The Waldorf Astoria brand has been growing very nicely in recent years, opening properties in all kinds of major cities. A couple of weeks ago, Waldorf Astoria opened its newest property, and it’s probably the most unusual one we’ve seen in some time. Clearly Hilton isn’t proud of this one, though, because there wasn’t even a press release about it…
In this post:
192-room Waldorf Astoria Minsk now open
The Waldorf Astoria Minsk, Belarus, opened as of December 18, 2025. For those not familiar, Belarus is a country that’s closely aligned with Russia, and which has been growing increasingly isolated from European Union countries in recent years, given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (though the country’s “leader” has also been trying to mend relations with the West).
The hotel is located on the Svislach River, along Yanka Kupala Street, on a site previously occupied by the BelExpo exhibition center.
The Waldorf Astoria features 192 guest rooms and suites, and all kinds of amenities, including a full-service spa, a casino and nightclub, a fitness center and pool, and more. As far as dining goes, the hotel has Mramor Steakhouse (the signature restaurant), Peacock Alley (the brand standard Waldorf Astoria bar), and Zolo (the breakfast restaurant).
It seems that the United Arab Emirates’ Royal Development Holding is the company behind this project.
Below you can find some renderings of the new property. They’re quite low quality, but better than nothing.
When it comes to the cost of staying here, I currently see rates starting at just over $400 per night if paying with cash, or 60,000 Hilton Honors points per night if paying with points.
This is an interesting addition to the Hilton portfolio
The Waldorf Astoria is now certainly the most luxurious address in Minsk, as there are no hotels of this caliber in Belarus’ capital. Hilton has a significant presence in Belarus, as this is the brand’s fourth property in the country. However, Hilton isn’t the only international hotel chain with properties in Belarus — for example, there’s also the Marriott Minsk, which looks excellent (well, for a “plain” Marriott).
In recent years we’ve seen many international hotel groups fully pull out of Russia. That doesn’t apply to Belarus in the same way, though it is interesting to note how Hilton is one of the hotel groups that continues to operate in Russia, and I can’t help but wonder if that contributed to the branding decision here.
Hilton is obviously happy to open this property, but isn’t really promoting it. To my knowledge, Hilton hasn’t had a single press release or information on its page dedicated to new hotel openings about this new property. I suspect that’s intentional, as Hilton probably doesn’t want to highlight in the West that it’s expanding in Belarus.
I’m still curious about the background of this project. My guess is that the hotel was initially supposed to be branded as something else, but the partner pulled out of the project in light of circumstances. For example, I see some webpages about Grand Hotel Minsk that suggest this hotel was supposed to be a Viceroy, which I find to be an even stranger branding choice.
Bottom line
The Waldorf Astoria Minsk has opened as of December 2025, and is now Belarus’ most luxurious hotel. The property looks great, though I can’t say that returning to Minsk is near the top of my travel list at the moment. Either way, it’s arguably the most unusual new Waldorf Astoria that we’ve seen in quite some time.
What do you make of the Waldorf Astoria Minsk?
Another Trump target perhaps?
I keep forgetting: Are we at war with Eastasia or Eurasia?
What are those gears for on the top of the bar? Is that going to rotate so you get a view of the whole lobby?
Oh. it's a clock, that is only visible from hallways outside the rooms above a certain floor.
Nit a fan of the country’s policies and definitely not a fan ok Lukashenko, but is there a reason you referred to him as “leader” in double quotes? Am I missing something ? He is the leader of the country, regardless of his views or yours.
If we were to start double quoting unsavoury leaders, we’d run out of double quotes in no time.
@ Mike -- Because he has been in power since 1994 via what are generally considered to be sham elections. It's hard to give the guy too much credit.
Interesting you did not put leader in quotes for the article about Venezuela. I don’t think Maduro’s elections were free or fair either. Oversight or statement?
Charles, I don't think Ben feels Maduro is (was) any more of a legitimate leader than Lukashenko but it's more natural to highlight his illegitimacy as another reason for Hilton to avoid promoting its new shiny hotel in the country. Not everything needs to incite a snappy reaction. If you have followed this blog for a while, you know Ben's general stance on these types of issues.
@ Charles S -- Exactly what @ JK said. Maybe I should've also put Maduro in quotes. I feel similarly about the two "leaders," and think they're both awful. I publish close to 10K words per day on this blog, on average, and sometimes there's a little bit of inconsistency that isn't deliberate. I'm not sure what you're suggesting my motive is here?
Sham elections?
Is gerrymandering considered a sham too?
Or it's more like liberation vs. invasion.
Thank you, Ben, for stating the facts, and to JK for also getting it. Doesn’t seem like Mike was coming at this in good faith.
The results of the last election in Belarus were heavily contested and protested. Said protests led to heavy crackdowns and a large amount of arrests by the government. Many people question the legitimacy of Lukashenko’s position, to put it mildly. But yes, he is the de facto (at least) leader of Belarus.
Is there a soundproof room in the basement?!
Zing! *sigh*
“Not great, not terrible.”