Questions

1. What changes has the Russian hotel market undergone during the last fifteen years?

2. What cities are considered to be the leaders in the hotel market?

3. What is the Moscow and St. Petersburg’s share in the Russian hospitality market turnover?

4. What types of hotels are in growing demand for in the Russian capital?

5. What type of accommodation is booming in Krasnodar and Irkutsk regions?

6. What Russian cities were included in the bid to host the 2018 FIFA Football Cup?

Five-star hotels

Luxury hotels of Moscow and St. Petersburg have the same standards as any international five-star hotels. The prices here are on par with or even higher than in Paris and New York. Usually staying at these hotels guarantees a visitor the best accommodation and the best service levels in Russia. Most famous luxury hotels are Metropol or Golden Ring in Moscow and the Grand Hotel Europe or Emerald Palace in St. Petersburg. Russian five-star hotels are conserved to be the only truly rated.

Four/three star hotels

Russian budget and mid-priced hotels that claim to be four star hotels are mostly three or three-plus star hotels in fact. Some of them are the Irbis and Zarya in Moscow and the Petro Palace Hotel, Rossiya and Anderson in St. Petersburg.

Questions

1. What are luxury hotels of Moscow and St. Petersburg like?

2. What are the most famous luxury hotels in Moscow and St. Petersbutg?

3. What category do Russian budget and mid-prices hotels belong to?

Bed & Breakfast, guest houses and mini hotels

A number of private homes have been converted for the exclusive use of guest accommodation. They are often called guest houses and combine the features of Bed & Breakfast, a mini-hotel, a guest house and an inn. The term ‘guest house’ is widely used in Russian tourism business. It appeared not long ago (1990-2000).

The characteristic feature of this type of accommodation is that it aims at providing a home comfort and more relaxed atmosphere than a hotel. The owner usually lives in the same building and offers a number of services. The range of services and the number of facilities is optional. The quality differs as well, as there are no set standards for guest houses. Unlike hotels the guest houses are not monitored by the number of government structures. That is why the room taxes are defined by the free market. The guest houses are not obliged to fit in the standards of hotel classification, and therefore there are no precise norms and rules as for the room space, numbering, meals, etc.

The guest houses are especially typical for resort cities like Sochi, Anapa, Gelindzhik and other resorts of Krasnodar Region. They cater for beach holidaymakers. The visitors staying in a guest house often have to rely on themselves in a greater extent than in a hotel. However the latest tendency is to enlarge the number of facilities and quality, so some guest houses can compete with good hotels.

Along with guest houses, there are mini-hotels. This type is mainly characteristic for St. Petersburg. In the past there were many communal apartments in the city centre which are large, pre-Revolutionary apartments where a few families were placed to live together after the Revolution – each family in one room with communal use of the bathroom and kitchen. They had quite a big space from 120 to 600 square meters. Most usual format is 200-300 square meters, which made it possible to redesign them into a small mini-hotel with 6 to 8 rooms, each with a bathroom. The mini-hotel is usually equipped with a shared-kitchen buffet and a reception. Since apartments in many ways are more comfortable than hotels and less expensive, this has become a very popular way to stay for guests coming for city breaks.