New US sanctions target Russian hotel in Crimea acknowledged as world’s best

The latest US sanctions against Russia have hit four Crimean hotels, including Mriya Resort & Spa that is ranked as the world’s best holiday hotel and resort by the prestigious World Travel Awards.

On Thursday, US Treasury department broadened the list of previously introduced Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia. The new list includes two Ukrainians, a Russian officer, and nine entities. The punitive measures were initially introduced in response to the reunification of the Crimean peninsula with Russia after a regional referendum in 2014. Washington had also accused Moscow of meddling with Ukrainian internal policy and fueling the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Russia’s Mriya Resort & Spa is located 25 kilometers from the Crimean city of Yalta. The complex was built with the financial support of Russia’s state-controlled lender Sberbank and is used to host the Yalta International Economic Forum.

The hotel was named the best holiday hotel and resort by the World Travel Awards in 2017. The year before, jury of the travel industry's most prestigious awards programme recognized Mriya Resort & Spa as Europe’s leading leisure resort. In 2015, Mriya won the title of Europe’s leading new resort.

Established in 1923, World Travel aims to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry. The awards are decided by an open vote and have been described as 'the Oscars of the travel industry'.

Earlier this month, the World Spa Awards ranked the Russian hotel third among the best spa resorts across the world. Mriya was topped only by the Dubai-based Armani SPA and the Iridium Spa located in the Maldives.

Apart from Mriya Resort & Spa the US sanctions target the Ai-Petri health resort, the Dulber holiday resort, and the Resort Complex Miskhor – all located in Crimea and established by the companies working in the peninsula.

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