When the Leningradskaya Hotel opened in 1954, it redefined Soviet opulence. Gilded gates dividing the lobby replicated ones in the Kremlin. Mighty chandeliers echoed Orthodox church candelabras—but with Soviet stars and sheaves of wheat adorning the top.

Three years later, the larger Hotel Ukraina trumped it. A star-crowned spire, 680 feet high, made it Europe's tallest hotel.