NeoPatrick,

The pricing you give was about the same proportionally in 1995. We stayed at the hostel because of that, which was an interesting experience as we were in common rooms (about 12 beds to a room). We bought our own coffee, filters and filter holder, of which we left the remainder to the person who poured the hot water in the morning. I would be curious to know if there is much internal tourism in Russia. My daughter and her partner were in China last year, in Yunnan Province, and reports that they had no problems with cheaper accommodations. But the area was crawling with tourists, 99% of them being Chinese.

here is a small list of mini hotels

http://www.netspb.ru/en/

neopatrick.. perhaps some of my outings in SP can be of use to you. Here is my report of our visit. I hope there is something of interest to you. It is a little lengthy

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-and-more.cfm

Patrick,

You are quite correct in that Moscow does not have much, if anything, between hostels and $300+ single rooms. It has been considered "the most expensive city in the world" for a number of years now.

I know you are traveling alone, but have you looked for any Moscow apartment rentals?

Within a 10 minute walk to the Red Square area, 1BR apartments are under $200/night and those closer to the ring are about $100/night. It may be more room than you "need" but still much cheaper than a hotel. ALL apartments seem to define the term "basic furnishings". They are also quite small, even by NYC standards.

I've not done this YET, but have spent a lot of frustrating time researching for a future trip to Moscow and apartments seem to make the most sense - it's what I usually do when visiting Europe. Also, research to date makes eating out in Moscow seem equally overpriced - a meal or two a day "in" could/should also help the overall budget picture.

I hesitate to recommend one agency over another since I haven't gone yet, but Googling "Moscow Apartments" yielded many enticing choices.

St. Petersburg appears downright "cheap" in all areas by comparison.

Here's a"map based" one:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/4cc9lt9

19cruise80 - thanks, but I know St Petersburg very well already.

<<research to date makes eating out in Moscow seem equally overpriced - a meal or two a day "in" could/should also help the overall budget picture.>> Suggest you do better research. Here are a couple for you to start with: Moo Moo, Yolki Palki, Shesh Besh, Starlite Diner, American Bar and Grill, Patio Pizza, U Pirosmani, Noah's Ark.

I ate far better than at Moo Moo and Yolki Palki and did not break the bank. I'm not sure what some consider "overpriced" but my meals in Moscow were about the same as when I eat out at home in Boston...$45-60 per person, depending on how much I ate, how many courses, and how much wine I drank. I was prepared to break the bank based on reviews I read, but I had some very nice meals and didn't feel like it was highway robbery at all.

Try the Pushka Inn in St. Petersburg. Clean, good location and I believe breakfast was included.

The Pushka Inn is interesting. While their cheapest "standard" double rooms for one person start at $250 for my dates, they do offer an economy single on the ground floor. Sounds a little scary, but the pictures (no bath picture) seem OK -- bigger than a closet at least. At about $150 US (4500RUB) per night including "all taxes" and registration and can be cancelled up to three days ahead, it sounds pretty good. LOVE the location right by the Hermitage.

I may look at some apartments. I know what you mean, Bardo, and that's what I do nearly everywhere in Europe these days too. But I guess I'm a little worried about needing more "help" in Russia than in other places.

Bardo, maybe I'm just a dummy. I get the map and click on various apartments to see where they are -- but how do I find descriptions of those apartments? The map appears to not link to the actual apartment descriptions.

But I did find City Realty in Moscow, which seems to have some really nice places. Here's just one link to a one bedroom apt. at $133 a night. Many others. I need to study the locations. But it's a surprising amount of room and if anything better furnished than some of those cheaper hotels that cost much more. It it's true, they claim you have a "concierge" to help with all arrangements, tickets, questions, etc.

http://www.cityrealtyrussia.com/apar....08.2011&v=USD

Patrick,

Again, I can't comment on any particular agencies, but I've looked through about 10 Moscow apartment agencies (including City Realty) and they all seem to be priced similarly (roughly $150 for a well located 1BR) and most have the same basic "concierge" services (visa invitation, airport shuttle, etc.).

With hotel prices what they are, I'm curious why they all aren't more money (yes, they are basic and small, but so are hotel rooms).

I'd personally hesitate to stay in an apartment in Moscow over a hotel that is higher rating, just for the convenience of having a full service hotel where I can use the facilities, esp on my own. If the apartment is not up to scratch or you need help, it might be a problem.

The Holiday Inns are a good option (not Vinogradovo as its too far out, but Suschevsky would be good), Radisson Slavyanskaya is walking distance to the Arbat, Hilton - its a renovated Stalin skyscraper with fab interiors, Budapest is in a great location although pricey for the time however the Sovietsky is a similar style hotel with more reasonable prices, Golden Apple Boutique hotel is around USD209, location is very good and others. Even the Izmailovo hotels would be OK.

If you decide to stay in an apartment, make sure it is westernised and renovated and that there is some sort of security, that you have air con as August can be hot and if you can open the windows, might be noisy esp if you are overlooking a boulevard. Also make sure they are not doing the hot water maintenance in August, if these are privately owned apartments, some have no hot water in August due to maintenance, but I believe this practice should have ended, or at least not take a whole month as it used to.

While booking.com still shows Budapest at about $198 a day, I found it on Moscowhotels.net (which seems to be a very good site) for $160 a night -- including breakfast and all taxes. It's also a cancellable rate, so I'm thinking I should go for it while it shows that. What's more it's a standard double room for one person as opposed to the single room for the higher rate on booking.com (approx. 225 sq. feet, about double the size of many single rooms I've seen.)

One question. If I use a site like this, how hard is it to get the "invitation" document from the hotel for my visa?
The hotel's site doesn't seem to show prices, just allows an inquiry, so perhaps I could email them and see if they will give me that price booking directly?

To answer some of my own questions. I emailed Hotel Budapest directly and mentioned the price I was seeing from MoscowHotels.net. I asked if there was any problem booking with them. They replied quoting me considerably more for a single room that Moscow Hotels is quoting me ($135 US with Breakfast and all taxes and free visa service). And Hotel Budapest quoted me lots more for a double room for single use. They said there was no problem booking with MoscowHotels and suggested I do so!

So I think at $135 US with everything for the Budapest in a fairly spacious double room is by far my best bet. They also said the I should book my full 8 nights there and if I decide to go out of town for two or three of those nights, that is no problem as I can change the reservation up to three days before -- meanwhile my "invitation" will show a reservation for my complete stay (combined with my 6 nights in St. Petersburg). Apparently there is no issue ending up staying somewhere other than you originally registered for the Visa.

Looks like a great solution!

Amazing deal - good work!

The prices are notoriously high, especially in Moscow. However, there are many more interesting attractions to see in St. Petersburg than in Moscow. So I would recommend that you spend more time in St. Petersburg than Moscow. If you want to see a great list of attractions and tours in St. Petersburg then I recommend you visiting http://st-petersburg-tours.ru

About the hotels. There are really 2 options in Russia. The first is renting an apartment short term. There are many different sites offering this. If you want more convenience then a hotel is the better option. In St. Petersburg the hotel prices can also be very expensive. The best option I found that has a good mix of location, price, and quality was http://www.hotelvera.ru

In Moscow I would recommend renting an apartment near Tverskaya as most of the attractions you will want to see, including the Kremlin, will be within walking distance.

The booking agencies I found do not really give big discounts and it is often better to book directly with the hotel when staying in Russia. However, you can use the booking agency to find an apartment.

I hope you enjoy your stay in Russia!!

>> there are many more interesting attractions to see in St. Petersburg than in Moscow. So I would recommend that you spend more time in St. Petersburg than Moscow.<<

That is an extremely subjective statement. I read that before I went for my first trip as well, and ended up having no problem filling my time in Moscow, to the extent that I wish I'd had a couple more days!

"The booking agencies I found do not really give big discounts and it is often better to book directly with the hotel when staying in Russia. However, you can use the booking agency to find an apartment. "

Interesting comment, but not in my case. Maybe you found the wrong booking agencies or just didn't happen to hit a good deal. Did you read my instance of the agency with a far better price for the Budapest Hotel than I could get from them -- even emailing them directly and asking them to match it? Couldn't be done.