Hotel in Russian Gambling Oasis Fully Booked Until 2016

By The Moscow Times

Oct. 22, 2015

A hotel in Russia's Far East gambling zone, whose first casino opened earlier this month, is booked out through the end of the year, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday.

There are no available rooms in the hotel until next year, Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev said, according to RIA Novosti, adding that most of the rooms had been booked by foreign guests.

“There will be economic benefits for the Primorye [region],” he was cited as saying.

The five-star hotel, controlled by Chinese hotel operator Summit Ascent, is part of the Tigre de Cristal complex that includes Russia's biggest casino, which opened on Oct. 8.

The project is due to be completed in 2022.

Gambling was outlawed in Russia in 2009 with the exception of six special zones.

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