Moscow

Page Contents

General Information Ideas for Additional Days Mondays in Moscow Moscow Inexpensive Food Options Restaurants Traktir Chain Restaurants Fast Food Coffee Shops and Cafes Self Catering News, Cultural Information Weather and Climate Moscow After Dark Nightlife Note: Ivan the Great Bell Tower Note: Kuskovo

Address - Understanding Them Address Terms Transportation Metro Buses Trains Transportation Terms Getting to/from Sheremetevo Getting to/from Domodedovo Getting to/from Vnukovo Internet Cafes Bookstores

Inexpensive Accomodations Hostel Resources Hostels Hostels A Hostels B Hostels C Hostels D - G Hostels H - L Hostels M - N Hostels O - R Hostels S Hostels T Hostels U - Budget Hotels Other Accommodation Options Gone but not Forgotten Medium Priced Hotels Bed and Breakfasts

Ivan the Great Bell Tower

Inexpensive accommodations 
NOTE: Back in the 1990s and early 2000 until about 2005, both Moscow and St. Petersburg had a severe shortage of inexpensive housing. At that time it definitely was not recommended that one arrive in either city without reservations, especially during the summer high season. These days, there are many, many more options in good locations. In Moscow, a good location is considered to be one within or near the Garden Ring.

Besides location, there are other factors that warrant some consideration. Probably the next most important is the issue of Registration, which is required by Russian law for all stays more than two nights that are not weekends of holidays. Since each hostel sets its own fees for this service, it may be important to ask this question up front when planning a stay that requires assistance in this matter.

Another important consideration when choosing a hostel in Moscow is the availability of laundry facilities. Moscow has few coin operated laundromats, few storefront laundries, few ladies with signs out offering to do your wash by the kilo or pound. This means that you need to factor in whether you will need clean clothes during your stay or before you depart onwards.

Because inexpensive and moderately prices accommodations, especially in convenient locations are almost non existent, many travelers who would not otherwise consider a hostel stay, do so in Moscow. Consider whether a community room, kitchen facilities, internet access, breakfast included, private bath are requirements or personal preferences. Some of these facilities are not available at many locations.

There has been a recent proliferation in hostels in Moscow and many are operated or were started by foreigners. While some of this is good news for travelers, not all is great. Doing business in Russia is not easy and the increase has also been accompanied by multiple closures, poor renovations, inconsistent service, etc. Please check multiple sites for reviews regarding hostels and their services as reputations seem to change quickly.

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Hostels 
Currently there would appear to be more than three dozen hostels now operating in Moscow. Below are listed in alphabetical order many of those open in summer 2010, with links to their websites when available. Also listed are the names of several hostels that are no longer in operation. For reviews, check the sites mentioned above.  

• the AD&T Guesthouse is closed, and has been for a while. Their old web site, http://www.moscowguesthouse.com, no longer works, and they are not open to the public anymore.
• All the World Hostel
  Address: Bolshaya Tulskaya St. 54, Moscow, Russia 115191
  Tel.: 8 (916) 361 8065
  Metro: Tulskaya, gray line one stop outside the ring line on the south side, 15 minutes to Okhotny Ryad
  Hostelling International member
• Art Hostel was a college dorm that offered rooms when classes were not in session. Unfortunately, it was closed for renovations in 2004, and there is no indication when they might open again.

• Artel Artistic Hostel is a new hostel where "each room has been handed over to a local artist in Moscow, some already well-known and some up-and-coming. No two rooms are alike."
  Address: Teatralny Proezd 3, Building 3, Moscow, Russia 127051
  Tel.: +7 495 626 9008 (outside Russia)
  Metro: Kuznetsky Most, purple line, 5 minutes to Okhotny Ryad
  
• Asia or G & R is located in a rundown old soviet-style hotel much further from center city, in the south west part of town. This is reportedly an okay place to stay and easy to get to and from. These hostel has been around a while and offers travel services on premises.
  Address: Zelenodolskaya St. 3/2, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: 8 (095) 378 0001
  Metro: Ryazansky Prospekt, near the next to last stop on the purple line - 5 stops from the ring line.
  Hostelling International member
•  Basilica Hostel, part of the ensemble of a Russian Orthodox Church, the Church of the Silver Trinity, built in 1781.
  Address: Serebryanichesky Pereulok, 1a, Moscow, Russia, 1090288
  Tel.: (910) 420 3446‎
  Metro: Kitai Gorod, 500 meter walk to the metro station
• Breeze Hostel is no longer in operation.

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• Buddy Bear Hostel, "located in the city center of Moscow on famous garden ring in a luxury new building, made for famous Russian pop stars and musicians." Previously known as the Olympia Hostel
  Address: Smolensky Bulvar, 15, Entrance 2, apartment 13 Moscow, Russia 1191218
  Tel.:+7 (499) 241 0616‎, 8 (985) 786 7827‎ (Mobile)
  Metro:Smolenskaya (Light Blue), 800 meter walk and 7 minutes to Okhotny Ryad

• Bulgakov Hostel, new location managed by the folks from the HomeFromHome Hostel, it is "located in the historical part of the Moscow center on the most famous pedestrian street called Old Arbat."
  Address: Arbat Street 49, Apt 9, Moscow, Russia 119002
  Tel.: +7 495 229 8018 ; +7 499 241 4482
  Metro: Smolenskaya (Dark Blue) couple of block walk and then 8 minutes to Okhotny Ryad
•  Hostel Camelot, no website, not much information and two different addresses. Confusing.
  Address: 10 Malaya Polyanka St. 10, Apartment 5, Moscow, Russia AND Gruzinskaya, 38, Moscow, Russia
• Capital Hostel considers itself "more a guest house than a hostel as there are 5 private rooms and only 2 dorms."
  Address: Malaya Ordynka, 5/6, Building 1, Entrance 1, apartment 9 Moscow, Russia 119017
  Tel.: +7 495 959 13 47 or +7 985 171 9095
  Metro: Tretyakovskaya, short walk and 7 minutes to Okhotny Ryad
• Central Hostel, no website, not much information
  Address: Kutuzovsky prospect 24, Moscow, Russia 122351
• Chocolate, new in 2010.
  Address: Degtyarny Pereulok, 15/1, building 1, Apt 4, Moscow, Russia 125009
  Tel.: +7 (495) 971 2046
  Metro: Pushkinskaya
• Comrade Hostel, three minutes to the nearest metro, ten minutes to Red Square
  Address: 3rd Floor, Maroseyka Street, 11, Moscow, Russia 101000
  Tel.: +7 (495) 628 3126
  Metro: Kitai Gorod

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•  Day 'n' Night Hostel
  Address: Luchnikov Pereulok 7/4 Building 6, 2d floor (in Russia this is 3d floor), Moscow, Russia, 101000
  Tel.: +7 (499) 504 8897, +7 (965) 320 0821, +7 (967) 058 7334
  Metro: Lubyanka
• Eesti Airlines Hostel, website is in Russian.
  Address: Tverskaya St. 27, building 2, Apt 83, Moscow, Russia 125009
  Tel.: +7 (926) 060 6000
  Metro: Mayakovskaya
• Gagarin Hostel
  Address: Krivokolenny lane 8/1, Apt. 8, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: +7 (903) 708 2717
  Metro: Chistye Prudy
• Godzillas Hostel - opened in 2005, situated in a historical pre-revolutionary building in the centre of Moscow
  Address: Bolshoi Karetnyy 6, Moscow, Russia 127051
  Tel.: +7 (495) 699 4223
  Metro: Tsvetnoi Bulvar (3 minutes) and Tverskaya / Pushkinskaya (5 minutes)
  Hostelling International member
• Gostiny dvor na Polyanke or Courtyard on Polyanka, located in the heart of the capital in a historic part of Zamoskvoreche in an area called Yakimanka, opened in 2009
  Address: Malaya Yakimanka St. 24/8, Moscow, Russia 119180
  Tel.: Ƶ (499) 238 8420
  Metro: Polyanka

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• Happy Home Hostel. The website no longer seems to load and the last review on the web is from May 2009.
  Address: Belorechenskaya St. 7, Apt 52, Moscow, Russia, 109559
  Metro: Lublino, 7 stops from the Kurskaya ring line station on the light green line.
• Heritage, formerly located at Kosmonavtov Ul. 2, no longer appears to exist.
• Home from Home Hostel, see Bulgakov Hostel above

• HM Hostel, "at the heart of the city center, next to the famous Arbat street and only a few minutes walk from the Kremlin," opened in 2007
  Address: Maly Afanasyevsky St. 1/33, Apt. 14 (4th Floor), Moscow, Russia, 119019
  Tel.: +7 (495) 691 8390
  Metro: Arbatskaya (Light Blue), 5 minute walk
  Hostelling International member
• Moscow - Home Hostel, "East or West Home is Best. Moscow Home-Hostel is your Best home in Moscow." Opened September 2006.
  Address: 2nd Neopalimovsky Pereulok 1/12, first floor, Moscow, Russia 119121
  Tel.: +7 (495) 778 2445
  Metro: Park Kultury, 7-10 minute walk or Smolenskaya (Dark Blue), 7-10 minute walk
  Hostelling International member
• Iris Hostel, opened in 2006 as Yellow Blue Bus hostel. The hostel is a converted three bedroom apartment.
  Address: 4 Tverskaya-Yamskaya 5, Apartment 8, Moscow, Russia 125047
  Tel.: +7 (495) 250 1364, +7 909 925 8910,
  Metro: Mayakovskaya
• Kremlin Hostel has no website and terrible reviews, the last one dating from summer 2009 so perhaps it has closed.
  Address: Malaya Gruzinskaya St. 38, Moscow, Russia 123056
  Metro: Krasnopresnenskaya or 1905 Goda
• Lenin Hostel, now the Suharevka Hostel. See below

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• Mega Hostel, no website but supposedly filled with character and designed by Moscow artists. Each floor is a different era of Russian history. The first floor is a tribute to Ivan the Terrible, the second to Peter the Great, the third to Catherine the Great and the fourth to Soviet times and Modern Russia, opened August 2009.
  Address: Strastnoy Bulvar 7, Building 2, Moscow, Russia 127006
  Tel.: +7 (499) 409 3911
  Metro: Chekhovskaya
• Monroe Hostel, so new (spring 2010) that it doesn't have a completed website. Monroe as in Marilyn, as in "Gentlemen Prefer… Hostel Monroe!"
  Address: Voznesensky Pereulok, 5, Moscow, Russia 125009
  Tel.: no phone number indicated
  Metro: near several stations, closest are the Arbatskaya (Light and Dark Blue)
• Moscow Ideal, opened summer 2010
  Address: Smolensky Bulvar 15, Entrance 7, first floor, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: +7 499 241 6388; +7 499 252 8734; +7 903 740 8314
  Metro: halfway between Smolenskaya (Dark Blue) and Park Kultury
• Moscow Style opened in winter 2009-2010?
  Address: Tverskaya St. 15, Entrance 6, Apt. 80, Moscow, Russia 125009
  Tel.: +7 (926) 493 225
  Metro: Tverskaya

• Napoleon Hostel, located in a fully renovated pre-revolutionary apartment, supposedly in the same building that Napoleon himself stayed when he occupied Moscow back in 1812. Opened in 2006.
  Address: Maly Zlatoustinsky Pereulok 2, 4th Floor, Moscow, Russia, 101000 Tel.: +7 495 628 6695
  Metro: Kitai Gorod and Lubyanka
  Hostelling International member
• Nova House does not seem to have a website any longer even though it appears to have opened in summer 2007. The owner has a cat, but one of the two sections is cat+free. (former site: http://www.nm.ru)
  Address: Devyatkin Pereulok 4, Apt. 6, Moscow, Russia 101000
  Tel.: +7 495 623 4659
  Metro: Kitai Gorod, short walk from the Maroseyka exit
• Novy or New Arbat, one of Moscow's newest and largest hostels, able to accommodate more than 120 guests, from single travellers to large groups, opened in 2009.
  Address: Novy Arbat, 20, Bolshaya Molchanovka, 23&347;2, Moscow, Russia 119019
  Tel.: +7 (495) 211 9057
  Metro: Arbatskaya (Dark Blue)
• No. 1 Hostel, this hostel was formerly know as Sherstone Hostel, one of Moscow's oldest hostels, hence the name.
  Address: Baltiyskaya St. 10/2, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: +7 (495) 378 0466
  Metro: Sokol, 7 minute walk to metro

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• O'Hostel has no website, no phone number, and not much information.
  Address: Malaya Ordynka St. 19, 3rd floor, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: none found
  Metro: Tretyakovskaya, short walk to metro
• Oasis Hostel, a "paradise in the center of Moscow," opened in 2009 or 2010.
  Address: Strastnoy Bulvar 4/3, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: +7 (495) 650 2374 +7 (495) 694 1803
  Metro: Chehovskaya
  Hostelling International member
• Orange Hostel opened in 2010
  Address: Novaya Basmannaya St. 16, Building 4, Entrance 4, Apt. 38, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: +7 962 900 8862
  Metro: Krasnye Vorota
• Purple Hostel is so new that there is no website and no reviews
  Address: Pyatnitskaya St. 9/28, Moscow, Russia 115035
  Tel.: 8 (926) 950 4263
  Metro: Novokuznetskaya

• Pushkinn Hostel is located in a supposedly renovated two-story 18th century mansion, but reviews suggest that the work hasn't gone well thus far. It opened spring 2010 but closed during the summer 2010 as the electric and plumbing were not operating.
  Address: Arbat St. 26, Building 2, Moscow, Russia 119002
  Tel.: 8 (495) 229 8018
  Metro: Smolenskaya (Dark Blue)
• Rainbow opened in 2009 and appears to be located in the same building as the Day 'n' Night Hostel.
  Address: Luchnikov Lane, house 7/4, Building 6, Entrance 5, Apt 43, Moscow, Russia 101000
  Tel.: +7 (495) 624 4156; +7 926 047 6646
  Metro: Lubyanka
• Red Square Hostel opened in 2009 and may have already closed by 2010 as it doesn't seem to have a website and its page on hostelworld.com is gone.
  Address: Tverskaya St. 4, Entrance 11, 7th Floor, Moscow, Russia
  Metro: Okhotny Ryad
• Red Star Hostel is described in a review as "a nice quirky hostel in which to spend a lot of time with the locals." One dorm is called the fairy tale room and the other, the prison room.
  Address: Muranovskaya St.4, Entrance 3, Ground Floor, Apt 100, Moscow, Russia 127549
  Tel.: +7 964 721 99 85
  Metro: Bibirevo, 10 minute walk to metro and then 30 minutes to Okhotny Ryad

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• Sherstone Hostel was one of Moscow's oldest hostels but it doesn't seem to exist anymore. Instead, see Number 1 Hostel. However, there is a Sherstone Hotel.
  Address: Gostinichny Proezd 8/1, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: none
  Metro: Petrovsko-Razumovskaya, 10 minute walk to metro
  
• Shelter Hostel, opened in 2009
  Address: Bol. Kharitonyevsky Lane 13A, Moscow, Russia 107078
  Tel.: +7 926 338 4947; +7 (495) 628 4529
  Metro: Chistye Prudy, 5 minute walk to metro
• Snail Hostel is NOT a hostel. It appears to be a service provided by a small company to rent out the poorer rooms located in a partially renovated hotel. And its former website no longer functions.
  Address: Selskokhozyaistvennaya 15/1 Office 339, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.:
  Metro: Botanichesky Sad, 7 minute walk to metro
• Sonia2 Hostel is located on the 5th floor of a building constructed in 1814 that appears to accommodate mostly Russian speakers and has no common area. There is another branch on Maroseyka St. 9, Building 1, Apt. 11
  Address: Ogorodny Sloboda Pereulok 14, Entrance 1, Apt 13, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: +7 495 768 4901
  Metro: Chistye Pudy, short walk to metro
• SpasiboHorosho Hostel is also known as 1st Arbat Hostel. See below for more details.

• Suharevka Hostel, formerly known as the Lenin hostel, opened in fall 2008. It is basically two apartments on the same floor; one is dorms with a small kitchen and the other is double rooms.
  Address: Bolshaya Suharevskaya Square 16/18, Moscow, Russia, 107045
  Tel.: +7 910 420 3446
  Metro: Suharevskaya, 1.5 blocks along the Garden Ring to metro
  Hostelling International member
• Sweet Hostel has disappeared under this name and at the Stary Arbat Street location. Its website now for the Basilica Hostel. See above for details.

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• TNT, opened in 2010 in a central location.
  Address: Zvonarsky Pereulok 5, 3rd floor, Moscow, Russia 107031
  Tel.: +7 (495) 973 0501
  Metro: Kuznetsky Most, Trubnaya, Lubyanka, 5 minute walk to metro
• Tramp Hostel opened its doors in 2001 and is now closed.

• Trans-Siberian Hostel opened in summer 2006 and is located in a historic 1833 gorodskaya usadba (city townhome). Address: Barashevsky Pereulok 12, Moscow, Russia 105062
  Tel: +7 (495) 916 2030
  Metro: Chistye Prudy, 12 minute walk to metro, Kurskaya is 7 minute walk to metro
• Travelers Guest House might have been the first hostel in Moscow as it was established in 1993, but as TGH was located in a not nice building in a not nice area, the recent boom in competition appears to have caused TGH to close its doors.
• Trip and Sleep opened in 2010. So new there is no phone number, no website, and no reviews, but it is located in an interesting old structure built in 1910 as a "for profit" building, basically a rental property.
  Address: Glazovsky Pereulok 5/9, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: none found
  Metro: Smolenskaya (Dark Blue), short walk
• Tsar Hostel opened in 2010; it's got a great location. The website is only in Russian and it offers no information regarding the hostel and its facilities.
  Address: Petrovka St. 19, 3rd floor, Moscow, Russia 107031
  Tel.: 8 (915) 171 1012
  Metro: Trubnaya 350 m., Chehovskaya 540 m. Pushkinskaya 583 m.

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• Usadba Hostel is located outside the city center in a historic late 18th century city townhouse near Golovinsky ponds.
  Address: Mihalkovskaya St. 38, Building 3, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: +7 (499) 153 7516, Tel./Fax: +7 (499) 154 2572
  Metro: Vodny Stadion, the next to last station before the Rechnoy Vokzal and then take bus 123 or minibus taxi 123М 5 stops.
• Yellow Blue Bus Hostel changed its name to Iris Hostel in summer 2010.

• 1st Arbat Hostel, also known as SpasiboHorosho Hostel,
  Address: Maly Kakovinsky St. 4, Building 1, Apartment 8, Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: +7 (967) 013 0047 +7 (967) 013 0049
  Metro: Smolenskaya
• 2x2 Hostel is not really a hostel but rather two bedrooms, one with a queen sized bed and the other with a king sized bed, a kitchen and a bathroom. (2010 website didn't work)
  Address: Potapovsky Pereulok 9/11, Moscow, Russia 101000
  Tel.: 8 916 819 6846
  Metro: Kitai Gorod

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Another, more home grown dormitory possibility is Galina's Flat ([email protected]). Galina is a kind and very welcoming Russian woman who speaks a little bit of English, and offers beds in a 5 bed dormitory for $8 a night. Doubles can be arranged for $10 each. She is located a 5 minute walk from Chistye Prudie or Turgenevskaya metro stations. Tel.: +7 (095) 921 60 38. A MAJOR concern in staying at Galina's is that she is unable to provide visa support and more importantly unable to provide migration card registration. This means that you must use a visa service that can provide registration in Moscow and more importantly any savings by staying there might be eaten up by paying for registration. Also she smokes and has cats.

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• Baykal Hotel is a two star hotel renovated in 2003. Prices vary, but start at about 75 USD (60 Euro) for a single not including breakfast.
  Address: Selskohozaistvennaya St. 15/1, Moscow, Russia 129226
  Tel.: +7 (495) 660 0695
  Metro: Botanichesky Sad
• the Izmailovo complex hotels - including the Alpha, Beta, Vega, Gamma-Delta. Rates vary considerably so check for current prices. These hotels were constructed for the 1980 Olympics and received minor renovations in 1998. Also while they are near the Partizanskaya (Партизанская) metro station (formerly the Izmailovsky Park Metro Station) on the dark blue line, this station is 6 stops from here to downtown.

• Maxima Hotels operates a new chain of moderately priced 3-star hotels in Moscow. Currently they have four properties in locations outside the center city. Prices vary, but start at about 60 Euro for a single including VAT and breakfast. For booking check online or call the Reservations Department at +7 (495) 788 7277, 788 7272.
  Maxima Irbis
  Address: Gostinichnaya St. 1, Moscow, Russia 127106
  Metro: Vladykino plus 250 meter walk to metro (across the street from the Zarya)
  Maxima Panorama
  Address: Masterkova St. 4, Moscow, Russi 115280
  Metro: Avtozavodskaya
  Maxima Slava
  Address: Yaroslavskoe Shosse 44, Moscow, Russia 129337
  Metro: VDNKh then take buses number 136, 172, 244 or trolleybus 76 to "Shkola" bus stop. Go straight ahead, second turn on the right. The hotel offers a free shuttle from the metro on workdays only.
  Maxima Zarya
  Address: Gostinichnaya St. 4/9, Moscow, Russia 127106
  Metro: Vladykino plus 200 meter walk to metro
• Hotel Universitetskaya on the impressive Moscow State University campus.
  Address: Michurinsky Prospect 8/29;, Moscow, Russia 117192
  Phone: +7 (495) 939 9215
  Fax: +7 (495) 956 1155
  Room Rates: (EUR, per room per night) (August 2010)
  Single - simple 70, single standard 90, single renovated 125
  Double - standard 155, double + TV one bed 130, double renovated one bed 170, double renovated two beds 185
  Triple - 120 (simple), 250 (luxurious)
  Four bed- luxe 255
  Rates do not include breakfast, which is paid directly at the restaurant (EUR 5).

• Zolotoi Kolos Hotel is an older hotel that opened its doors in 1954. Its rates vary with the time of year and the room. They offer a 10% discount on the weekends.
  Address: Yaroslavskaya St. 15, Bldgs. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 Moscow, Russia
  Tel.: + (495) 617 6666
  Metro: VDNKh, 2 blocks to metro

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• Moscow Apartments
• WayToRussia
• Consider a homestay if you are curious how Russians really live. To arrange a homestay in a Russian apartment, contact:
  [email protected] or
  HOFA in Russia
• During the winter of 2004, one traveler visited and wrote reviews for many locations in Moscow. While perhaps outdated, some observations probably still stand, so it might be worth checking the information on the Visit Moscow website.
• For free accommodations it is worth noting these sites. Their only potential problem is registration of your migration card. Registration is now the responsibility of the place where you stay. The problem arises in that many Russians will be unwilling to take the time to visit the local post office to file the necessary forms. Still, if you are interested in home or room exchanges, try these sites
  • hospitalityclub.org
  • couchsurfing.com
  • place2stay.net
  • globalfreeloaders.com

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• The Hotel Moskva or Hotel Moscow, whose building faces the Okhotny Ryad Shopping Center near the entrance to Red Square, closed for renovation and reconstruction in 2004. For a poorly written history about this historical hotel that first opened in 1935, check out this page: Hotel Moskva. The new building was topped-out in the middle of 2008. The new hotel is scheduled to open sometime in 2009 but in mid 2010 it still had not reopened. This used to be a three star hotel, but the newly reopened hotel is going to be operated by the Four Seasons chain and is unlikely to be three star or moderately priced.
• The Hotel Rossiya, which was right near Red Square closed at the end of 2005 and a new 2000 room hotel with apartments, an underground parking garage and other facilities are supposed to be built on this site, but there is no indication of when construction might begin, let alone when it might open.
• The Tsentralnaya was another inexpensive hotel, right downtown at number 10 Tverskaya Street. This hotel, which first opened in 1911, is under renovation currently (summer 2010). When it reopens in 2011, the Tsentralnaya Hotel will have the original facade and its 237 rooms will be managed by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. In the past, the usual guests here were German students and budget tour groups looking for a great downtown location. With the Mandarin Oriental managing operations, it seems doubtful that the same type of travelers will be staying here.

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Medium Priced Hotels  - Don't bother looking at TripAdvisor for recommendations, because they say terrible things about all Russian hotels. Sometimes good deals can be obtained using Expedia or haystack on the Lonely Planet site, the latter goes through Expedia anyway, but is a good filter.

• Marriott Hotels have a deal where you can purchase Marriott Reward points. Purchasing points can be cheaper than reserving a hotel room. This is a report from a TT user who plans to stay in Moscow in January 2009, "I am staying at a Marriott property in Moscow in January the week of the Orthodox Christmas for four nights and the rate would be 37,170 roubles (about $1350 US) for those four nights. I used Marriott points (55,000 points - that translates to about $550 if I had had to purchase the points (I travel a lot so had many points, but also bought some for this one). A heck of a deal. Check Marriott Rewards."

• Kosmos - This is an older hotel that was recently renovated. It is popular with tourist groups for good reason. Although not downtown near the Kremlin or Red Square, it is well located in a green area in northeast Moscow. It is located adjacent to the All-Russia Exhibition Centre (V.V.C.), close to Ostankino Telecom Tower, Count Sheremetyev's Palace (also called Ostankino), the "Olimpijsky" Sports Complex and the "Sokolniki" Exhibition Complex. It is a 20 minute walk/ride on the metro to Red Square. The nearest metro station is VDNKh. Breakfast is included in the room price and is served from 7 AM to 10:30 AM. Hotel Cosmos
• Hotel Budapest Housed in a late 19th century building, this older hotel is centrally located a few blocks walk from Red Square in an interesting part of Moscow. Renovations are complete and now the hotel has a pool, health club, salon, wifi and new restaurant (mid 2010). Buffet Breakfast is included in the room price and is served from 7 AM to 10:30 AM. Hotel Budapest
• Hotel Ukraina This hotel is located outside the Garden Ring. It is a longish walk on a straight shot from Kievskaya Metro/Train Station down Novy Arbat to Central Moscow through an area which has much improved since the addition of the nearby Yevropeisky shopping mall. The building is one of the Stalin era skyscrapers built during the late 1940s early 1950s, but was closed in 2007. The hotel reopened in 2010 after extensive renovations and the number of room dropped from 900 to 505 with 38 new suites. The now five star hotel is called the Radisson Royal Hotel Moscow and is managed by the Rezidor Hotel Group. Hotel Ukraina
• Hotel Warsaw This is another of the hotels first opened during Soviet times and were named for other communist capitol cities (others were the Budapest, the Pekin, etc.) The hotel is situated in city centre, on the corner of the Garden Ring and Leninsky Prospect near right on top of Oktyabrskaya metro and in an up & coming area. It is 15 minutes to the Kremlin and the Red Square and a short walk to Central Visual Arts Museum, the Park of Fallen Heroes and Gorky Park. Buffet breakfast is included in the price. Hotel Varshava

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Bed and Breakfasts 
Although uncommon, they do exist. In fact, some of the hostels listed above have private rooms and offer breakfast. More often, however, they are often just homestays taken to the next level, with a few people staying in a large apartment. Checking with travel agencies and in newspapers is the best route to finding them. Some of the hostel websites list several places. See Hostel Resources for links. Also check Moscow Apartments for some suggestions.

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This group of three buildings is generally called the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, but it also includes the Assumption Belfry and Filaret Annex. The strange configuration is the result of having been built in several phases. Ivan III ordered the erection of a two-tiered bell tower with a church in 1505. When completed by the builder Bon Fryazin (also known as Marco Bon) in 1508, the 60-meter bell tower consisted of two octagonal pillars, one on top of the other, tapering toward the top and crowned by a dome with a circular drum. Bon Fryazin is known only to have built one structure in Moscow, but it was built to last. The lower level of the tower rests on 5 meter wide solid brick walls which taper to 2.5 meters at the second tier. Iron reinforcing rods were set in the first tier masonry. The tower survived numerous fires and other disasters, which frequently swept the Kremlin.

At the beginning of the 17th century Boris Godunov ordered the tower extended 21 meters, with additional tiers, as it appears today. The upper octagon was decorated with a double row of kokoshniki. Above this was added a cylindrical drum with false narrow windows painted black. Under the gold dome are three rows of inscription in gilt letters on copper leaf against a blue background. The old Slavonic script states "by the grace of the Holy Trinity and the Tsar and Grand Prince Boris and his son Fyodor said church was built and adorned with gold in 1600."

Some say that it was at this point that the tower got its name of "Great" because of its height of 81 meters. And that Ivan was included in the name because on this site previously had stood the stone bell tower church to St. Ivan Clamicus (St John of the Ladder) originally built by Ivan I in honor of his patron saint. Others claim that the name can be attributed to Ivan the Great who ordered the original section of this tower built on this site.

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