The State Property Fund of Ukraine, the owner of Kiev's Hotel Ukraine, has put it up for auction. Ribas Hotels Group in collaboration with agencies Great Stories and SPIV, along with TEMO hotel design studio, has set out to come up with its own concept of the hotel’s renovation. This project demonstrates not only how to renovate the building but also how to give it a new purpose that reflects the history of the city and the spirit of the Ukrainian people.

Why is Hotel Ukraine?

Hotel Ukraine has long been a symbol of the capital, and now this symbol needs to be restored. In the context of present-day challenges, it is essential to preserve not only the architectural heritage but also to fill it with a new content that matches the values of independent Ukraine. Ribas Hotels Group has taken the courage to redefine what the country’s premier hotel should be and developed together with its partners a concept that unites hospitality and historical memory.

Ribas Hotels Group and agency Great Stories conducted a series of in-depth interviews with different respondents, including Kyiv residents, historians, business people and opinion leaders, to explore the current perception of Hotel Ukraine and its role in the image of Kyiv. Based on this survey, the SPIV agency team developed a creative concept that defines the necessary infrastructure and services to renovate the hotel to make it a hotel business card of the city. After that, the team of TEMO hotel design studio led by architect Tetiana Morozova developed the architectural concept of the hotel.

“Strong concepts are built on insights from real people. To find them, we asked respondents about their experiences, emotions and personal stories related to the subject of our survey. We managed to confirm the hypothesis that the hotel does not reflect its central role in the city: “Now Hotel Ukraine is a grey building with no meaning”, said one of the respondents. So we delved deep into searching for ideas, philosophy and images of Kyiv. Every interviewee was heard, and this was incorporated into the cool concept of Hotel Ukraine”, commented Alina Shcherbina, founder and chief strategist of the Great Stories PR-agency.

“You can hardly overstate the amount of responsibility in the project called Hotel Ukraine. It was incredibly exciting to create the concept, keeping in mind the contradictory image of the building, respect the history, be plain with it, express the love for Kiev in all its diversity and find ways to translate the values of independent Ukraine through the brand and product. Hotel Ukraine will be the one that will help future guests to plunge into the love for the modern Kiev, understanding the context in which our country was built,” said Oleksandra Ilyashenko, co-founder of SPIV.studio.

Blending the features of a hotel and a cultural center in a new concept

The developed concept implies significant changes in the hotel infrastructure. In addition to the regular hotel services, Ribas Hotels Group proposes to create a cultural center dedicated to the history of the fight for freedom in Ukraine. This center will be an interactive and innovative place where visitors could get immersed in the history of Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) and the events that are shaping the modern Ukrainian statehood.

In view of the interviews of the respondents, the history of the place and the location of the hotel, conceptually, the main target audience could be foreign delegations and tourists. So from this perspective, the hotel’s mission is not only to tell foreign guests about our fight for independence and the war but also to get them immersed in our history, to make them fall in love with Ukraine and to show the authenticity of our culture.

The cultural center becomes an entry point into Ukrainian culture for both Ukrainians and foreigners. According to the concept, such a center provides for permanent and alternating displays.

Reference view of the cultural center’s exhibit. Photo from Venice Biennale 2021. Source: https://arquitecturaviva.com/

“We expect the renovated Hotel Ukraine to turn into a major cultural and tourist facility that will attract both Ukrainian and foreign guests. This transformation should be not just a renovation, but an investment in the future of Ukraine, which will be rewarding for both investors and society as a whole”, noted Artur Lupashko, the founder of Ribas Hotels Group.

The concept’s features

TEMO design studio has presented visualizations showing how the rooms of the country’s premier hotel may look like. So the renovated Hotel Ukraine can be a mix of mild luxury and cutting-edge technology. Using high-quality materials, paying attention to ergonomics and creating green spaces as a symbol of flourishing can perfectly complement the hotel’s concept.

Hotel room visualization

Hotel Ukraine has great potential to regain its glory as the main hotel in Kyiv with a clever concept and updated messeges.

“The Country's Premier Hotel”. That's the name our team gave to this project. A project about every modern Ukrainian. A project about values and meanings. A project about initiative and personal involvement.

Our work on the concept took off at cosmic speed in full synergy when we heard the word “veche” (A veche was a popular assembly during the Middle Ages) in one of the interviews. What did Maidan see? What did the hotel see? What should the hotel show its guests?

For ever and ever. That was there. That. That will be there. This is Ukraine. And we will show it to the world exactly as it is”, summarized Iryna Marina, project manager at Ribas Hotels Group.

Read more about the project at the link: https://www.instagram.com/ukraine.hotel.

Reference

Ribas Hotels Group is an international full-service management company with 10 years of experience whose flagship service is hotel management.The company's portfolio comprises 55 hotels under management and construction in Ukraine and abroad.

Great Stories is a boutique PR agency founded by Alina Shcherbina. The company is engaged in in-depth audience research, creation and implementation of communication strategies for businesses and personal brands.

SPIV.studio is a strategic marketing studio that creates product concepts, brand strategies and brand identity for new emerging companies and businesses. Over the past 4 years the company has created concepts for 20+ hotels in Ukraine and abroad.

TEMO hotel design is a design studio specializing in creating architecture and design for hotel complexes. The core mission of the studio is to give meaning to hotels and appeal to guests’ emotions of the through design. Over the last two years the team has designed 10+ hotel projects in Ukraine and worldwide. The project was run by Tetiana Morozova, Elena Afanasenko and Vladislav Gavryushin.

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