Street Address: Universitetsky Prospect, 12 - Moscow, Russia

Nearest Metro: Universitet... you need a bus to get there.

Location: Fair

Staff Speaks English? Maybe just a little.

Would I Stay Here? Hmm... if it was a once in a lifetime visit to Moscow, then my answer would be no.

* Isolated. Old *

The Hotel Soyuz is owned by the Ministry Of Defense. They don't take people off the street - that means no prostitutes or unsavory characters. The only way you can get a room here is with an advance reservation.

The hotel is old, but it has a certain charm. Room rates begin at 1100 rubles (cheap!) and go up to 3500 rubles (3/25/04). They do not issue invitations, but will register your visa.

The lobby has been recently renovated. They have new "Otis" elevators. The guest floors are probably the same as 30 or more years ago. The rooms have old furniture, old bathrooms. A 25% security deposit of your entire bill is required on Day One. They consider their hotel to be very safe and quiet. They have 115 rooms. The hotel people were friendly, but don't expect this facility to wow you. It's not the Ararat Park Hyatt. It is a bit isolated and outside of the core area of the inner city.

Sport Hotel - closed, under reconstruction.

Sport Hotel at Olympic Bike Stadium    x Foreigners not accepted.

This is in the same neighborhood as the Pierce Hotel. It is a very isolated area, but there is a bus that stops by from time to time that will take you to a metro station. The hotel is only for "Russian sportsmen" and foreigners are not permitted. They say their indoor 333 meter banked bike track is the best in the world, and that there is seating for 5000 spectators.

Sputnik Hotel      K   +7 (095) 930-2287         www.hotelsputnik.ru 

Street Address: Building 38, Leninsky Prospect, Moscow, Russia

Location: Fair

Nearest Metro: No metro station anywhere nearby.

Staff Speaks English? Maybe a little.

Would I Stay Here? Yes, but only on the 10th floor.

* Machine Gun Cop At The Front Door *

From the Sputnik's brochure:

"Sputnik is one of the most comfortable hotels in Moscow." 

(Oh my... excuse me for a moment while I have a good laugh.)

Reality: When I visited, a VERY tough-looking police officer was holding a machine gun and very seriously eyeballing every single person that walked through the front door. Is that something you find at "one of the most comfortable hotels in Moscow?"

Renovation is underway in the lobby. It looks like a fairly nice cafe is about to open there. My room tour began on the 12th floor and I was not at all impressed. The room was clean, but old and tired. The halls were dark. Interesting, distant city views can be had from those upper floors. The bathrooms were okay. But I was not excited.

Then I saw the 10th floor. It had a nice hallway. The carpeted rooms were brand new and fine. The 9th floor was not as impressive, but it was new too. That was it. Everything else I saw was old. And the other floors were darkish. It's a good way to hide the dirt or other imperfections while saving on the electricity and light bulbs - I guess...

There is a "Gentleman's Club" on one of the upper floors. My assistant Tatiana thought this hotel was awful. I didn't think it was that bad. The Sputnik has 343 rooms. Pricing ranges from 1480 to 4420 rubles (as of March 22, 2004).

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