B Watson

It looks like I will be going to Moscow several times in the next year. Any thoughts on best hotels, best airlines, best restaurants, etc. Any operational tips as well. THANKS

j379pa

A wonderful place, but don't set your expectations too high. The food at most restaurants will improve seasonally as the weather warms. I was there in winter, and the vegetables were dismal. Exceptional service at hotels and restaurants may involve exceptional prices. Hotel Rossia by Red Square offers an amazing setting with cold war service. In this country, the health dept would have shut down the restaurant there (don't ask). My experience was about 5 - 6 years ago, and perhaps things have improved. At that time, I think most service people still worked out of a communist mindset where they got paid regardless of how well they did their job.

But--your visits will be wonderful if you let them be. My best meals were in places the locals took me, nothing fancy. I found my hosts to be kind and generous, and I'd return in a minute, given the chance!

JP

slawecki

I was there last April. The hotels are expensive for the quality. Search Starwood & I think Marriot site.

The changes over the past 5 years is amazing. It is a capitalistic society.

Rubles are the currency of trade.

Quality foodstuffs are no longer a problem. Expensive restaurants are very expensive. Mid priced restaurants have decent food, nothing special that I could find.

Learn the alphabet if not a Russian speaker. An amazing number of words are english in cyrllic.

Try to find a driver and a car, or arrange to be met whenever you wish to travel. Cabs are few and far between, and a driver and car is probably under $100 a day. Learn to use the subway, and chose a hotel close to it. It is cheap, extremely efficient, and safe. Traffic and car polution are very bad.

If you stay at the Shearton, stay on the club floor. Nice breakfast and decent ordurves included. Breakfast is $25, as I recall.

This is the English language newspaper:

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/

For overall information, start here:

http://www.infoservices.com/moscow/map/
and search the links.

print the maps. They are useful.

Get travel guides that have been printed recently. Moscow has gone through more change in the past 5 years than Paris/London/Rome have since WW2.

The Hotel Rossia has not changed. Avoid it at all costs.

j379pa

Ah, but think of the stories you could tell!

JP

Gui

Was there several months ago. Stayed at the Le Meridien National. Most would say it is certainly one of the best hotels in Moscow..and arguably one of the best locations if not the best location of any hotel in Moscow. It is located directly across the street from the underground shopping mall..and the entrance to Red Square.

smooth

Mr. Watson, I'll take the liberty of e-mailing you my trip report that I posted on the "other board" less than a year ago. Gives you an idea of what to expect in Moscow.
I stayed at the Marriott last year ( very nice ) and am planning to try the Sheraton this September.
E-mail me if you want to know more.

fastflyer

There was a middling steak house in the hotel Rossiya that turned into a discotheque on certain nights back in the '90s. Also a Mexican bar, the Armadillo, between Red Square and Chinatown. Brings back lots of memories.

Moscow is a megalopolis, perhaps 15 million total -- New York-sized. Much larger than the other continental European cities. There is no shortage of cultural activities, but the restaurant scene is a bit opaque. The wealthier expats will probably be the best resource on the good restaurants and clubs.

Much of the best socializing happens in private homes. Moscow has a small but significant population of truly wealthy (eight-figures-plus in USD) individuals. Again, similar to New York. This population drives the upmarket products and services in Moscow. This is my theory as to why upmarket products and services are stratospherically expensive in Moscow.

Unlike NYC, the middle and upper middle class is small. Another generalization, generally true: nearly everyone in Russia who wants to make something of himself is in Moscow. You'll find everything you can possibly desire there, but it will take research to find and likely money.

SemiElite

I've read a number of reviews of the Hotel Rossia, and I keep hearing pretty much the same thing...nothing spectacular, but clean and decent rooms, especially if you've spent the extra $10 for a remodeled room.

However, I've also read that they do frequently offer what je79pa has charitably called "cold war service." From what I hear, though, that's pretty common throughout Russia. Although I'm sure the 4*-5* American & Western European owned chains train their staffs to act in a more capitalistic, non-Soviet manner. Paying $250-400 a night has it's perks!

But, if you're looking for location, it can't be beat, right on the edge of Red Square, and close to just about everything! And, it's 1/3 to 1/2 the price of other centrally located hotels.

My wife and I are booked in a remodeled double room with a Kremlin view for $110 a night. Where else in Moscow could I get a comparable room for that price? I'm sure Starwood/Marriott/Hyatt/Kempinski could offer us a better experience, but at a price well beyond our means.

Anyway, we're planning on spending most of our time outside the hotel seeing the city, sampling the restaurants, and doing a bit of shopping. I'd rather spend my limited dollars on that than for a fancy room that I won't be in except to sleep and drink my morning coffee.

I will, of course, post something here upon my return to let everyone know if I made the right decision or not.

I think they call them the Russian Mafia...in both cities!

Good analysis! I'm sure that accounts for most upscale goods/services being outrageouly priced, especially when the average Russian probably earns about 3 cents a week.

But, do you think that also the typical Third World image of all American/Western European tourists, by definition, as being filthy rich and ripe for plucking might also contribute to exhorbitant prices in Moscow?




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"Read my lips! No more benefit cuts!"...Gordon Bethune