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…
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?
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