The only reason why I stayed at this hotel was because my Japanese friend said that her professor recommended it. Before the stay I had my reservations about the hotel, since it was a headache just to get a reservation on the phone without them hanging up on me. Yeah the staff doesn't really speak English that well. In fact you will be very lucky if they do have someone that speaks English.
When we got to the hotel it was no better. There was absolutely no service at all. No bellboys, no concierge, no thing except for two ladies standing behind the desk. Oh yeah, there was one scantily-clad lady sitting in a worndown sofa in the very bleak lobby. And no they still didn't speak English, so that probably complicated things.
After some confusion about the reservations we had made, my friend and I was finally able to get into our room after 30 minutes of waiting and no other guests. Since it was early in the morning, we also wanted some breakfast.
However there are no nearby street vendors, cafés or shops. So we had to settle for the hotel breakfast which was very expensive (we were charged around 1000 rubles) and consisting only of day-old bread along with uninviting ham and jam.
The rooms are very small and we found vomit under the bed. The bed itself was okay.
Be sure to bring your passport with...The only reason why I stayed at this hotel was because my Japanese friend said that her professor recommended it. Before the stay I had my reservations about the hotel, since it was a headache just to get a reservation on the phone without them hanging up on me. Yeah the staff doesn't really speak English that well. In fact you will be very lucky if they do have someone that speaks English.
When we got to the hotel it was no better. There was absolutely no service at all. No bellboys, no concierge, no thing except for two ladies standing behind the desk. Oh yeah, there was one scantily-clad lady sitting in a worndown sofa in the very bleak lobby. And no they still didn't speak English, so that probably complicated things.
After some confusion about the reservations we had made, my friend and I was finally able to get into our room after 30 minutes of waiting and no other guests. Since it was early in the morning, we also wanted some breakfast.
However there are no nearby street vendors, cafés or shops. So we had to settle for the hotel breakfast which was very expensive (we were charged around 1000 rubles) and consisting only of day-old bread along with uninviting ham and jam.
The rooms are very small and we found vomit under the bed. The bed itself was okay.
Be sure to bring your passport with you at any time. One night me and my gf got home at around 10 or 11 PM and a stern looking guy demanded to see our passports. We showed it to him in the lobby and proceeded up to our room. However we talked abit in the corridor and then suddenly that stern looking guy came and hushed us into our room. Supposedly we were monitored by the surveillance system...
The hotel lies around 10-15 minutes of walk to the nearest metro station. From the metro station it takes 20-30 minutes to get to the Kremlin (center of the city). The area in which the hotel is located is really bleak and is just next to the highway. Around the area there are no shopping opportunities and it is basically residential area.
The hotel doesn't seem to have been renovated since the Cold War and it certainly does bring back reminscence back from that age. The only other guests at the hotel seemed to be middle-aged russian/kazakstahni officials.
I would advise anyone to stay away from this hotel.More
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