Russian tourists are the most intrepid in the whole world – even the war in Iraq hasn’t stopped them from traveling. The reason is simple: The short Russian summer prevents Russians from having enough warm-weather vacation time in their own country. Meanwhile, their gradually improving financial situation makes it affordable for them to go where the sea is warm enough for swimming for at least six months a year.

It is easy to find warm waters at a safe distance from Iraq; one such place is Turkey. Not too far from Russia, a flight to Turkey takes only about three hours, and the prices offered on the Russian market by numerous travel agencies are reasonable. Besides, Turkey is famous for the "all-inclusive" system that is very popular among Russian tourists. You pay only once (around $500-$1,000 per person per week) and get unlimited meals, drinks, sports and entertainment at your hotel and you don’t need to pay anything extra.

Most popular among Russians are the Turkish resorts around Antalya, a city located almost in the southernmost spot of Turkey. It is warm there from mid-April to October, there are sand and pebble beaches to fit any taste and, most importantly, there are hotels to satisfy everyone, and even the most expensive ones are affordable.

One unique hotel opened this year about 20 km from Antalya on the Mediterranean waterfront. This is no ordinary hotel: It’s called the Kremlin Palace and it is built to look like the Moscow Kremlin, replicating the towers, palaces and cathedrals.

Although I had prepared myself for the sight, I couldn’t hold back my amazement when I saw the Kremlin towers on the horizon, rising up to the sky out of a green Turkish valley. This vision remained with me the whole time I was there. The entrance to the hotel is styled after the Moscow Kremlin’s Voskresenskiye Gates, and there are authentic-seeming pieces of Kremlin wall on both sides of it. As I read the "World of Wonders" inscription on the wall, I started feeling like the real world was disappearing and being replaced by a fantasy world.

The idea of building a Kremlin on Turkish land belongs to Mehmet Nazif Gunal, the owner of MNG holding. He thought of it when he visited Moscow for the first time in 1986. Struck by its beauty, Gunal decided to build a piece of Moscow in his home country. In time, nearly full-scale models of the Historical Museum (accommodating the hotel’s business and recreation areas), St. Basil’s Cathedral (housing the hotel’s restaurants with Italian, Russian and Mexican cuisine), Chamber of Facets and even the Bolshoi Theater appeared on the sandy Mediterranean coast.

The Chamber of Facets accommodates the hotel’s suites, an indoor swimming pool, a fitness center, a squash area and a Turkish bath and sauna. The Bolshoi Theater, however, departs slightly from the architectural ensemble, as well as the "all-inclusive" system. This seems logical because, as every Muscovite knows, the Bolshoi Theater is not part of the Moscow Kremlin. The replica houses a cafe-bar offering exclusive drinks for separate pay and a jewelry salon.

You don’t have to pay separately for anything in the hotel apart from the luxuries of the Bolshoi Theater. But the level of service may be different depending on the class of suite you book.

The hotel strikes the eye not only by its architecture but by its luxury, too. And the luxury is also Gunal’s idea. This is the first place to have been set up in Turkey to offer not just "all-inclusive," but "royal class" service as well.

"I wanted to see people living like kings here," Gunal said. Therefore, the hotel has suites that are truly fit for kings: royal suites and junior royal suites. They feature antique furniture, jacuzzis and a special set of services. If desired, one can stay in a royal suite without needing to go out because food is served around the clock. For other suites, room service is available only at night. But even if you don’t belong to a royal family and are just on vacation with kids, you will probably find it convenient to live in a two-level family suite with a bedroom for parents on the bottom level and a children’s room with a separate bathroom on the top level. There are also special suites for the disabled.

Almost everyone’s dream vacation includes swimming, sports and lots of food. But here, that’s not all. Shows are organized every night in the hotel, and, though they may not suit the most discriminating of tastes, they are fun and entertaining. After all, it is nice to watch beautiful dancers and laugh at jokes after you’ve walked and swum yourself to exhaustion during the day. If you aren’t tired, you can go to the disco, which is located (surprise!) in the Senate building.

But the Kremlin Palace does not only offer entertainment to its guests. The hotel accommodates roomy conference halls. Yelena Utkina, representative of Bentour travel agency (also owned by the MNG holding), said the Kremlin Palace will soon be hosting conferences for Gazprom and Nokia.

There is another hotel in the neighborhood, Topkapi Palace, which is a copy of Istanbul’s palace of the same name. It also belongs to the World of Wonders chain and is owned by MNG holding. As things stand today, guests of the two hotels are not encouraged to visit each other, but in the near future Gunal plans to build a whole city of entertainment on the Aksu shoreline. When the plan is fulfilled, guests at all hotels in the area will be able to play golf on a replica of the U.S. president’s White House lawn. Indeed, the next hotel in the World of Wonders chain will be made to resemble the White House, and Gunal is already planning to commission it next year.