A story about the impossible love between Nicolai and the courtesan Elise; a love that is obstructed by materialism, wealth, and the threat of death. In Russia of the post-WWII era, aging doctor Nicolai returns to an old, abandoned hotel, the place where he first met his great love 50 years ago, and relives his romantic tragedy, a tragedy that happens in the late nineteenth century, and embodies the end of an era and the vibrant hopes and life of both its young couple and of a new world. The hotel still bears the traces of its impressive past. Eventually, it becomes clear why Nicolai has really returned…