Hotel National Moscow
This historic grand dame has a fabulous location right over the road from Red Square. Its classic, slightly fusty interiors are all wood-panelling and oil paintings, and there’s a swimming pool, sauna and gym, as well as a Michelin-starred restaurant (Piazza Rosa).
Location
10 / 10
The hotel’s location, over the road from Red Square and the Kremlin, is one of its major draws. Many of the city’s major sights are a 10- to 30-minute stroll, including the Bolshoi Theatre, St Basil’s Cathedral, the Kremlin museums, and the Tretyakov Gallery, which houses the world’s largest collection of Russian art. There are also two Metro stations nearby as well as shopping centers GUM and TSUM, the Moscow Philharmonic and the Zaryadie Park.
Style and Character
8 / 10
The hotel, built by architect Alexander Ivanov, was opened in 1903 and has hosted everyone from Lenin and Trotsky to Jack Nicholson, Barack Obama and Quentin Tarantino. Though renovated in 2009, much of the hotel’s original décor remains, including a showpiece staircase with gold leaf plaster and white marble, original Impressionist paintings for sale by Yuri Sergeev throughout the lobby and public areas, and plenty of ostentatiously gilded mirrors and dashing chandeliers.
Service and Facilities
8 / 10
As with many hotels whose reputation precedes them, service can lead towards nonchalance here. But for the most part, staff are helpful and efficient, offering assistance with booking concerts and restaurants, tips on sightseeing, and a historic tour of the hotel exclusively for guests (every Saturday, 12pm, free). Specific facilities include a generously sized heated indoor swimming pool, whirlpool tub, a sauna, and a small but up to date fitness centre with free weights and training machines. The Beauty Studio Orchidée offers a range of treatments, from massage to facials and manicures. There are also 13 private meeting rooms and halls that can be kitted out with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment.
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Laundry
- Room service
- Sauna
- Wi-Fi
- Fitness centre
Rooms
8 / 10
The comfortable rooms here feature high-end Italian furnishings and overlook either the hotel’s inner courtyard or bustling Tverskaya Street. The purple and gold bedspreads and colour schemes lend a classic feel, as does the solid period furniture, which are counterbalanced by mod-cons like satellite televisions, minibars, and safes; bathrooms have heated floors, fog-resistant illuminated mirrors and amenities by Elemis. If you want the full royal treatment, the Kremlin suites are large and come with Bohemian glass chandeliers, antique furnishings and original and rare artworks including vases, paintings and statues; most offer views of the Kremlin.
Food and Drink
9 / 10
The hotel’s buffet breakfast is served in the Moskovsky Room whose large panoramic windows offer splendid Red Square vistas. The spread includes fruits, cereals, local dishes like blinis and sirniki with sour cream, and à la carte options pancakes, eggs Benedict and omelettes. Home made pastries, elegant coffees, a menu of Russian and International dishes, and a full drinks menu can be enjoyed below the glass atrium of the Aleksandrovsky Bar. Although separately run, the delightful Dr Zhivago restaurant on the ground floor serves classic Russian dishes in a charmingly traditional setting, while the swanky second-floor Beluga, whose fairy-tale interior was created by designer Anastasia Panibratova, offers more upscale Russian cuisine, including a one-of-a-kind caviar brasserie, as well as memorable views over Red Square.
Value for Money
7 / 10
Double rooms from £245 in low season; and from £270 in high. Breakfast is excluded – priced at RUB 2250 (£28). Free Wi-Fi.
Access for guests with disabilities?
Not suitable.
Family-Friendly?
Cots can be provided and children’s menus are available, but facilities for families are otherwise limited to welcome kits for kids (bathrobe and slippers, welcome gift and drawing utensils).
15/1 Mokhovaya ulitsa, Moscow, Russia.
See more images at Booking.com