Street Address: Krylatskay Street - Moscow, Russia

Location: Poor.

Staff Speaks English? No.

Would I Stay Here? No.

* Unsuitable For Most Travellers *

This is a very isolated hotel for athletes. There are 3 stadiums nearby. The second floor has a new ceiling. But the corridor is blah and the place looks very simple. The first floor corridor is better. It leads to a nice little cafe. (Their second floor cafe is nowhere near as nice.) Some rooms are recently renovated - it's not a complete disaster. But the hotel looks terrible from the outside. My assistant Tatiana said she would be afraid to stay here. If an American tourist made a reservation here, they would probably experience some trauma at the site of this building.

Room prices start at 700 rubles, but they say this rate is only for Russian sportsmen. And they also say they don't have many places for tourists during the summer. I sure wouldn't stay here. It is so, so isolated. And a bit depressing.

Posolstva Kazakhstan Hotel    K   +7 (095) 208-0994         www.kazembassy.ru

Street Address: Chistoprudny 3 - Moscow, Russia

Location: Good.

Nearest Metro: Turgenevskaya

Staff Speaks English? Yes. Some.

Would I Stay Here? Yes, if they get rid of that nut-job head of security.

* Hotel People Are Nice. Watch Out For Loose Cannon Head Of Security *

Are you ready for this? It's a beaut...

This hotel is run by the Kazakhstan Embassy, which is next door. The location is pretty good. It's just steps away from a metro station in a central part of the city. There is a nice pedestrian walkway down the middle of the street. It's like a skinny park between opposing lanes of vehicle traffic. And the neighborhood is pleasant to go for a stroll.

Inside the hotel is a modern lobby. Then as you walk deeper into the hotel you enter a 3 story foyer. It's old, but not unpleasant to the eye. The guest rooms have hardwood floors. The bathrooms are okay. The bedrooms are not bad. It's nothing spectacular, but it's still okay. As I was entering the stairway to go down, my foot got caught on the rug! That's dangerous! Someone could fall down the stairs. I stood on the stairwell overlooking the foyer and took notes on my impressions. Then a guy spoke Russian to me and asked something like "What are you writing?" I said in English, "I'm just taking some notes." Then he turns to my assistant Tatiana and says in Russian:

"He's an American! He's an American! What is the American doing here? Do you know what he wants? What's his aim?"

Tatiana says that I'm in the travel business and that I'm gathering information about the hotels for tourists.

He says: "Are you sure? How can you know? He's an American! You can never be sure. He's an American! What is he writing?"

Tatiana smiled a lot, tried to act stupid and appease him.

He says: "Who let you in? Who let you in? Perhaps you are an American too. Let me see your passport."

Tatiana handed him her passport to show that she was Russian.

He says: "What is he doing here? He is American. They were our enemies. Do you know that?"

This went on and on. Finally somebody from the hotel comes over and asks what is the matter with him. She says to him that they serve tourists from everywhere. By this time I was getting bored and my time was being wasted, so it was time to go.

After we left, Tatiana joked that she wondered if we were going to be followed. Normally I take a few photos of the hotel facility after doing an inspection. But this time I thought I should keep the camera in the bag!

What a nut-job that head of security is! He's a lunatic! Watch out!

Twenty minutes later, I tempted fate and did the James Bond thing to get a photo for my readers. Mission accomplished. Here it is ^ (above).

Standard singles start at 3400 rubles (as of March 23, 2004) They have 55 rooms. A bank is in the lobby with decent exchange rates. Beer and drinks are also available in the lobby.

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