With all the political sanctions facing Russia today, operating a hotel in a city like St Petersburg takes an extra dash of cunning and guile.
Take, for example, Sjefke Jansen, general manager of Belmond’s Grand Hotel Europe. “Coping with sanctions requires certain imagination,” Jansen said. “It is impossible to get French apples, or real Camembert. But otherwise, we manage fairly well, although food costs have risen 15%, which is the consumer cost of living rise.”
Alcohol is not affected, so there are no problems bringing in Champagne and Chianti. Jansen is allowed, anyway, to import food direct from Israel, and he is saved by the vastness of Russia, which means someone, somewhere, is growing strawberries around the clock.
Jansen also relies on importers, who are, honestly, cunning. Norwegian salmon cannot be imported into Russia but his trusted St Petersburg-based suppliers buy Norwegian salmon from Belarus. For the time being, at least, the 265-room hotel has no problems with supplies – as a last resort, his Canadian chef could head 15 minutes along Nevsky Prospekt to buy Driscoll’s berries from the Stockmann department store, which has daily dispatches from head office in Helsinki.
In fact, contrary to what the world may think, the food and beverage operation of St Petersburg’s iconic hotel, which dates back to 1875, is so strong that it is actually hiring, rather than firing recruits to his overall 470-strong employee base.
Russians have, since the fall of the USSR in December 1991, loved to spend on lavish celebrations. Now, because so many high net worth individuals are restricted by sanctions, events that would hitherto have gone overseas, to Italy or the Maldives, stay home.
“We have so many parties here that we often have to close our signature L’Europe restaurant,” Jansen added. “And throughout the hotel we have 13 different types of caviar. Whether or not it is something to do with nationalism right now, sales have never been higher.”