Street Address: Ulitsa V. Petushkova, 25 - Moscow, Russia

Location: Fair - out in the middle of nowhere - surrounded by lots of apartment buildings.

Nearest Metro: Skhodnenskaya

Staff Speaks English? The manager understands English.

Would I Stay Here? Yes.

* Nice Little Surprise. Good Value. Not A Great Location *

We took mini-bus 43 from the metro to get here. This Gostiny Dom is a pleasant surprise. The facility is 3 years old and some rooms that I saw were just a month old. They have 31 perfectly comfortable rooms here with more coming. The front desk lady was very friendly and she says they remember their guests. Room prices are a bargain with their lowest priced single at 1180 rubles and it goes up to 2855 rubles for their luxury suite (as of 3/26/2004), and breakfast is included in the price. They have an indoor above ground pool with an interesting set-up. There is a sauna for just 400 rubles an hour.

They say they do not sell "services" like at other hotels (prostitutes) and that they will not pester the guests with phone calls. And they say their customers can bring guests to their rooms. It is no trouble. There are surveillance cameras outside. No air conditioning here, but the walls are a meter thick and they say this keeps the building cool in summer.

A small cafe is in the building. I did not really like the blue/purple lighting. They have a karaoke set-up if you want to go at it.

The bus stop is directly in front of the hotel. Almost any bus will eventually take you to a metro station. And once in the metro you can go all over the city if you can figure out how to use it.

Grand Victoria Hotel     K    +7 (095) 236-1220            www.grandvictoria.ru

Street Address: Shchipok Street, 16 - Moscow, Russia

Location: Good.

Nearest Metro: Serpukhovskaya

Staff Speaks English? Security guy at the front = no. Front desk = a little.

Would I Stay Here? Yes, in room 301.

* Don't Count On The Free Breakfast *

We overheard an unhappy customer at the front desk. It turns out breakfast is included in the room cost at the Grand Victoria. Breakfast is available from 9 to 11am according to the hotel's info. This customer went to get his breakfast at 9am, and the restaurant told him to come back at 11am! (The restaurant is not owned by the hotel.)

The hotel is located in a small building in a residential neighborhood about a 7 minute walk from a metro station. I did not like the dark entryway to the hotel. After a walk down a long skinny hallway, I got into the daylight in the stairwell. The stairwell looked brand new. Up on the next floor is the reception area for this 21 room hotel.

The hallways raised my expectations. Everything looked new. But the rooms were stale and a disappointment. The only room I liked was room 301 because of its skylights and it just felt cozy, although some of the furniture needs to be updated. All of the bathrooms have subdued lighting. I don't like that in a bathroom. Other top floor skylight rooms disappointed me. The furnishings are just too old. I almost can't believe this place is 3 years old.

All rooms have air conditioning. There is no elevator.

The Grand Victoria has a great name, but it doesn't match this facility. This hotel has potential. Right now it is so-so.

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