The search for gold, and reaping the rewards when found, is one of man's baser instincts and desires. Down a small, snow-covered cobbled road surrounded by forest, in an area of natural beauty, overlooking the River Dniepra, I had the pleasure and excitement of finding this treasure in Kyiv.
AURUM Casino is located in the recently opened Leo Club, which is Kyiv’s most exclusive restaurant. The building is a fully restored version of a wooden house originally built in early 1900 that was destroyed by fire in 1939. It was sympathetically rebuilt in 2007 using the original style and materials as in its heyday. Located on a hill overlooking a bend in the River Dniepra you can see for miles either way. In the summer sitting out on one of the verandas of the three floors of restaurant the view is breathtaking and with the winter snow, nothing short of spectacular.
As you enter the building the casino reception is to your right and after registration you are escorted downstairs to AURUM Club. Think of it as more an exclusive and discreet private gaming room, as this will convey the atmosphere and feeling much more than the word casino.
There is a welcoming greeting from Anthony Rerecich and his hand picked team of experienced managers and hospitality staff, as soon as you enter the gaming room, and an immediate atmosphere that makes you feel comfortable, almost like being at home. In front of you is a sumptuous polished mahogany bar with inlaid onyx panels and bar top, serving the finest drinks available anywhere in the world, and a great place to relax and take in the detail that is part of why you feel so at home, before going to the tables. Looking to one side you find the bank and cash desk discreetly inlaid into the panelling on the walls.  The first of four card tables offering both Blackjack and Poker leads you into the main gaming area where there are two Roulettes, all set out to give a great feeling of space to allow you privacy, but close enough to make it a cosy room to be in. Here the wood panelling goes from the walls and onto the ceiling using burnished mahogany finish, accented with gold leaf, to frame some beautiful paintings on the ceiling. All around the room there are large yellow onyx panels that are backlit, which throw a gentle warming golden glow into the room.
At one end of this main room there is a granite antique fireplace with shelves of leather-bound books either side, an example of the fine attention to detail that is a hallmark of AURUM. Female dealers wear full length light gold coloured dresses whilst the male dealers wear waistcoats with matching cravats, all very fitting and reminiscent of more elegant days gone by.
The casino decor is complementary throughout, with even the modern TV screens housed in antique picture frames. The uniquely carved legs of the gaming tables look just right with the two level tops that have subtle lighting built into the wooden surrounds. The graphic roulette displays from Cammegh in the UK have also had the AURUM touch by making them look like they are placed on mahogany columns at the end of the tables.
To the side of the bar is a private seating area where you can relax, talk, drink and enjoy a fine Havana cigar, bathing in the warm glow of a second fire set again in a lovely antique granite fireplace. For those who enjoy fine dining experiences, casino members automatically become a member of Leo Club (entrance is restricted to members only) and as the restaurant has French, Italian and International chefs it will become part of the AURUM experience that will have you coming back for more.
The man behind this elegant gaming club, Aleksey Konshin, is to be admired for the vision that created AURUM as much as the gold prospectors of days gone by, who with sheer determination found and gave people what they really wanted. It is clear Aleksey understands what it is that players of the highest level expect and indeed deserve.
If you were to place this nugget of a find in any major city in the world it would really shine through as an example of the best, but it truly belongs in Kyiv.
Look for it, find it and enjoy it.

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