Searching for My Perfect Hotel in Moscow

Aug 22

 

St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia

Photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/ushakov

It is time to start planning my trip to Russia next year. I will be going in February 2014 during the Sochi Winter Olympics but plan on stopping in Moscow first and Prague on my way out. I have decided to stay in Moscow for five or six days, depending on my flight. Time to find my perfect hotel in Moscow.

Right now, one flight option I am looking at has me arriving in Moscow at 11 pm. That is certainly not ideal but it seems to be one of the better options. It has a longer layover than I normally would book (over five hours) but the other option is only a one hour layout in Frankfurt. That is one massive airport and I do not believe I would have enough to make that connection even if the flights were all on time. This is February, dead of winter, so I will need to be a bit more cautious. .

First question you always ask yourself: how much do I want to or can spend? I am normally very frugal when picking hotels but I also prefer to stay in good locations. So before you can answer question one, you must ask yourself a second question: where in the city do you want to stay?  My obvious answer to question two is near Red Square and the Kremlin. Question two’s answer now affects question one because if you stay central, the price usually increases. Moscow is a special city: hotels are CRAZY expensive to start with and they really climb once you get near the Kremlin.

I have decided to spend a bit extra on the Kremlin hotel. I have been saving up for years to visit Moscow and now is not the time to cheap out. Plus this is winter, I would prefer to be in the best location I can get so I can take those night pictures of the area. I prefer not to travel on the metro super late (after 9 pm maybe?) so this affects my decision in picking a hotel in Moscow.

I have picked my location. Next up: researching the area so your potential hotel is near the metro. Being near a metro stop is the most important reason for picking a hotel. I do not wish to spend half my day walking to the metro when I could be spending that time gazing down upon the body of Vladimir Lenin. 😉

First, I usually find a good travel guide book. My favourite is the Rick Steves series but he does not cover Russia so I pick up either Lonely Planet or Fodor’s. Both are very good options and in many cases, I use them both or along side Rick Steves when planning most trips. I find Rick Steves gives the best reviews for hotels. I have booked some great hotels from his recommendations (Rome and Munich in particular) and have never been disappointed.

I usually hit up Trip Advisor at this point to check out reviews of the hotels that I am considering.  I now have about five hotels that I am seriously considering at this point.  I have booked hotels due to ratings on Trip Advisor (Paris and Normandy last year) and I have never had a problem so I feel comfortable using this in my research.

Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

Kremlin, Moscow. Photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/ushakov

The Moscow Hotel Final Five

So the top choices are: National Hotel, Hotel Metropol, Ritz Carlton, Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow and Hotel Savoy.  All these hotels are ranked in the top 14 (out of 232) hotels for Moscow on Trip Advisor. I read through pages of reviews for all five.  Through trip advisor, I can enter dates for my travel and it will give me the prices from Expedia, Booking.com, Travelocity and several other websites that I have used before.

I quickly discard the Ritz because holy hell, that is cccccccccch-ching.  We are talking over $700. That is completely crazy. Goodbye Ritz!!  Two other hotels have prices over $400 so they are quickly discarded as well (Ararat and Savoy). The ones remaining are the National, Metropol and Savoy. The prices are pretty similar and pretty equal in terms of reviews and location.

I always visit the hotel’s website directly to see if rates are better (they often are) and email the hotel directly to get rates which once again can often be the case (it is not this time).  I have booked hotels through Priceline, Expedia, Travelocity and Booking.com so it all depends on where I can get the best rate. I also make sure I am signed up to any rewards program the hotel of my choice has and then go ahead and book. 

Picking my hotel in Moscow has been very different as I have noted above. I have chosen location over price and decided to splurge a bit. In most other cities, I can find a good hotel without having to pay a great deal more to be in a good location (Paris, Munich, London, Rome and Athens are some examples). Moscow is a very different animal. It is the most expensive city in Europe and second worldwide. So this is not the city to go to on a tiny budget. I am okay with that; I am ready to spend some rubles. 😉

Hotel booked! See you in six months, Moscow. [Update: I made it to Moscow: here is a post on Red Square and one on the Kremlin]

Hotel National, Moscow

My hotel of choice: Hotel National, Moscow

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Travel Bucket List

Aug 19

Globe of the world

Photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/topfer

Do I have a travel bucket list? There are certainly a list of countries I want to visit before I perish. That is true but I have never written it down.  Now is the time to collate all those thoughts from my brain (there are A LOT) and come up with a list. I have decided to do a top ten travel bucket list. The trouble will be narrowing my thoughts into ten. 🙂 I had started this list the other day but after reading Backpacking Diplomacy’s bucket list and seeing we shared a couple in common that I had already put on my list, I figured I should get going on mine and finish it.

 

The Travel Bucket List

1. Russia – Russia is the first on my travel bucket list. No surprise to anyone that knows me. I have studied Russian history for years and have been obsessed with the country for decades. My first memories of Russia are during the late 1980s during the Winter Olympics. Canada was hosting the games in 1988, in Calgary, and the whole country was on the edge of their seat. Russia existed in the form of the Soviet Union, the  so-called ‘evil’ comrades from Russia and several other eastern countries.

My memories are pretty scattered from that time. I remember the Battle of the Brian’s, the Jamaican bobsled team, Elizabeth Manley’s unexpected silver medal and Karen Percy kicking ass on the hill. The other memory is one of dislike. There was a lot of dislike for the Soviet Union and all the Eastern Bloc countries. I was young and did not like that so from that moment on, I decided to cheer on the commies (all of them). I did not like that no one liked them. Seriously, that was the reason.

I do not remember when my love of Russian history started but I can only assume it was around that same time. I read up on Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Ivan the Terrible (actually translated incorrectly – Grozny is closer to formidable or threatening), Ivan the Great, and so on. I only ended up studying Russian history in university by accident. I had planned on majoring in German history, as my mother’s family is German, but switched to Russian when the German professor retired and the university did not replace him immediately.

Why Russia? There is so much beauty and history in Russia. From the Kremlin to Red Square to the Heritage to Peter and Paul Fortress, you will need weeks to visit this beautiful country. I am very excited that I will be crossing this item off my bucket list very soon. I will be going to Russia next February for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. I am also planning a few extra days in Moscow. Well, I will not be able to cross it off entirely as I will not have time to visit the Golden Ring, Novgorod and St. Petersburg. Plus, a trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway is a must-see (see below, I had to separate it out since that is a massive trip in itself). I hope to check off St. Pete during a Nordic trip. Maybe a cruise of the Baltic Sea??

UPDATE: I finally made it to Russia. HAPPY HAPPY. I stopped by Moscow and Sochi for the 2014 Olympics. In Moscow, I enjoyed Red Square and the Kremlin!

St Basil's Cathedral, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow. Photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/ushakov

2. A Cruise – I have always wanted to take a cruise.  Whether it is an Alaskan, Baltic or Mediterranean Cruise, I definitely plan on making this happen. I lean towards a Baltic Sea cruise since I think that will be the easiest way to hit up Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and St. Petersburg in one trip and a good introduction to all those countries. I can always return on a separate trip, or trips, at a later date. I am a bit concerned that I would end up sea-sick. I live inland; we do not have a lot of water in Alberta. I did grow up in Manitoba which is the province of lakes but not oceans. I still think this would be a fun way to travel around an area.

3. African Safari – I have only recently been thinking about hitting up Africa as I have only even wanted to visit Europe. Now? I have such a yearning to visit Africa on a safari. How fun would that be? Obviously, I want to see the big attractions, known as the Big Five. I live in a very northern city in Canada (Edmonton – great city but we are quite north) so we do not have many exotic animals in our zoo. I just do not have the opportunity to see these majestic creatures often. The Big Five are: Elephant, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. These were coined by hunters and are not the only animals I would love to see in their nature habitat. Others are Giraffes, Cheetah, Hippos, Gorillas and many more. I want to see them all. Maybe even go on a hunt? 

African Lion

Meoooow!! Photo via http://www.sxc.hu/profile/GermanGirl

4. Egypt – This is the easiest one to put on a travel bucket list. Who does not have this on their list? And if you do not, what the hell is wrong with you? 🙂  Come on – pyramids, mummies, cruising down the Nile, ancient temples and on and on. Sadly, there are serious troubles going on in Egypt and have been for several years. I really hope they can figure things out. There has been too much death and I hate to see such a beautiful place crumbling from within. I really hope things work out for them. Of course, I want this to happen as quickly as possible. I have pushed back a possible Egypt trip for a few years. I have an opening in 2015 – hint hint. I want to come visit. 🙂 

Egypt Pyramids Sphynx

The Sphinx and Pyramids in Egypt. Photo per http://www.sxc.hu/profile/tanya_b

5. The Tropics – As I mentioned, I have rarely wanted to even venture outside of Europe but as I look toward Africa, my eyes have started looking at visiting some place warm. I refer to this as “The Tropics” since it really covers many, many, many, many countries. Maybe I will go to Mexico, Bora Bora, Turks and Caicos or Hawaii. I really have no idea which country I will visit for my first warm vacation but I know one thing, it will be an adult-only resort. Ha, sorry no children allowed. Thank you! 🙂

I will try to relax on a beach, trying not to plan every minute of my trip, with a cocktail or twenty. There are quite a few activities you can do other than relaxing on the beach with a beverage in your hand. You can go horseback riding, take a boat ride, go scuba diving or snorkelling. That is usually not my jam; I am more of a museum and castle girl. I have not met a castle I did not love. I have not met a museum I did not want to marry and live happily ever after. 🙂 I hope to take that tropics trip in the next 12-18 months.

6. Group trip to Oktoberfest – I went to Oktoberfest back in 2008 as I took my first solo vacation. I toured around Germany for twenty-five days and had THE BEST TIME EVER. Ever since that trip, I have travelled solo to Europe two more times and I highly recommend a solo trip to every single person out there. Do it. Now. Great people and food!!!

I popped into Oktoberfest in Munich for two days but in honestly, I was there one afternoon. It was the last weekend of Oktoberfest which also coincided with Germany’s national holiday so it was CRAZY busy. I suggest going earlier and avoiding that last weekend. I had a great time, met some lovely people from Germany and a couple cute Austrians in their lederhosen and had the best time. I do want to return with a group of friends because I think it will be a lot more fun to take a group of friends to Munich. 

Oktoberfest Munich tent

Oktoberfest Paulaner Tent

 7. Santorini, Greece – I took a one day tour of three islands when I visited Greece back in 2011. I went to Hydra, Poros and Aegina and they were so damn lovely. I want to return to hit up Santorini, the most famous of all the Greek islands. I know several people who have gone and loved it. I think a return to Greece is needed. I did not have the time back in 2011 to add a few days in Santorini as I was also heading to Italy after my 9 days in Greece. I regret not making time but I will return. 🙂

8. Venice, Italy – This travel bucket list shares the same reasoning as Santorini. I simply did not have the time to add it to my Greek-Italian vacation in 2011. I chose Florence over Venice because I wanted to see Michelangelo’s David which was absolutely worth the trip. However, I have had my eye on Venice for many years and would love to visit. There are so many museums, churches, bridges and canals to gaze upon! Plus who can refuse a gondola trip down the canal.

Venice, Italy

Venice, photo credit http://www.sxc.hu/profile/leonardobc

9. Riding the Trans-Siberian Rail – I am not sure why this sounds so appealing but hitting the rails to make my way from Moscow to Vladivostock (seriously, how is that not the best city name ever? Just rolls off the tongue) sounds like a great trip. It is one of the longest rail trips in the world at 9,258 km; takes six nights and seven days to complete. You can also go to China or Mongolia as it links up with the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Manchurian lines or stay in Russia.  All three sound great to me.

[Edit: Just found this fantastic article on How to Travel the Trans-Siberian Railway. Some great tips for stops such as Yekaterinburg and Kazan]

Trans-Siberian Railway map

Trans-Siberian Railway Route via Wikipedia

10. Camel Ride (or Elephant) in the desert – This is pretty self-explanatory. Who does not want to ride a camel or elephant? That would be totally fun. Wheeee!!

Camel, Desert

Come ride me – photo by http://www.sxc.hu/profile/mofl13

Well there you go. That is my travel bucket list (for now). I hope to cross a few of these off my list in the next year or two. There is nothing like travelling; it is better than sex and chocolate. 🙂

So what’s on your bucket list?

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