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Sheraton Palace Hotel, Moscow, Russian Federation [Master Thread]

Sheraton Palace Hotel, Moscow, Russian Federation [Master Thread]

Old Aug 7, 2006, 7:10 am
  #61  
 
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Originally Posted by Rolling Stone
.................US dollars will be stated on your final bill in Currency Units (1 C.U. = $1) and converted to rubles .........


sorry, rolling stone, but that is not true in general and specifically not in my case, since the CU/ruble ratio is not fixed 1/1 and at the time of checkout a sign on the desk read: " one CU =31,5 rubles ".
31, 5 rubles at the same time was the equivalent of 1,16 US$; so you do the math .

small money or not, it is fraud and it is no way a "misunderstanding" as fly co was presuming. though i surely can live with a loss like that, i hate to be taken for a ride.
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Old Aug 7, 2006, 8:00 am
  #62  
 
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Originally Posted by sunseeker
sorry, rolling stone, but that is not true in general and specifically not in my case, since the CU/ruble ratio is not fixed 1/1 and at the time of checkout a sign on the desk read: " one CU =31,5 rubles ".
31, 5 rubles at the same time was the equivalent of 1,16 US$; so you do the math .

small money or not, it is fraud and it is no way a "misunderstanding" as fly co was presuming. though i surely can live with a loss like that, i hate to be taken for a ride.
It is not a misunderstanding, but is a common practice in Russia and many other countries. Your $ quoted reservation will be translated into local currency at the time of check in/out not at booking and you will be hit with the bad exchange rate that hotels use. The problem in Russia is that these CUs and their exchange rate is different from the $ exchange rate that you can get at the front desk if you are looking to exchange money and that is just wrong... Probably not much you can do though. One way is to book prepaid rates that are charged in $ at the time of booking...
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Old Aug 7, 2006, 8:43 am
  #63  
 
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No doubt about it, it can be very frustrating having to deal with the CU and based on the displayed rate of 1 CU = 31.5 roubles that sounds like the CU is more closely tied to the Euro than to the dollar and I even seem to remember being told one time that the CU rate is essentially the Euro rate...However, being Russia I am sure that varies from place to place and even from day to day depending on what they feel like charging...Maybe one day things will be more straight forward and transparent so this will no longer be an issue...I think I have almost just become numb to the whole thing.

Last edited by Dave8481; Aug 11, 2008 at 3:45 pm
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Old Aug 7, 2006, 9:36 am
  #64  
 
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I agree with the OP who feels "screwed".

Yes, in many countries the hotel will use an a conversion rate slightly higher than normal... but 15%+ higher is unreasonable. Why cant they increase their prices in US$ and use the normal exchange rate? Or since the real price is much closer to euros, why dont they give the rates in euros? The current practice is like "here's a price we'll quote you online but when you check out we reserve the right to add an unpredictable amount to the bill".

For people who book online who have no idea about this, the practice is deceptive bordering on fraud.

Their hiding behind the fact the quote is given in one currency, and local laws dictate that they much bill in another currency. If people had the option to pay in US$ in cash, you would see this practice disappear instantly.

I think the OP should fight. For a small local operator to do this is not unexpected. For starwood to not only allow it but to actually aid in it (since the original booking is made through their site) is unforgivable.
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Old Aug 7, 2006, 9:37 pm
  #65  
 
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Originally Posted by Dave8481
No doubt about it, it can be very frustrating having to deal with the CU and based on the displayed rate of 1 CU = 31.5 roubles that sounds like the CU is more closely tied to the Euro than to the dollar and I even seem to remember being told one time that the CU rate is essentially the Euro rate...
Correct... Back when the dollar was ahead of the euro, it was the Europeans gettting screwed more (the 'CU' exchange rate was set a few cents above the official rate).
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Old Aug 7, 2006, 9:41 pm
  #66  
 
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Originally Posted by lewinr
Yes, in many countries the hotel will use an a conversion rate slightly higher than normal... but 15%+ higher is unreasonable. Why cant they increase their prices in US$ and use the normal exchange rate? Or since the real price is much closer to euros, why dont they give the rates in euros?
Better yet, why can't they just quote a rate in roubles?

Originally Posted by lewinr
Their hiding behind the fact the quote is given in one currency, and local laws dictate that they much bill in another currency. If people had the option to pay in US$ in cash, you would see this practice disappear instantly.
The law came into place in the 90s precisely to eliminate the then widespread practice of people paying in US$ in cash, BTW...

Originally Posted by lewinr
...For a small local operator to do this is not unexpected. For starwood to not only allow it but to actually aid in it (since the original booking is made through their site) is unforgivable.
Yes!
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Old Aug 8, 2006, 8:27 am
  #67  
 
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Quote In Local Currency

The solution to all these problems would be to just quote in local currency. Unfortunately most folks want to know how much that is in their own currency, and as soon as they hear that number it becomes the de facto rate. It no longer matters to them that currency can fluctuate up and down.

As an aside I asked at a Canadian hotel once why the difference in exchange rates between what a bank offers and the hotel charges. I got two different answers. One person told me that they typically set it for the month and give themselves leeway to take into account any fluctuations. The other manager told me that a hotel should not be considered a bank and they set the rate in order to discourage people from exchanging or using foreign currency for payment so they don't have to deal with it.

I can see the logic of the second reason. In todays world of credit cards and ATM's you really don't need those services. Twice I've difficulties cashing checks at a front desk because the clerk didn't have enough cash to cover them.
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Old Aug 8, 2006, 1:54 pm
  #68  
 
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Originally Posted by WindFlyer
...
What you don't know is the internal exchange rate used by hotel until you get there . This rate is typically inflated ~10-15%...
...
It is organized fraud, and it is widespreadvirtually all hotels do it; it's less widespread than it used to be at restaurants and stores.
So in theory you do not have a guaranteed rate at all. If they wanted to they could convert 1 currency unit to 1 ruble if they wanted to (as opposed to the interbank rate of approximately 26.7). They can just make it up, although the apparent norm for this scam is about 8%.

It seems misleading to claim that you have a guaranteed rate, if the internal exchange rate can be adjusted by the wind chill factor.

Instead of saying YMMV, it should be YERMV (your exchange rate may vary).

Why can't rates just be guaranteed in local currency with an instant conversion on the Web site using the current interbank exchange rate with a caveat that the actual conversion is subject to foreign currency fluctuations and applicable credit card fees.

Alternatively, they could guarantee the rate in US dollars (or euros, etc.) and charge you in US dollars (in which case you should make sure you do not use a card (such as, I believe Diners, for example) that has a foreign transaction fee for foreign transactions charged in dollars (assuming you have a US dollar Diners account).
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Old Aug 8, 2006, 3:54 pm
  #69  
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Originally Posted by Rolling Stone
The solution to all these problems would be to just quote in local currency. Unfortunately most folks want to know how much that is in their own currency, and as soon as they hear that number it becomes the de facto rate.
Indeed. That's what they should do--and that's what happens in almost every foreign country. Unfortunately, many business establishments in Russia prefer quoting rates in dollars or Euros because that enables them to make a side-profit.

Did you hear about how one of the Hermitage's curators stole millions of dollars worth of works of art over a number of years ...

Last edited by soitgoes; Jun 11, 2008 at 1:59 am Reason: correct typo two years later!
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Old Feb 25, 2008, 10:49 am
  #70  
 
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Any recent experiences at the Sheraton Moscow? I have a 4-night stay booked at the end of April (using my 50PRG for an amazing 12 cents/point value!), so I'm particularly curious how the lobby renovation is proceeding.
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Old Feb 29, 2008, 5:04 pm
  #71  
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Originally Posted by ismann
Any recent experiences at the Sheraton Moscow? I have a 4-night stay booked at the end of April (using my 50PRG for an amazing 12 cents/point value!), so I'm particularly curious how the lobby renovation is proceeding.
I'm there at the end of May. Funny how a $250/night room becomes a $320/night room after taxes are added. Yeesh!
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Old Mar 1, 2008, 11:01 pm
  #72  
 
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Originally Posted by Anglo Large Clawed Otter
I'm there at the end of May. Funny how a $250/night room becomes a $320/night room after taxes are added. Yeesh!
$250/night? How'd you find such a low rate? The cheapest I see for my 4-night stay in late April is 15,000 rubles, or about $625, which I thought was pretty normal for "nice" hotels in Moscow.
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Old Jun 10, 2008, 9:54 am
  #73  
 
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Any reports from recent stays? I'm interested in info on rooms and platinum upgrade experiences - I'll be there on an award stay in about two weeks.
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Old Jun 10, 2008, 2:01 pm
  #74  
 
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I did a 4-night award stay in April. Got a Platinum upgrade to the club floor, which I think improves the room slightly, adding an LCD TV, for instance. You'll have access to the club lounge no matter what, which features a pretty large breakfast spread and a decent happy hour with snacks and drinks.

When I was there, they were still completing lobby renovations, but honestly I didn't find it bothersome at all - there's really no noise, and the construction area is completely blocked off from the temporary check-in. Other than that, it was very nice for a Sheraton, okay location about a 30 minute walk from Red Square, definitely a good value for the 6k points/night I paid (PER50 at the former Cat 5 level).
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Old Jun 10, 2008, 2:05 pm
  #75  
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Originally Posted by ismann
$250/night? How'd you find such a low rate? The cheapest I see for my 4-night stay in late April is 15,000 rubles, or about $625, which I thought was pretty normal for "nice" hotels in Moscow.
Sheraton Palace Moscow was available at an Internet Special rate for my Friday evening stay back in late May. I also suspect that your rate is/was higher because (at least) a portion of it falls during weekdays, rather than entirely on a weekend.

As for upgrades, I was upgraded to a Junior Suite, which was nice enough. However, the place looked like it was last furnished/updated in about 1989. Will post a link to the pics from the room once I get them uploaded onto Flickr.
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