What a throw back to the Brezhnev era. The hotel is a sprawling complex used in Soviet times for conferences (it's only about 35 yrs old tho). Took about 8 minutes just to walk to the restaurant. Front desk staff are rude- not just the typical Russian cold, but rude. Laughed at my halting Russian, but refused to speak English even when I was told they spoke it. And how do you complain about service to the manager, when the manager is the one being rude?! Barkeeps almost as rude. After I tipped one for a beer she became attentive. Three "24 hr" restaurants...but only one is ever open. A number of gift shops scattered around the hotel- most have generic tourist trap items. But the one on the 1st floor, headed down the hall to 1st floor rooms, also has antiques and coins from the tsarist and CCCP eras. The younger staff there were friendly. Room was small and the bedding leftover from 1975, but the bathroom was off the "foyer" and not too bad. Room was clean- I... more