Spending a night at a dictator’s home

Chances are you don’t want to follow in the footsteps of a dictator. But what if you could spend a night like one? I’m talking about sleeping in the former home of a dictator.

If you haven’t heard of the Black Sea resort town of Sochi, you will. It’s the site of the 2014 Olympics. But long before that, it was the summer home for Joseph Stalin and his villa is now a hotel and museum.

Remember President Tito, the former head of Yugoslavia? He had a home on Lake Bled in the Slovenian Alps, which is now a hotel called Vila Bled.

During World War II, the Germans hid Mussolini in a Northern Italy villa. Today, it’s a luxury hotel, the Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli.

Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu never had a chance to stay in the massive guesthouse he was building, but you can. It’s now a five-star Marriott Grand Hotel, not far from Ceausescu’s palace.

And if all else fails, head to Mr. President Hotel in central Belgrade. They’ve got dictactor-themed rooms where you’ll have portraits of Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Tito, and other tyrants watching over you.

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