Unusual Hotels near Moscow

I have already mentioned that the cost for hotel rooms in Moscow is way down because of the recent devaluation of the ruble. However, if you stay in the suburbs of the city you can get even better deals. For example, in Korolev north of Moscow the Hotel Korolev, owned by the Institute for Advanced Studies, is charging just $29 for a double room with bath and breakfast in mid-November.

Some of my tour group stayed at this three-star hotel recently and reported it was clean but basic. Most of the other guests are graduate students, but online reviews suggest that despite that fact they are generally quiet. The hotel is conveniently located near the city centre and just across from a large park for walking and breathing in  fresh air.  Korolev is a pleasant suburb, but like the rest of the burgeoning Moscow region it endures heavy traffic.

If you need to overnight at Sheremeteyvo Airport, consider the capsule hotel in Terminal E operated by www.airexpress.ru. The Website appears to be in Russian only. I saw this place just as I was about to get a boarding call and did not have time to check it out personally. Online reports vary, but agree that it is clean and preferable to trying to sleep in a fairly user-unfriendly airport.

Rates are by the hour, with a four hour minimum. Apparently an overnight comes to about $60 or $70 for eight hours. Reviews suggest asking a room far from the lobby, which can be noisy. While it calls itself a capsule hotel, rooms are small but have normal ceiling heights. They are not the coffin-like arrangements found in Japanese capsule hotels, but many lack windows.

Below is a picture of a major street in Korolev, with rush hour traffic and a pretty church in the background..