Radisson Royal Moscow (Hotel Ukraina) Review
After my stay at the Radisson Belorusskaya I settled into the Radisson Royal Moscow for 2 nights. This is one of the gems of the Club Carlson award chart. Sure enough it went up with the recent devaluation and is now 70,000 points per night. I booked it before the devaluation for 50,000 for two nights thanks to the Club Carlson Visa card.
It's just about 1.5 miles from the Radisson Belorusskaya but taxis (incl. the one I hailed with a local app) charge RUB 750 -900 ($23-$27) for the trip. Welcome to Moscow!
The historic building that houses the hotel is stunning! It's one of the famous Stalin era buildings that are sprinkled around the city. It would also fit well into New York City. The location is a bit odd - the next urban parts of Moscow are a solid 20 minutes walk away.
Arrival was marked by grumpy security herding you through a metal detector and a line at check-in. Again my Club Carlson Gold status never came up during check-in. I avoided questions about upgrades so as to not 'aggravate' the agent and she went away for a while to take copies of my passport and when she came back handed me my key. That's what she is being paid for but when a hotel charges $500 a night a smile would be nice. Apparently not in Russia.
My room resembled the Fairmont San Francisco so if you have been there you'd know that's a good thing. It was rather large and in a classic design and colors. The bed was fantastic with very high quality linens and a duvet that felt like home. The AC was strong and cooled down the room in minutes.
My room had really bad WiFi reception and I could only catch a signal in one area. The speed wasn't great as a result. There was no separate shower - it was in the bathtub and it was just a trickle. However, the spacious bathroom looked great.
I checked out the gym one morning and it was just massive - one of the biggest I have ever seen. I also used the chance to try out a Russian sauna - which was, predictably, really hot :)
There's a bar and a number of restaurants on the top floors with great views over Moscow. Prices, however, are punitive and you can buy a first class round the world ticket for the price of a single dinner with friends there. So be warned. Instead, if you stay here, do yourself a favor and eat at least once at Khachapuri (just 5 minutes walk away) - a fantastic neighborhood restaurant with a lovely park location. It's cheap (for Moscow) and incredibly delicious.
In conclusion, this is a great hotel. It's visually striking in design and architecture and the 'hardware' is excellent. It feels luxurious. To be honest it was a bit 'too much' for me as I like understated luxury more. This hotel is all about pomp, so prepare yourself. At 25,000 Club Carlson points it was a good deal. I would certainly not pay 70,000 (without the credit card) for it.
Not the real Kremlin but an art installation.
