Barry. The chandelier didn't crash down in the lobby. It was the suite below. The Captains suite had a chandelier as well as the Grand piano so this was repeated down each floor.
My memory is pretty good but the hotel could have been the Ukrainen rather than just Ukraine.
Ah - that explains a lot. I hadn't heard that part of the story before, but it makes perfect sense.
If it was that Stalinist monstrosity near the river on Kutuzovsky Avenue, then it's definitely the Ukraine (now a Radisson Hotel apparently
). It was certainly one of the few hotels on the 'approved' list because I stayed there a number of times, in fact I was once given a suite at the very top, which had the biggest bathroom and bath I have ever seen. The water was still the colour and consistency of Brown Windsor Soup though!
