Sleep in an old dictators palace
14-07-2014
If you know anything about dictators then you will know that they have some fairly erratic and even eccentric behaviours. One of the things about being a dictator is that the total power enables people to indulge their every whim. The flights of fancy that us normal people have do not remain flights of fancy for dictators, they become very much reality.
Dictators can do almost anything they want. One thing that many of them want is an extravagant palace or pleasure dome. In fact, you are not really a dictator unless you have an over the top home and holiday home (though these words are unable to capture the opulence of these structures).
There have been a number of dictators who have either died or been deposed recently and this means that many of these palaces have become vacant. So what better than to turn them into stunning hotels where we mere mortals can come and stay? Here are a few of the more exciting old dictators palaces that have been turned into palaces where you can have a powerful sleep.
Stalin’s Dacha in Sochi—You can stay at Joseph Stalin’s holiday dacha in Sochi if you like. This was his retreat for over twenty years and his desk is still set up in the hotel for guests to look at (with a very scary wax figure of the man himself sitting at it). The dacha is not huge and rooms are limited so if you want to sleep in a bed that Stalin did then you need to book ahead.
Mussolini’s Retreat at Lake Garda—You can stay where the Italian strongman and fascist leader spent his final years of life as the Allied noose closed around him. The beautiful palace at Lake Garda is now a stunning hotel and guests are able to survey the surrounding lands just as the Little Duke did, though they will not have to worry about the might of the Allies pinning them in.
Ceausescu’s Massive Guest House in Bucharest—The Romanian dictator was building this huge guest house even as his subjects were rising up against him. The rooms in this mammoth building are some of the biggest in Europe, suitable for a man of Ceausescu’s ego.
King Zog’s Room at the Ritz—Okay so not a palace of his own, but you can go and sleep in the bedroom that King Zog lived in during his enforced asylum in London. Zog was the ruthless dictator of Albania twice!! The second time he was deposed he fled to England and spent his remaining days staying at the Ritz. You can book his room if you want to.
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