Fodor's Expert Review Danilovskaya

A serene and lovely setting inside the walls of the Danilovsky (St. Daniel) Monastery provides a backdrop of fountains, religious-themed paintings, and domes for these simple, tidy guest quarters with crisp new linens, lacquered-wood furnishings, and polished parquet floors. Three deluxe suites, complete with stone dining tables and canopied beds, are vast. The restaurant sources many of its recipes from old religious texts, though its real forte is baked goods, multitudes of which are continually extracted from tall ovens to provide guests their daily bread. The monastery is the official residence of Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow and All Russia, and the church holds conferences here and also sponsors concerts and exhibitions. Though far from the center, the hotel is just a five-minute walk from a metro station.