After having lived in Moscow for some time, I recently had the opportunity to stay at the Marriott Tverskaya as a guest, rather than as a visitor to their bar, restaurant, currency exchange or gift shop. The Marriott Tverskaya is one of four Marriotts located in Moscow. The nicest of the four is the Marriott Aurora, the next is the Marriott Grand. The other Marriott is a Courtyard, so may be the least "nice" of the four, but all of the other three are located more centrally than the Tverskaya. The Aurora is the most central, with the Courtyard being the second most central and the Grand a bit further out. The Tverskaya, while still located in the area that is considered to be part of the city center, is the farthest from the Kremlin (which is the very center of the city), but it is probably no more than 1.5 miles (about 2.4Km) from the Kremlin, and there is a Metro station about 200 meters from the hotel, so it is easy to get to the Kremlin and other parts of the city. If you like to walk, it is an easy walk, straight down Tverskaya Street, to the Kremlin. The lobby and public areas of the Tverskaya are relatively small, compared to those of the other Marriotts, but the small lobby bar can be relaxing and inviting on a cold winter day. Like all bars in Moscow, It can be smoky, though. The rooms in the Tverskaya are pretty standard - nothing fancy, but adequate, and everything seems to work. Although Tverskaya Street (Actually, its name is Tverskaya-Yamskaya, at that point) is probably the busiest, noisiest street in Moscow, the double windows on the rooms completely block out the street noise. Wireless internet is available for a fee (about $40 per day), but since my laptop uses Vista, there was a problem with that and I was forced to use the free "public" computer on the 4th floor. The "Gratzi" restaurant is "okay" but for the same money or less (it is fairly expensive, for what you get) you can eat a lot better in Moscow. They have a generous, well-prepared (full English - with some Russian modifications) breakfast buffet, which costs about $35, and is probably the only meal that I can recommend eating in the hotel (since it is usually included in your room rate). If you are interested in saving some money on expensive Moscow restaurant meals, there is an "Azbuka Vkusa" supermarket located about 1 block from the hotel, where you can buy very good, high quality produce and grocery items. There area also several small "convenience" groceries ("produkti") in the area, which will be even cheaper than Azbuka Vkusa (which is, admittedly, one of the most expensive supermarkets in town, but has very high-quality merchandise), but the selection and quality in the produkti will be much lower. Staff in the hotel and restaurant all speak English (some better than others, but it's there), and are pretty friendly and helpful, which is not always the case with Moscow service personnel. Some folks say that Russian waiters and hotel personnel are not friendly, but I think it is mostly a "big city" phenomenon, as we experienced very friendly people when we traveled to some of the smaller, less tourist-oriented places in Russia. At any rate, whether surly service is a Moscow/St. Pete phenomenon or a country-wide one, we found the staff at the Tverskaya to be good. Like all central hotels in Moscow, the Tverskaya is expensive. We got a special corporate rate and still paid about $500 per night, for a very plain, unimpressive business suite. As expensive as that may seem, it is not out of line with what you can expect to pay anywhere in the city center, and for a small suite, is actually a pretty good price. There are several decent restaurants within an easy walk of the hotel. Restaurant info: Vremya Yest - (Russian for "Time to Eat") - Inexpensive, German-style beer house with good sausages and beer food. Can be smoky. Makaroni - Good, reasonably-priced Italian. Botik Petra - Seafood Soup Cafe - Trendy, good soups, surly service, can be smoky. Yakitoria - Local Japanese chain with "passable", if not great, sushi and other items. Silk - Chinese restaurant located very close to the hotel, but I do not recommend it. Tried it twice and it was bad both times. Kofe Haus - Coffee shop with limited dessert and sandwich menu. Located almost right across Tverskaya from the hotel. Shokolodnitsa - Coffee shop with a broader (and actually pretty good) menu. Mi Piace - Good, moderately-priced Italian chain. American Bar & Grill - Decent, moderately priced. The name says it all. Correa's - American and Euro dishes. Very good food and prices are reasonable, by Moscow standards. Subway sandwich shop - Yep, Jared's favorite. Rostiks Chicken - A KFC affiliate - Fast food chicken. Il Patio - Another (less - expensive) Italian place, but not as good as Mi Piace. Bavarius - German beer garden. Not bad. There are many, many others within an easy walk, but this should give you some ideas and suggestions. All of these are within 15 minutes or less from the hotel. Even though in many ways, the hotel is pretty average, I rated it overall "above average" since this website is most frequently used by westerners, and anyone who is looking at this hotel is probably interested in a western "chain" hotel, with the amenities and services that they have come expect from that. If you want the full "Russian" experience, don't stay in a western hotel - stay in one of the more Russian ones, like the Izmailovo Gamma Delta, The Sretenskaya, The Ulanskaya, The Golden Ring, The Sovietsky, The Metropol, or one of the dozens of others. So, even though the Tverskaya is pretty average in a lot of ways, in terms of delivering that western chain hotel feel, I would rate it as "above average" among Moscow hotels.

I stayed in this hotel one night on business. The hotel is pretty far from Kremlin, but is next to a major railway station. Rooms are quite outdated and have been long due for renovation. Have not used any facilities due to lack of time, but was generally unimpressed with this hotel. Would not stay there unless had to.

Very well located, good rooms, good service, a little expensive, but overall hotels in Russia are expepensive. The staff was very helpfull. the meals and the bar are good. the people are friendly and all the staff are fluent in english.

We stayed at this hotel for 3 nights in June 2008 and would recommend it as a good base to explore Moscow. Our room was a good size with all the things you would expect from a Marriott. Our room looked onto Tverskaya Street but with two layers of double glazing we did not hear anything of the outside world. The beds (we had two doubles) were exceedingly comfortable. There was a good selection at breakfast including eggs cooked to order. The hotel is about a 45 minute walk to Red Square along the equivalent of Oxford Street. There is a metro stop about 4 minutes from the hotel which will also take you directly to Red Square at a fraction of the cost of the London Underground.

I stayed at the Marriot Tverskaya from Mid January 2007 until some time in June 2007, with weekend breaks each month. I may have been one of their longest staying customers, and would be able to give a balanced view. 1. The check-in is ok, the receoptionists have a good knowledge of English, which is not to be taken for granted in Russia. And they are very helpful too with directions to museums, etc. They will give you a map, directions and even an umbrella if you need one. 2. The bar on ground floor is good, and I came to love the bar food (tuna steak was great). The staff are friednly and fast 3. The rooms are great, especially if you get to stay in the deluxe rooms. They have 2 tv's, a large bathroom, a good (costly) minibar and the beds are great. If you have an option, take the rooms overlooking the back street as it is less noisy (Tverskaya street is very noisy from high-speed traffic). There is wireless internet but again it costs the world... 4. The laundry service is good but expensive too 5. The breakfast is excellent, the staff are very courteous and the selection of food is good. 6. The location is good - many restaurants, pubs and coffee shops nearby. Also the Beloruskaya and Tverskaya metro stations are just nearby (max 5 min walking distance) Overall the hotel is great, and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Moscow