We are a group of journalists covering the invasion of - and heroic resistance by - Ukraine. And this hotel is many things in that regard: A place of civility, luxury, old-style class, comfort and respite. And much more, to revisit over and over again in peacetime. THE BUILDING is wonderful - evocative of an elegance all but lost to Western Europe or the USA. THE STAFF are the most charming and kind I have come across after half a century of travelling the world for work. They are professionally exacting and perfectionist, but - more importantly - personable and kind... and, it must be said, poignantly so in the context of this war, generously sharing their stories. But: equally eager to talk about the football, or their favourite music... You can be lofty and distant with the good people who work here, if you want to, but your stay will be enhanced by curiosity and familiarity. I was presented with a lovely guide book to Ukraine upon departure. The whole ETHOS is just marvellous: where else does your laundry - your old Levi shirt and 501 jeans - come back in a wooden box, tucked in by a pressed serviette? Where else is a delicious loaf of warm fresh bread (to accompany the cheeseboard) served wrapped in a ribbon? Your'e back in a lost luxury and level of service one imagines from the 1920s - movies shot in old New York or Chicago - but your'e not: you're in wonderful, heroic Kyiv, Ukraine - and in this establishment, honoured to be so. One leaves sadly, eager to return again and again, in war and in peace. Ed Vulliamy The Guardian / The Observer, London.
自動翻訳