The plushest place to stay between the Urals and Pacific? Marriott starts building in Krasnoyarsk

The 21 storey five star hotel - which also has seven underground levels - is due to open in 2014 in the heart of historic Krasnoyarsk.

The Krasnoyarsk Marriott Hotel will have 216 rooms and offer stunning views over the Yenisei River and the surrounding mountains. 

Marriott has signed a management agreement with OAO Krepost Hotel for the property. 

The US chain describes the hotel as 'a great new addition to our portfolio' - acknowledging the city as a key business hub. It will offer first class facilities for meetings, conferences and events.

The hotel will have a large ballroom, five meeting rooms, four restaurants and a health and leisure club with an indoor pool.  Marriott is geared to a significant development in Russia, seeing 'tremendous opportunity to expand our brands'.  

As suggested by Marriott, a key group to benefit from the Siberian hotel revolution will be rail travellers across the continent who want to take a break and explore one or more of the cities on the way.

This will be the second Marriott in Siberia - at a cost of 3.5 billion roubles - following the opening of the Courtyard by Marriott in Irkutsk, on the doorstep of Lake Baikal, and like Krasnoyarsk, on a key link on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Reports in Krasnoyarsk also suggest a 330-room Hilton is due to open in the city. 

The first DoubleTree by Hilton in Siberia is in Novosibirsk.

'There are only 3 star hotels in Krasnoyarsk so far - the 'Krasnoyarsk' and 'Oktyabrskaya',' said a source in the regional administration.

'At the same time we are getting more and more foreign companies in the region, and famous guests, plus tourism is growing actively. So the city does need new high standard hotels.'

Reports also say that Altai will see a Golden Tulip Hotel run by the Louvre Hotels Group, which is also establishing properties in Sochi and St Petersburg. 

A surge in interest from international chain hotels means familiar hospitality names are arriving in Siberia for the first time. For example in January 2012 Best Western Plus opened its Spasskaya Hotel in the west of the region in the Russian oil capital of Tyumen, a first in Siberia for 'the world's biggest hotel family'.

Omsk, another key business hub with potential for tourist growth, already has an Ibis Hotel, converted from the Soviet-era Sibir Hotel, and operated by leading mid-market chain Accor.

Reports have also suggested Omsk could get a Marriott and two Hilton hotels in the coming years. 

The Rezidor Hotel Group, well established on the Russian market, also announced in July 2011 the development of a new Park Inn for Russia in Novosibirsk. This brand already operates in Yekaterinburg and Moscow.  

Further east, Hyatt International is soon to open two hotels in Vladivostok, the 217-room Hyatt Regency Vladivostok, Golden Horn and the 218-room Hyatt Vladivostok, Burny.

A report on the hotel industry by Business Monitor International, which highlighted some of the Siberian developments, noted: 'Russia's hotel industry has been a growing area for foreign investment. Hotel companies' desire to invest in the Russian market illustrates the country's emerging importance as an international business destination. 

'Furthermore, the growth in hotel complexes comes at a time when Russia's oil and gas wealth is filtering down and creating a new middle class'.