Fodor's Expert Review Ogni Murmanska

Topping a hill east of the city, this fortress-like hotel offers Murmansk's best view, along with a welcome escape from the downtown congestion and easy access to outdoor activities. Boating, fishing, swimming, and hiking are close by, and you can even ski down the hotel's own slope. Design in the relatively spacious rooms, like the furnishings, is kept to a tidy minimum, with little beyond the basics. But it's in line with the hotel's ecouragement of socializing, which becomes easiest around the bar's pool table and shooting down the pool slides.