Tales from Ukraine

Isaak Babel (1894–40) is remembered this year at the Odessa Literary Festival in the Odessa Museum on July 7, when a statue of him will be unveiled. Participants in the festival are being accommodated in the Hotel Bristol. Babel, the author of Odessa Tales, claimed that Odessa had 'more charm than any other city in the Russian Empire'. According to Lonely Planet: "That's probably still true in modern Ukraine. The course of this charm is the Odesans themselves: a breed apart, they're stylish, cultured, funny, savvy, and not easily impressed.' Odessa Tales describes the lives of Jewish gangsters in the city before and during the Revolution, which brings to mind George Soros, who once said that Ukraine gave corruption a bad name. 

Syria protest at Beirut's Bristol

Beirut: Many major political decisions and meetings in Lebanon take place at the Le Bristol in Beirut. On Tuesday, May 17, it became caught in the crossfire, with the result that it felt obliged to put out a statement regretting hosting a conference that showed solidarity with the Syrian government, as it had endangered the well-being of the hotel's employees and customers. It says: "The management learned from media reports that potential protests might take place outside the hotel at the time of the conference, which might pave the way for clashes between protesters loyal to the Syrian regime and others who oppose it."
MTV reported that members of the Baath party and SSNP had visited the hotel and asked to hold a pro-Syrian regime conference at the same time as a conference in solidarity with Syrian protesters. After Le Bristol cancelled the event, the organiser of the conference in support of the Syrian protestors failed to find another venue. Co-ordinator Saleh Machnouk told the Financial Times that 25 Beirut hotels had refused to host the event.

Hotel Bristol Skopje in 3D

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A new 3D view of the old Hotel Bristol is Skopje has just been published by guitardemon, based in Thessaloniki, and if you click on the link you can see the building rotate through 360 degrees. Built in the 1924, the Hotel Bristol was one of the few buildings to survive the 1963 earthquake which has left the nearby railway station clock stopped at 5.17. Rebecca West is said to have stayed here, and today it has a gambling casino. A story of the Hotel Bristol and the earthquake is told in High Times at the Hotel Bristol, and can be heard in a podcast.

Babymoon at the Kempinski Bristol

The word 'babymoon' to describe a period when a couple expecting a baby takes a break for the last time in quite a while has only come into circulation in the past few years. It's an ideal tag for hotels to hang a package on. The Kempinski Hotel Bristol in Berlin is offering a Deluxe Babymoon Package that includes two nights and days of pampering - breakfast in bed, candelit dinners, steam baths, limousine tours - plus a present of Baby Bathrobe and Slippers to take home for later. It costs from 319 euros per person for the 2-night stay.