RUSSIAN DREAM HOTEL IN MOSCOW

Well it sure sounded nice, but our stay at the Russian Dream Hotel in Moscow turned into a nightmare that we’re still trying to sort out.

Certain necessities, (like air conditioning when it’s crazy hot outside-day and night), were not available as advertised and for which, we still think, we were paying for.

When we asked if we could cancel our last night without a fee for this reason we were told by a staff member that would be okay. Only to be told later by a different member of the staff that we would still have to pay, this after we’d already reserved a room elsewhere.

To say it was frustrating is an understatement and this, along with other issues at the Russian Dream Hotel, really dampened an otherwise lovely visit to Moscow.

Private Room:

This room was the cause of all our problems to begin with. When we first made our reservation online, their site advertised rooms with air conditioning which is what we reserved. Then upon our arrival, during an incredibly hot spell in Moscow, we were given a tiny, south-west facing room with no AC that absolutely baked.

When we inquired into why we had no AC and if there was another room we could move into, we were told that they cost more and that they were all booked up through August. We were confused and disappointed, seeing as we thought that’s exactly what we’d reserved, but decided to stick it out and went out to explore the city.

After walking the city all afternoon, we returned to our room for some shelter from the heat only to suffer and sweat until we could no longer stand it and had to leave. At night we would open our window for a little reprieve until we realized we were above what must have been the noisiest back street in the entire city. All night long cars raced up and down the road, garbage trucks came and went and, who knows why, street-sweeping tractors rumbled back and forth with flashing lights into the early morning. It was insane. So we closed our window and the heat worsened once again.

Add the fact that the room was just big enough to fit the bed and our packs on the floor, we found ourselves squeezing around each other and stepping on toes while unpacking or sorting clothes and gear.

Amenities:

Like the bedroom, the bathrooms were almost too small to function in. I had trouble entering, turning and sitting down on the toilet without falling over myself. Then sometimes the toilets wouldn’t even flush. The showers weren’t much bigger and flooded quickly. It’s as though they renovated this apartment to cram too many rooms and toilets into too small a space, making for a very uncomfortable experience.

The only room with reasonable space was the kitchen, as long as you were the only one in there. Pots and pans were all a little old and bent out of shape and we sometimes found ourselves cleaning up after others to use them.

There was a couch and a TV in the hallway by two vending machines, but no other lounge space to get comfortable in. This became even more of a problem when we realized just how uncomfortably hot it got in our room.

Again, while it was advertised online that they had free Wifi, there was no internet while we were there. This made planning our days in Moscow much more difficult and once again we were thoroughly confused through miscommunication with the staff. One said internet was out due to road construction outside; another said it would come on each evening at 7; and another agreed with none of this. Even more frustrating was the fact that we would watch staff members on duty play online all day at the reception desk, even using Google Translate on the computer to communicate clearly with us. That left us communicating with friends and making plans for the following day while standing outside a closed cafe, trying to connect to a weak Wifi signal, just to send a few messages.

Lastly, when we asked the staff if they could register us, (a requirement for tourists visiting Russia), they said they could do it for an outrageous fee of 2,000 Rubles each. We decided to wait and ended up getting registered for FREE at our next hostel in Moscow!

Pricing:

This hotel/guest house, as advertised online, was reasonably priced costing 2,900 Rubles for the two nights we stayed. But after all we went through, it was a ripoff.

Location:

All that said, the Russian Dream Hotel is located wonderfully close to Red Square and other attractions in Moscow, the main reason we chose to first stay there. It only took us 10-15 minutes on foot to be standing right next to St. Basil’s Cathedral. On the other hand it’s about the 15-20 minutes on foot to the nearest metro station which makes getting to and from the hostel more difficult with heavy luggage. 

This place sucked, so we upgraded to a better hostel: BANANAS HOSTEL IN MOSCOW, RUSSIA.