Puttin' on the Ritz

Somerville, Mass - The life of a travel writer is not actually very exciting once the travel part is over (if you need any proof of that, you should click here and re-read my last post). Basically, I spend my days staring at the computer, and furiously trying to remember and record everything that I learned over the course of six weeks in Moscow - where to sample svekolnik and seld pod shuboy (if you don't remember what those things are, click here); where to sleep without maxing out your credit card; where to party like a Russian rock star; yes, even where to go skydiving.
This is what I'm going to be doing for the next two months, so I might as well share... because I don't think the day-to-day account of what is growing in my garden is going to keep my readers coming back!
Anyway, a friend of mine sent me this little excerpt from the Wall Street Journal. Not that I needed any more evidence that Moscow is the most expensive city in the world, but here it is. Note that these were the *cheapest* rooms available at the hotels in question. Ouch.
I suppose that this little snippet will raise several questions:
(1) Which one of these hotels did you stay in? Um, none of them. I briefly considered staying at the Ritz-Carlton... then I realized that I could stay there for one night or I could stay in my comfy cozy apartment for one month for the same price.
(2) Don't you stay in the hotels that you review? Sometimes, but not this time. Anyway, I never stay in every single hotel that I review, because that would be impossible. I will write more than 50 reviews about Moscow hotels and I was in Moscow for 40 nights. Do the math.
But never fear, I do visit every hotel... I ask to see the rooms; I poke around the bathrooms; I look in the closets... I have to admit that taking a tour of the sumptuous spa and the rooftop restaurant at the Ritz is kind of fun. The work really starts when I have to inspect the shared bathrooms and common kitchens at backpacker hostels and Soviet-era hotels. Not always pretty.
(3) So who is paying upwards of $1000 to spend a night - one night - in Moscow? I really don't know. Prices drop significantly on weekends, so that is evidence that these hotels are catering mostly to business travelers. But I'm a business traveler and I'm not staying there. (I guess I am in the wrong business.)
(4) Are there any other options? Happily, this little list published by the Wall Street Journal is not the whole story about sleeping in Moscow. I was thrilled to discover a whole slew of new hostels catering to backpackers and budget travelers. This really did not exist three years ago (the last time I worked on this book). So if you don't mind sleeping on a bunk bed and sharing a bathroom, you can do that for less than $40.
(5) What if I am a regular person - not a backpacker but not a billionaire? There is a pretty wide gap between $40 and $400. How much will I have to pay? Unfortunately, this is where Moscow really falls short. There are midrange hotels, but they are horribly overpriced. Western travelers will be shocked (!) when they see what their $150 gets them.
Fortunately, many enterprising Muscovites have started renting out apartments (on a short-term basis) to fill this gap. So you can't get room service and you have to make your own bed... but you can have your own little place with a kitchen and a washing machine. (Don't underestimate the value of a washing maching... Over at the Ritz, laundry is going for $80 a load!)