Russia - Moscow in Mai!

FT,
a couple of questions, but I trust there'll be experts out there to help me - Thank you in advance!
Alas - Ms pcf has decided that we're going to Moscow from Mai 17-21 for a tourist stay. As we're both still students, we'd appreciate tips for a cheap, yet safe and central place to stay.
Also, if we book a hotel, can we do without the visatourussia.com letter? Or would you get one anyways, just in case?
Thanks in advance!

pcf

As we're both still students, we'd appreciate tips for a cheap, yet safe and central place to stay.
Unfortunately, hotels in Moscow tend to be very expensive. I can recommend Holiday Inn Lesnaya which can be booked for 2-for-1 rates in May: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/hertz

But even with 50% discount it's still USD 230 per night.

Assuming your just looking for a basic clean, safe and inexpensive room, I would recommend you look at this site. You should be able to find something within your budget. The website, and its owner (Uncle Pasha) has been around for years, helping budget travellers in Russia. Good luck

http://www.cheap-moscow.com/

The website, and its owner (Uncle Pasha) has been around for years, helping budget travellers in Russia.
Beware of his offers for apartments. Foreigners may have big problems leaving Russia without registration at the Federal Migration Service and only hotels provide it automatically.

Beware of his offers for apartments. Foreigners may have big problems leaving Russia without registration at the Federal Migration Service and only hotels provide it automatically.

I want to second that you really should be careful of staying someplace random and obscure becuase you don't want to have trouble when you attempt to leave Russia.

That being said, there are places in Moscow (not directly downtown, but father out on the Metro), that you can stay for rather inexpensively. These places are not very westernized, but they can register your passport as needed. It would probably be hard to book a night at one of these hotels (much less get there after you've arrived in Russia) without some knowledge of language.

I don't have experience of using them myself, but if you want a budget option you might want to look into the Napoleon Hostel: http://www.napoleonhostel.com

Very central, $25 per night in a dorm and most importantly full visa support.