Hotel Review For The Belgrad Hotel

Hi,

We stayed in the belgrad hotel in March 2005 and i am telling you we will not stay there another time. It might have been our fault cause we took an unrenovated room. First of all it was dark, old and cold. The windows were taped up so as not to allow the cold wind to blow into the room. The heating barely made any difference. Apart from that the staff are extremely rude to foreigners. Let me tell you once they see you are a foreigner they try to rip you off in any way they can. They made us pay a fine which we later were told we should not have paid.

We were made to pay twice for passport registration on the same day as we were too naive to ask for a receipt the first time. Moreover we were told that breakfast was $15 each in the evening and then in the morning when we went to pay we were charged $25 each and let me tell you the supposed all you can eat buffet left a lot to be desired. Apart from that we were woken up by loud amorous sounds (to put it mildly) coming from the adjacent room which penetrated the thin walls that separated the rooms. Run run run far far far away from the belgrad hotel is all i can tell you.

My husband and I stayed, not by choice, but as a convenience to relatives, in one of the new tourist rooms last July. I would stay there again if I had to, but since so many Russians can be so sweet when you get to know them, the outright rudeness of much of the lobby staff can be galling. I'm a Jersey Girl, so I can hold my own. We got the "Nyet!" treatment for breakfast, too. I saw the girl at the desk talk my husband into the $8.00 advance pay breakfast (last year) that became over $10.00 when the charge did not go thru our credit card and the dominatrix at the buffet virtually accused me of fraud as I said we paid for the breakfast buffet in advance. I gave her a big ruble bill on purpose that sent her into a hissy to find all the change she had to give me. It was all there, to her credit. My husband thinks it's some con to get more money for breakfast, but why offer the deal in the first place and then not honor it? I think it's incompetence.

The guy selling drinks at the tiny bar in the lobby is a con, too. He charged us double twice, until we got wise to him, then we got our water and soda from outside shops.

To answer about service, like towels, don't ask the front desk. I wrote in some pretty bad Russian, I bet, "Housekeeper, 4 bath towels, please? Thank you." on a doily, and left 100 rubles. It worked. I tipped everyday as the new tourist room was so clean. The maids did a great job! I did the wet paper towel on the bathroom floor trick. In the USA, it probably comes back gray from dirt. In Germany and that room, it came up white. That's a good sign. And, that's the second reason I would go back, the other is because the location at the foot of the Arbat is across the street!

Thank goodness we did not have to ask for any extra services. They would hang you out to dry. Other friends arrived about 5am and despite the request for a room at that time by Russian residents (we all were visiting), pay, and despite assurances by the hotel, none were available.

Also, the keycard and security sales pitch aside, our security guard reminded me of "Kilroy is here" with the way he tried to stare us down from behind plants and glass dividers at the lobby desk. Yet, two nights I awoke with my purse opened all the way! Nothing was taken, but, who knows what info one could get from a passport and wallet. After that, everything was directly under me as I slept. My husband would not let me put anything in the safe. I truly get the feeling we were spied on. There's no deadbolt on the door like in other hotels around the world. Am I to trust "Kilroy" to protect me? Maybe I am just wrong and paranoid. But, I was behind the Iron Curtain only ten years after it was pulled back a bit, and we have to remember old habits die hard.

So, overall, I think this hotel hindered our Moscow (Mos-coe) experience, but we were tough and weathered the storm. I would not stay there if our friends were not living around the corner. The room was extremely clean, and small, but our view was amazing. The neighborhood is cool, and the Metro is really close. Housekeeping did well by us by cleaning the room extremely well every day, but the ladies as the front desk have no clue as to being kind to the customers. They appeared to like to revert to Russian from English, and I cannot blame them, but "come on!" It's better to be kind, than never to have been kind before.