Standing dominantly on Peremohy Square at 55 meters high (17 stories), the hotel was opened on December 25, 1970 and received the name of Lybid which was
inspired by the spirit of ancient Kyiv. According to legend, it was founded by the Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv brothers and their sister Lybid. The hotel had a second birth when it became a part of the Premier Hotels and Resorts chain of hotels in 2016, thus becoming Premier Hotel Lybid.
Rich in History
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On May 2, 1964, the Kyiv City Executive Committee issued an order to allocate a land plot for the construction of a hotel with the working name “Intourist”.
Those involved in this project were Kyiv architects N. B. Chmutina, A. M. Onishchenko, O. H. Stukalova and Y. L. Chekan. At the early stages of construction, it was discovered that the construction site area was located where the groundwater that flows into the Lybid river appeared to be just below it. 250 twelve-meter piles had to be driven in order to lay the foundation properly. In 1976, during an earthquake with a magnitude of close to 4 points with the epicenter being in Romania, the hotel was subjected to its first real test and passed it with flying colors.
The hotel was opened on December 25, 1970 and received the name of Lybid. The name of the hotel is closely linked to the history of the capital of Ukraine. According to the legend, Kyiv was founded in the 5th century by three brothers princes, Kiy, Shchek, Khoryv and their sister Lybid. In honor of the woman founder who became the legendary symbol of the city, the hotel was named after her, and the facade of the building was decorated with a bronze high relief depicting Lybid.
In its first years of operation, the hotel could accommodate 208 rooms, 14 of which were suites. Rooms were equipped with German furniture, as well, high-speed Finnish elevators and plumbing were installed. Booths for the sale of souvenirs and tobacco products were located in the lobby of the building; the press, including foreign newspapers were sold in the news stand of Soyuzpechat agency. As well, currency exchange points where also available.
As a component in the structure of VAO Intourist (the All-Union Joint Stock Company “Intourist”), the Lybid hotel was mainly focused on the reception of foreign citizens. However, the specific Soviet character & charm where felt to an extent at this hotel as well.
To fight against speculators and unwanted guests, the staff of the hotel created a Voluntary People’s Guards.
Foreigners and Soviet citizens immediately selected the hotel due to its safety for being located in the city center. In the 70’s, The Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, held a press conference at the hotel. Many guests from the United States and Canada were among the Ukrainian Diaspora who came to see the homeland of their ancestors.
Vladimir Spivakov, the head of Moscow Virtuosi orchestra, always stayed in suite No.1704 on the 17th floor. And the theater director Mark Zakharov during the Kyiv tour of the Lenkom theater preferred room No.1701.
The hotel staff recalls how the movie director Nikita Mikhalkov once came out of his room and saw how the maids were moving a heavy sofa. Mikhalkov called a friend, and taking matters into their own hands, they moved the sofa from one end of the corridor to another.
During the filming of the feature film “Make a Clown Laugh” in Kyiv, the hotel became the home for a long period of time for the film actress Galina Polskikh, which was very loved by the hotel’s employees.
Another interesting fact is that many Dynamo Kyiv football players during the time of USSR championship celebrated their weddings at the hotel.
In 1986, the hospitality and goodwill of the hotel Lybid staff were awarded by the International Association of Hotels in Europe with presentation of the Oscar International Award.
During 1998 to 2002, the hotel rooms and guest areas were renovated and in May 1998, the hotel was honored to receive an honorary delegation for the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) that was held in Kyiv that year.
In 2016, the Lybid hotel replenished the collection of the Ukrainian hotel operator Premier Hotels and Resorts and received the name Premier Hotel Lybid.
The hotel was reconstructed with special attention to the façade that became hard to overlook due to its strategic lighting clearly seen during the nighttime.
«Although that was the period when buildings mainly were constructed without decoration, the architects planned to place some elements on the facade. At first, the idea was to make the inscription «Lybid» in the Old Cyrillic style, but we, i.e. I and Mykhailo Hrytsiuk, offered to place Lybid herself. They made the Lybid figure which in its rhythm, mass and grace resembles a river. Initially, the Artistic Council did not accept the project, since it wasn’t in line with the overall tone of socialist realism.
But, most comments were caused by the fact that our Lybid was barefooted. But it was necessary to transfer the rhythm of waves and river. Eventually, the project was approved.»
Today the Premier Hotel Lybid is one of the best three-star hotels in the capital. Comfortably located in the heart of Kyiv with a convenient traffic junction. It has 274 comfortable rooms of various categories with beautiful panoramas of the city center, 3 conference halls, a restaurant of modern European and Ukrainian cuisine, a summer terrace and a lobby bar.
Premier Hotel Lybid
Peremohy Square, Kyiv, Ukraine
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