We spent one night in Moscow before flying home. We had a full day to spend walking around the Red Square area. The Courtyard allowed us to check in early, probably since it was Friday and many of the business folks had already checked out.
My wife in Russian and had lived in Moscow for years, and she even remarked on what a great location this hotel had. Quiet, on a nice street, but sandwiched nicely between two major roads leading right to all the tourist attractions. The hotel itself is an upscale Courtyard, and I believe less than 2 years old. It was clean and attractive. The lobby has a couple of tables for smokers, and I believe you can smoke in the bar. You're in Europe, get over it.
A couple of hints: the car service in the hotel wanted $95 to go to the DME airport. We hired one over the phone for $40. (Yeah, my wife's Russian came in pretty handy). I would think if you DIRECTLY asked one of the front desk people to call and book you a taxi, they'd do it.
Also, just down Nikitskaya St. a couple of blocks, which is your closest main road, you'll find a restaurant translated into "Simple Things". It was excellent, and very popular (make a reservation thru the hotel). My wife recognised a couple of familar faces in the crowd, an actor and a politican. However, don't get the wrong idea: it's very reasonable. We had 4 glasses of wine, 1 app, 2 entrees and 2 desserts for about $115. For the quality of the food and service, that's hard to beat in Moscow.
Finally, this hotel is extremely expensive rate-wise. But since Moscow is reportedly the most expensive city in the world, I guess you could say it was a decent value. We used points! It was only 20,000, which is an absolute steal when you consider that a Courtyard in Raleigh, NC or Roswell, GA would have cost me 20,000 or even 25,000.
- Courtyard Moscow
- Moscow Courtyard
