Chechulin continued to work as a state architect and oversaw development around the Kremlin. In the 1960s, he was the head of Studio No. 16 at the Mosproekt-1 Institute, which was tasked by the Soviet government to erect a giant hotel in Zaryadye on a site where construction of the eighth Stalin high-rise had come to a halt. The hotel would accommodate the delegates of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses.

In February 1957, the Moscow Architecture and Construction magazine published Chechulin’s studio architectural plan for the future hotel, and the project was later implemented with slight modifications. In the project plan, the dimensions of Rossiya Hotel (the name was approved before construction) included four 12-story buildings that formed a closed shape. The main southern façade of the hotel looked out over the Moscow River; the northern side faced Varvarka Street, which in Soviet times was called Razin Street.

A twenty-story tower topped with a pillar rose from the middle of the northern building and housed luxury hotel suites.

After construction, the hotel’s logo — a five-sided emblem depicting the hotel in front of the Russian flag — was installed on the tower. The hotel’s architecture attracted colleagues from various socialist countries.

The building was lined with white marble blocks from the Koelga quarry in the Chelyabinsk region, considered the best in the country. Triple-pane windows significantly increased the hotel’s insulation. The bay windows were developed and produced by state-owned VEB Holz und Leichfmetallbauelemente Leipzig in the German Democratic Republic.

Due to the steep geographic relief on the Moscow River side of the hotel, the three buildings facing the west, east, and south were laid on a heavy and durable stylobate that was already in place to build a high-rise administrative building. Wide entrance ramps were located on all four sides of the hotel for vehicles to enter. Sections of the hotel were commissioned and put into operation in successive stages. At the end of 1966, the western building facing the Kremlin was opened first. In the fall of 1967, the northern and southern buildings opened in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. After, the luxury suite building opened. The last section to open was a 2500-seat concert hall and Zaryadye Cinema, which had two auditoriums that seated 1536 people.

The project to erect a hotel in Zaryadye had many opponents long before its actual construction and erection, both among the professional community and ordinary citizens. In 1961, a roundtable on the future of Zaryadye was held at the Moscow Central House of Writers. A majority of the participants were very critical of the hotel project. A transcript of the roundtable reveals the following comments: “A giant elephantine hotel imposing on the delicate and ornamental Kremlin architecture will desecrate the aesthetic awareness not only of our contemporaries but also our descendants!” and “the dominant architectural landmark in the center of Moscow should be the Kremlin — it should already be apparent that the center of Moscow shouldn’t be cluttered. On the contrary, more open space and green! And won’t traffic inevitably become more congested with the construction of the hotel? Modern global practices and urban planning theories insist on removing transport from the center — the center should become a quiet pedestrian zone.” But despite all the objections, in 1967, a colossal structure designed to personify the Soviet Union’s achievements in urban engineering and world-class hospitality was erected on the historic Zaryadye site.

After 1991 and the collapse of the USSR, the golden age of Rossiya had come and gone. By the 2000s, the once cutting-edge hotel had become an enormous second-class hotel with services well below international standards. In the 1990s and early 2000s, a hotel room cost between $80-200 per night. The hotel’s clients were mostly business travelers from Russia’s regions or foreigners travelling to Moscow on a budget. The state cinema hall ‘Rossiya’, which once hosted the Moscow International Film Festival and hosted cinema starts from around the world, had fallen into a state of disrepair.