So when I started travelling the world in 1976 I made a point of seeing both. Looking back I am so pleased because so much has happened to them since.

The first was the Rossiya Hotel in Moscow,  once the world’s largest hotel, opened in 1967 near Red Square. Commissioned by Nikita Khrushchev and designed by Dmitry Chechulin, it had 3,182 rooms, a concert hall, cinema, restaurants, and even a KGB office. Chechulin went on trips to London and Paris to see the best examples of hotel architecture, as well as consulting with representatives of the American company Hilton. The Rossiya  was built to handle rising tourism and showcase Soviet power, the hotel was also used to monitor guests, with many rooms reportedly bugged. It was constructed on  a foundation built for a never constructed sky scraper.

In 1977 after crossing the USSR on the Trans Siberian Railway I not only got to see the Rossiya but become a guest in it.  My room had a view of Saint Basil's and the Kremlin which I toured both the next day. In the central courtyard of the Rossiiya were always several KGB vans with satellite dishes spying on guests communications. On arrival you were warned about using telephones. 

From a Chefs perspective the food in the 9 restaurants was very mediocre, but the experience for me was worth every moment.

It closed it's doors on 1st January 2006 and despite massive opposition to preserve her she was torn down and consigned to history.

The 2nd Hotel was Treetops in the Aberdare National Park in Kenya near the township of Nyeri which is a 2and half hour drive from Nairobi. 

Treetops is where Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) was staying in 1952 when she acceded to the thrones of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, upon the death of her father, King George VI. She arrived as a Princess and left as a Queen the following morning.

The original idea of Major Eric Sherbrooke Walker, who owned land in the Aberdare Range, was to build a treehouse for his wife Lady Bettie. The idea grew, and in 1932 the couple oversaw the construction of a two-room treehouse in a huge 300-year-old fig tree. 

The visit of Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1952 included a visit to Treetops as personal guests of the Walkers. For this Treetops was reinforced, and its capacity increased to four rooms, including one for a resident hunter. This structure was burnt down in the Mau Mau uprising of 1954 and the photo below was of the new one constructed. This I stayed in in 1978.  The culinary experience I will never forget of the magnificent food presented, then sitting up late at night and early in the morning watching the water hole and seeing Lions, Warthog, Monkey's and Elephants refreshing themselves.

The first photo is of the current structure with additions and renovations since my visit.

Famous visitors over the years have included Charlie Chaplin, Lord Mountbatten, Lord Baden Powell and Joan Crawford. 

Queen Elizabeth 11 returned in 1983