Hotels in Moscow
 

I'm interested in going to Russia (Moscow & St. Petersburg) either in May or October/November. Which is the best time to go? I checked out the Kempinski Hotel in Moscow in November - the cheapest room is $458 a night. Any ideas of cheaper hotels in Moscow? Also, I will be travelling alone (single, female). Is this a good idea and would you take the train to St. P from Moscow or fly?

You won't find a decent hotel in Moscow for much cheaper than that. Moscow is VERY expensive. We spent 10 days in Moscow and 4 days in St. Petersburg last year. I would definitely do the train from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Much more comfortable than a plane and you even get a meal. The planes that would take you from Moscow to St. Petersburg aren't the best. As far as traveling alone, do you speak any Russian? Very few people in Russia speak any English at all. We stayed with family at the US Embassy and they speak Russian so it wasn't a problem for us. Getting around on the metro in Moscow is quite easy.

No, I don't speak Russian but I work with someone from Russia and if I went in the Fall, I could at least learn the alphabet and maybe a few phrases. Wow - I knew Moscow was expensive but didn't think it was that bad. I went on a tour to China but didn't really like the tour thing. I wouldn't mind day tours around the city but to do the whole thing in a tour - no thanks. What's the minimum time in each city to spend to see the most famous sights? I know I won't be able to see alot in the time I have. I was planning on spending about 3 days in each city.

There are less expensive hotels prices than the Kempinski. Depends on the exact dates of travel but something like the Sovietsky Hotel or Marriott Tverskaya have rates in the region of USD300+. Sheraton Palace also has some lower rates on certain dates. There are a couple of Holiday Inns and a Courtyard, none are cheap but are less expensive than the Kempinski.

Train is better option since it is more interesting to do this than by plane although the countryside is rather boring.

May is a nice time to go.

It is useful to have an understanding of the alphabet but plenty of people go there without any knowledge of the language and are absolutely fine. Depends on the traveller and how savvy they are.

i have the same lament!!!
i have been ringing moscow..three times now
the akravel in moscow wants 300 euros a night
the hotel arbat asks 248 euros ( arbat street is meant to be a great location)

i have contacted a girl from 'welcome to russia' and she told me that apartments centrally located are about 200 usd a night..this company deals with americans mostly but im still checking it out...at least someone who spoke english answered! heres their phone number in case anyone is interested
+7 (495) 795 09 27
ring your dialling out code first
the 7 is for russia and the 495 is for moscow im guessing
if youre ringing from australia you dial 0011 first to get a line out of the country

i have heard that the metro is well policed but that some metros have underground walkways connecting to the streets above...that would be my concern and im travelling with big strong tall OH!

in st petersburg stay close to nevsky prospekt...gets pretty yuk beyond ...again i am looking at an apartment..and you may well find a studio is much better for you

have you looked at godzillas hostel...they say its quite good and maybe as a single female you will find comfort in staying in a hostel?>i did that in my 40s in london...stayed at the awful piccadilly but felt safe with people all around
( albeit there was a fire alarm and we ended up standing freezing on the pavement for a while but apart from that adventure it was fine- gross accommodation but great location! so im for anything in russia!)
apparently lots of russian women travel independently and the average russian guy is pretty polite
if they hassle you learn the phrase 'kak vam ne stidno!" which basically means...you should be ashamed of yourself.. but they do have compartments on trains for women and children so check that one out..there is a fast daytime train that takes about 5 hours but from what ive read its pretty nondescript countryside youre travelling through...however if i were doing it solo...id go daytime..but thats just me...feel safer thats all
i think that, as a woman, you wont be hassled by the police round red square and the girl from 'welcome to russia' said that it doesnt really happen but of course shes not going to say anything to the contrary is she lol
id get a guide for a day i think if i couldnt speak russian and before you go get a copy of the metro..i got it from moscow metro map when i googled
http://engl.mosmetro.ru/flash/scheme01.html
you can select destinations and it will tell you the distance
its good to be able to know this
i think the 'garden ring' ring is considered central
and kitai gorod ( china town ) is quite good
mind you its only 13minutes by metro from serpukhovskaya metro to the centre but not every hotel is going to be within walking distance of the metro either so check..
central is best i think even though you might pay the big bucks...you dont want to be travelling back to your accommodation late at night and this might stop you from enjoying yourself
if i had unlimited funds id stay at the arbat
i saw the street on 'pilots guide to russia' a dvd i hired .,,its a good one...
and i just liked the look of that area
if youre catching a tram anywhere - the signs for the stops are way up high so look skyward!
it is cheap to get around on public transport- thats a relief
and i have heard from an ex pat that yelki palki..the chain of restaurants is a nice experience..esp the one in arbat street
do try to learn some russian..its difficult but its based on phonics so you should be able to stumble through the polysyllabic signs without too much of a hassle! the announcements on the metro can be muffled so keep an eye out and befriend a fellow passenger
good luck
looking forward to your report

For Moscow (the worlds most expensive city) you might consider staying in a double room in a hostel, Godzilla's is in a pretty good location and gets mostly favorable reviews! http://www.godzillashostel.com/reserve.php

have been looking at godzillas more closely and dug up some not-so favourable reviews ..darn it! at 60 usd per room for a private room with a double bed it was certainly great value
there were some comments relating to the bathrooms having mould...dont know if thats a big deal really and the photos showed really new bathrooms so maybe there have been renovations
there have been reports of rude staff but thats not uncommon in russia i guess
the one comment that concerned me was that the distance to the kremlin wasnt accurate and was in fact a longer walk
such a hard decision to make when booking in russia!

Lane-you need to go to two websites, and look up the hostels there-some very close to Red Square-like the Red Square Hostel; they provide reviews:

www.hostelworld.com

www.hostelz.com

Some of the hostels in Moscow provide Visa Support help, for a fee-you DO know that you have to have your hotel vouchers and visa "invitation" before you actually get a Russian visa, don't you? That's in addition to the price of the visa itself (133USD). AND the Russians want to know who you work for, your supervisor's name, and every country you've visited in the last 10 years, PLUS a letter from you with name and itinerary, so you've got your: 2 page visa application, 2 passport pictures, voucher, invitation, personal letter-all of this to do and get and complete, and then the visa wait before you can go there-SHEESH! GIMME A BREAK RUSSIA! (I'm not very happy about this visa situation since I'm going this summer!).

I knew about the visa requirement, didn{t know about the rest of it. I dont hear of too many people trying to sneak their way into Russia - haha. Thanks for the info. I will allow plenty of time before I go to make sure I have all this info ready.

we stayed at a holiday inn outside the city that had free airport pickup, and free shuttle into town everyday, almost at anytime you wanted it. this was about 6 years ago.

it was very convenient.. we went in february.. all snowed over, but the scenery might be nicer in the spring or summer as you drive in.

it was such a good value we couldn´t pass up the deal.

There are no good hotel values in central Moscow in summer, and really, not at any other time, hotel rates in Moscow are the highest in the world-and they have a shortage of rooms as well. You can hostel it, and there are some hostels that offer private rooms, but most with shared bath, however the really close in ones get taken early. I find hostelworld.com to be a good source of information on budget accomodations in Eastern Europe and Croatia/Slovinia area, but I search through a variety of different sites, and of course kayak, but kayak doesn't always have the best information-it's a good starting point to use for comparison purposes, however.

I found an incredibly good deal on a room in Talinn on bookings.com-THAT is where you need to base yourself, in Estonia! From Talinn, you can go to Vilnius, Riga, to St. Petersburg, to Helsinki for the day, (take the high-speed ferry) and there are new, clean budget accomodations in Talinn with private bath for as low as 4$5-50US in the middle of summer!

I have found a well-priced, located room in St. Petersburg, (I believe!) but Moscow is much harder. I have found one very good deal on hotels.com for a 4 star hotel south of Moscow center-about 19 km. from the center, to be exact, but it is right by a metro stop, takes about 25 min. to get to Red Square, but more importantly for me, it is located within 8 miles of Moscow's Domodedovo airport, where I will fly from there to Munich.

But the pickings are mighty slim in Moscow-and it is getting tiring to search. But I have to get something soon, because I have to start getting that visa application package ready-which will cost all together, probably around $US 190.00 or so, depending on how much the hotel will charge for the visa support-it varies from US30-to US60.00-it's a rip-off, for sure.