Street Address: Malaya Nikitiskaya Ulitsa 27 - Moscow, Russia

Location: Good-Very Good - not far from American Embassy - maybe a 20 minute walk.

Nearest Metro: Barrikadnaya

Staff Speaks English? Yes.

Would I Stay Here? Maybe, but very unimpressed with hospitality.

* Pitiful Hospitality For A Hotel In This Price Range *

Their prices are between $200 to $400 per night. I have absolutely received better hospitality at $30 a night hotels. I'm surprised that a hotel that charges these high prices and is considered "4 star" would treat me as badly as they did. Bottom line: they do not have the proper service attitude for a hotel that wants to be in this category.

Club 27 has 49 rooms and they have been open for 15 years. The pleasant Moscow city zoo is within easy walking distance.

It seems like a nice place. Ceilings are lower than usual in the lobby. Interesting surroundings. Quiet. But the lazy hotel workers did not want to be bothered with us. It was typical of a much lower class hotel. First, it was hell just getting in the hotel. The front desk left us waiting out in the cold as we had a discussion over the intercom. She really wasn't going to let us in, but then she did. Then we were lied to about the number of people on duty. And then my normal persistence just didn't work. As a group they pretty much told us to get lost. I'm really surprised. It reminds me of the Hotel Ukraina where it also seems nice but the hotel workers just don't want to work a little harder. How difficult is it to walk a few hallways and open some doors? The good hotels don't say no.

Cosmos Hotel     J    +7 (095) 234-1206         www.hotelcosmos.ru

Street Address: 150, Prospect Mira - Moscow, Russia

Location: Excellent if you want to go to the exhibition center. It's across the street.

Nearest Metro: VDNKh "200 meters away"

Staff Speaks English? Yes.

Would I Stay Here? Yes, especially in the elite Cosmos Club part of the hotel.

* A Good Hotel With A Terrific Little 25th Floor Restaurant *

The Cosmos Hotel is gigantic, with 1500 rooms and 250 meter long curved floors. It was opened in 1979 and has central air conditioning. I'll go right to the best parts:

1. The Cosmos Club upgraded rooms.

2. Planet Restaurant on the 25th floor with great panoramic views of the exhibition center grounds.

3. Wonderful pool area with a tube slide and terrific poolside cafe.

If you are a regular customer, you may have to wait a long time at the reception desk to check in. If you are a "Cosmos Club" guest, then you can go straight to the Cosmos Club check-in area and you can be in your hotel room quicker. Another advantage to using these rooms is you get a discount card that can be used to lower your room cost during your repeat visits. But I think you must pay the rack rates to get it.

The best rooms and floors to be on are in Cosmos Club up on the 24th and 25th floors. And the best of these rooms will give you views of the exhibition center. The exhibition center is loaded full of all kinds of things to see. And it's free to get in! I did go-cart racing at the entryway. Boy, that was great fun, but it was rough on my body. The seat has no padding and when you drive hard, it can be rough on you. I recommend people wear safety glasses (they don't provide them) because the drivers ahead of you can kick up pieces of debri in your face - like rubber from the tires.

You can ride a little rail-less kiddie train for an overview of what is there. It cost 30 rubles (as of 3/27/2004). There are fantastic fountains here and all kinds of interesting sights. I hear it is especially great in summer, and a very vibrant place.

Room rates at Cosmos are between 2900 rubles to 8700 rubles. The standard rooms are not bad at all. I absolutely loved their restaurant Planet Cosmos. The views are great. The restaurant is really nice and worthy of the prime space in this hotel. If you are not a guest at the hotel, but want to enjoy the 25th floor Planet Cosmos restaurant with its view of the exhibition center, then you must go to the security desk and ask for an escort or permission to go there. Security is very good at the hotel. They won't let you go to the elevators without an escort or permission.

The pool room is great! It is a good-sized pool. There is a neat tube slide into the pool, and there are nice places to relax along the pool with a great cafe area. There is a fairly large gym - for a Moscow hotel.

There are all kinds of businesses and restaurants here. Internet access is available for 101.50 rubles for 15 minutes. A sushi restaurant looks especially nice.

An interesting room I saw was made up of 4 single rooms. It had a large office room, a fairly large bar in another room, a dining room and living room, 3 bathrooms and a bedroom. It seemed like a good place to throw a party. Our hotel person said it went for $300 a night.

Down on the first floor is the Kalinka restaurant - where the ordinary guests eat in a cafeteria-like setting. They have a little folk show every night. There is also a fairly large casino (with 43 gaming tables and a bunch of slot machines).

Cosmos says it is located 9 kilometers from Red Square and that it is 6 metro stops - "15 minutes" to the city center.

At night, the Cosmos Hotel comes alive with flashing strobe lights all over the exterior of the building - neat!

I liked it here a lot.

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