Chilling stay at Stalin's hotel

TOURISTS now frequent the retreat that once played host to the Red Tsar, writes Valerie Leroux from Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Revered .... a despot to many but to some the former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin was a hero, the mastermind of the victory over the Nazis. Picture: AP

TUCKED behind century-old pines, the austere and sombre green building looks ghostly.

A plaque at the entrance tells you it's Stalin's villa.

Time was when an uninvited visitor would have been terrified to come close to the so-called Red Tsar's summer residence in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

But capitalism has triumphed and, for a price, anyone is welcome today.

The massive dacha is now a hotel where visitors can stay for up to $506 a night, eat in an imposing dining room adorned by the dictator's portrait, swim in his swimming pool and even sleep in his bedroom.

Joseph Stalin, the ruler of the Soviet Union for more than a quarter of a century until 1953, came here almost every summer.

From this peaceful house with shaded verandas, the tyrant supervised socialism's triumphant march, as well as mass repressions and purges.

The villa was turned into a hotel after the Soviet Union crashed in 1991.

The dacha's dreaded master was so paranoid about his security, "the dacha is painted in camouflage green, and you cannot see it either from the sea or from the air", the manager, Valentina Menalan, says.

Even looking from the top of nearby Akhun mountain, with its breathtaking view of the snowy peaks of the Caucasus mountains and the Black Sea coast, the villa remains invisible.

Everything from the height of steps to the pool's depth was adapted to Stalin's small stature – 1.67m – and he would often climb into a special chair to spend hours watching movies.

The improvised museum holds several personal objects and a billiards table, as Stalin was a great fan of the game.

One room has a life-size wax statue of Stalin seated at his table before a silver ink pot given to him by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong.

One thing the Stalin hotel won't remind guests of, however, is the nightmarish side of a totalitarian regime that imprisoned millions of people.

"There were atrocious repressions, but Stalin also developed industry and space programs," says Vladimir Shishkin, deputy director of the hotel complex.

For many Russians, Stalin was the mastermind of the victory over Nazi Germany, source of great national pride and ruler of an empire that stretched from East Berlin to Vladivostok.

Almost half of Russians – 47 per cent – view Stalin in a positive light, with fewer than 30 per cent thinking badly of him, a poll published last year found.

For the hotel's mostly Russians visitors, curiosity and historical interest count above all, not to mention the physical charm of the place.

Sunday Mail (QLD)