正面的兩種設計圖樣，並在不知情的情況下把兩種方案都批准了，但當時沒人膽敢進一步徵求斯大林意見，於是決定把這兩種正面圖樣都付之實施，建成了緊挨着的建築面。據稱弗蘭克•勞埃德•賴特（Frank Lloyd Wright，他妻子曾在莫斯科長大）1937年參加全蘇建築師大會(First All-Union Congress of Soviet Architects)時，曾把它貶爲自己平生見過的最醜陋建築。

It was a view shared by Yury Luzhkov, the Yeltsin-appointed former mayor of Moscow, who had it demolished in 2004. But this in turn provoked an outcry. Muscovites held a deep affection for the two-faced behemoth, an image of which has graced bottles of Stolichnaya vodka since 1948. The only solution was to reconstruct it exactly as it had looked, right down to the gigantic Cyrillic letters that run along its roof, spelling its original name. You can understand then that Four Seasons, the Canadian hotel management company that oversaw the rebuild and now operates the hotel (and whose name appears in rather smaller Roman type above the colonnaded portico), has had a tough time. It should have opened in 2008. Instead it was unveiled on October 30 this year.

前總統葉釗欽(Yeltsin)任命的前莫斯科市長盧日科夫(Yury Luzhkov)也持同樣看法，他在2004年把酒店全部拆除。但此舉卻引發了衆怒。莫斯科市民對這座雙面巨型建築情有獨鍾，自1948年以來，莫斯科酒店圖片就一直印在蘇聯紅牌伏特加(Stolichnaya vodka)的酒瓶上。唯一辦法就是按原樣重建，甚至包括酒店頂上用巨型西裏爾字母標示的“莫斯科酒店”字樣也原樣複製。當時酒店重建的監理方、如今的酒店經營方加拿大四季酒店集團（Four Seasons，其酒店名字則用很小的羅馬字母標示在柱廊門廊上方）歷經千辛萬苦才完成重建，諸位也就不難理解了。莫斯科酒店本應於2008年重新開業，然而一直拖到了2014年10月才正式對外開放。

The designers of its new interiors, London-based Richmond International, have aimed to recreate the imposing neoclassical public areas of the original building, at least in spirit. But during the build the mysterious disappearance from a warehouse of many of the original chandeliers and clocks salvaged during the demolition means that everything has had to be made anew and at first glance it all looks a bit too shiny. Even so, British double agent Guy Burgess, who resided here after his defection in 1951, might still recognise the columns, pilasters, myriad chandeliers and preternaturally gleaming marble floor, which, like the sporting mosaics that surround the glass-roofed swimming pool, have all been carefully recreated.

內部重裝修的設計者來自倫敦的Richmond International建築設計事務所，他們意在重建（至少在建築精神上）酒店原先那些氣勢恢弘的新古典主義風格的公共區域。但在重建過程中，拆除時搶救出來的存放於倉庫的很多樹形吊燈以及掛鐘原件卻不翼而飛，此舉意味着一切物件都得重新打造，乍一看，它們顯得太過亮麗。即便如此，1951年叛逃至蘇聯、曾下榻在此的英國雙重間諜蓋伊•伯吉斯(Guy Burgess)或許還能識別出那些柱子、壁柱、無數的吊燈以及鋥亮的大理石地面，它們與圍繞玻璃頂棚游泳池那些運動風格的馬賽克一樣，都是精心複製而成。

The rooms, patterned carpets aside, have more obvious charm. Where once there were about 1,000 rooms, now there are just 180 unusually spacious ones. And mine at least (a Premier – the second-least-expensive category), was a treat to stay in, notwithstanding the not-quite-fitting curtains and complicated shower. The beds are very comfortable, the linens exquisite, and the screen that partially divides the sleeping and living areas, into which a pivoted television has been fitted, enabling you to watch it from the sofa or the bed, is ingenious.

酒店房間則更具魅力，更遑論那些精美圖案的地毯了。昔日的酒店曾有約1000個客房，如今只有180套超大客房。至少我入住的客房（屬倒數第二等的總理套房）爲酒店免費提供，儘管窗簾不太合適，洗淋浴也頗費周折。客牀非常舒適，日用織品精緻考究，用來部分分隔睡眠區與起居區（安裝了轉動式電視，坐在沙發和牀上都能觀看節目）的屏風設計得非常巧妙。

There are other plus points too. Of the many Four Seasons I’ve stayed in, this is the first where rooms are equipped with Nespresso makers and iPads, and where you don’t pay for the WiFi. It’s a shame that the windows and balcony doors don’t open more than about 10cm, though I suspect that’s to prevent guests from taking pot shots at politicians because rooms on the left of the building directly face the State Duma.

除此之外，酒店還不乏其它諸多亮點。在本人入住過的諸多四季酒店中，這是首家在客房裏配備了Nespresso咖啡機與iPad的，而且還免費提供WiFi。遺憾的是：窗戶與陽臺門最多隻能開啓10公分，儘管我懷疑此舉旨在防止住店客人對政客肆意開黑槍，因爲酒店左側就正對着俄羅斯國家杜馬(State Duma)大樓。

There are no such excuses, however, for calling its windowless “Russian-Nordic” restaurant Bystro, which means “quickly” in Russian. Were it called Bistro – the French word apparently derived from it – it might make sense. As it is, it suggests that they don’t want you to linger, which is a shame because at this time of year the inexpensive (at least by Moscow hotel standards) comfort food it offers – veal pelmeni (think giant tortellini), pearl barley with ceps, venison with “crispy moss and sour berries”) is alluring. More likely it’s because the top brass don’t speak much Russian. Indeed I was disappointed that the general manager, Max Musto, had made no effort to memorise even a sentence in Russian at the opening party. “It’s a very difficult language,” he pleaded.

但是，沒有藉口把無窗戶的“俄羅斯-北歐風格”餐廳稱爲Bystro（在俄語中意爲“快速”）。稱其爲小餐館（很顯然，法語中的“小餐館”來自Bystro），或許更有意義。事實上，它暗示不希望客人在此作長期逗留，這着實讓人遺憾，因爲這個時節，價廉物美（按照莫斯科的酒店標準至少是如此）的爽心美食（牛肉餃子、薏米以及酥脆苔蘚和酸醬果燉鹿肉）讓人流連忘返。但更可能的原因是酒店高管不太會說俄語。勿庸置疑，讓我深感失望的是：開張儀式時，總經理穆斯托(Max Musto)竟然說不了一句俄語。“俄語太難學了，”他這樣爲自己辯解道。

Musto is Italian, which may explain why the principal restaurant, Quadrum (which has views towards Red Square), is Italian. Here I dined on delicious turbot with a caponata rich in olives. Where was the fish from? I asked. The Black Sea? The Baltic? “Belarus,” he said: the standard answer to questions about provenance now that an embargo bans imports from the EU – not that this has prevented the hotel serving prosciutto, culatello, mortadella and excellent aged Parmesan. In Bystro, however, the salmon comes from Murmansk and the pike-perch from the Volga.

穆斯托是意大利人，這也許可以解釋爲何主餐廳Quadrum（可以俯瞰紅場）是意式餐廳。我在此品嚐了用橄欖油烹製的美味茄子醬比目魚。我問服務員比目魚來自哪裏——是黑海還是波羅的海(The Baltic)？服務員說是“白俄羅斯”。這是比目魚產地的標準答案，因爲現在俄羅斯禁止從歐盟進口類似產品——但並非說此舉可阻止酒店供應意大利薰火腿、摩泰臺拉香肚、以及優質帕爾馬陳年乾酪。但在Bystro餐廳，大馬哈魚產自摩爾曼斯克(Murmansk)，梭鱸則產自伏爾加河(Volga)。

The most popular public area is the buzzy low-lit street-level Moskovsky Bar on the ground floor, presided over by Bek Narzy, something of a celebrity bartender hereabouts, who has ice shipped in blocks from Lake Baikal and whose subtly spiced reinvention of the Moscow Mule is a revelation.

最知名的公共區是熱鬧的Moskovsky Bar酒吧，它位於一樓，燈光昏暗，與街面齊平。酒吧由貝克•納齊(Bek Narzy)負責，他是這一帶最爲知名的調酒師，調酒用的大冰塊由貝加爾湖(Lake Baikal)船運至此，他改進的“莫斯科騾子”雞尾酒(Moscow Mule)略帶香料味，讓人讚不絕口。

There is a lot to like about the hotel, not least the can-do attitude of its smiling, approachable staff. At the Four Seasons at Walt Disney World in Florida, which opened the same weekend, half the 450 staff had been recruited from the brand’s other 91 hotels. Here, visa issues meant that all but 14 of the 280 on the payroll are new to the company and are only just getting the hang of its exacting standards.

這家酒店的優點還有很多，尤其是那些面帶微笑、親近隨和員工的誠摯服務。在佛羅里達迪斯尼世界(Walt Disney World in Florida)的四季酒店（與莫斯科酒店於同一個週末開張），450名員工中的一半從該連鎖集團的其它91家酒店招募。在莫斯科酒店，從發放的簽證可以看出，280名發放薪水的員工中，只有14名不是新員工，他們對酒店的超高標準還只是剛剛入門。

So perhaps the odd glitch is inevitable but in time, I’d hazard, it will become a great place to stay. For it is the best-located hotel in the city, its rooms are the biggest and have some of the best views, at least if yours is on the right with a view across Red Square to the Kremlin. Ten years in the making it may have been, but it’s been worth the wait.

因此，出現些許差錯或許不可避免，但我斗膽認爲，假以時日，莫斯科酒店定會成爲高大上的酒店。因爲它地處最佳地段，客房最爲寬敞，周圍還有着迷人美景，如果諸位入住在右側客房，至少能欣賞到從紅場到克里姆林宮(Kremlin)的勝景。這一切成爲現實也許需要10年時間，但我覺得值得爲此等待。

Claire Wrathall was a guest of Four Seasons () and Exeter International (). Double rooms cost from Rub21,250 (£290)

克萊爾•拉索爾是四季酒店（網址：）及Exeter International旅行社的客人。兩人客房起價21250盧布（約290英鎊）。