Hey all.
I started my search for convenient places to stay in Moscow for Tanya and Alina. I figure three days for time for them to get the medical on the weekend and the interview on Monday (May 12).

I have left two emails and even talked to Olyesa, "My Girl Friday", that was recommended here. But she has not responded to my inquiries. Guess she doesn't want my business. Anyone have some alternatives?

http://www.apartmentres.com/en/apartments/...erican_embassy/

There are several available if you just google "moscow apartments" or you can try to find Moscow Rick. He seems to be able to get things going over there.

Olesya is probably away or busy or too booked up. She was awesome when we were there.

I've used Moscow Rick before. Here's a link to his business.

http://www.enjoymoscow.com/MoscowRick/default.asp

I too used Moscow Rick for several services and I would recommend him highly.

I've used Russia Girl Friday and Moscow Rick. I'd say don't expect too much and you'll be OK.

Moscow Ricks' place was Soviet Union style and rough. I met a woman there and she hated the place so i ended up in a hotel. But for an interview situation, maybe OK.

Girl Friday got us a decent place pretty close to the embassy but the sheets had not been changed and the owner was a smoker...not good.

It's a crap shoot but if you can rough it for a few days, the prices are reasonable.

Just want to say that I'm using Rus Girl Friday right now, and although she does tend to be slow in communications, she does always answer my emails within 2-4 days, usually about 2. She got us a place one tube stop from the embassy, and very close to AOM. I'll let you all know what the place was like after the interview in May.

I wrote her 6 days ago. Talked to her 3 days ago, and emailed again.. oh well..

Yeah...that's strange. Makes me a little nervous actually.

May 1st is May Day...a big Russian holiday and apparently it runs off and on until about May 11th. I was surprised the embassy has so may early May interviews given the embassy closes at the drop of a hat for any and all holidays.

The apt. finder folks like RGF may be scrambling right now to find places during May.

I have used him also, and my wife had no complaints about the accomodations.

I used to be on a different forum several years back and the reviews regarding Moscow Rick were mostly good. I tried to use him a couple years back and it took him forever to response to my e-mail. By the time he finally reached me, I had already made my arrangements. When he did contact me, he was very polite and explained he was away for some time and fell behind.

If I ever get a whole bunch of money, you can bet I'll be the international slumlord of Moscow.

$150/night is amazing money and it seems there's never a shortage of clients..... could be why the other $150/night business does pretty well in Moscow. Connection?

What a neat city.

You guys pay 150 a night for these places????? Wow! I'm with slim--being a moscow slum lord seems like a pretty sweet profession, except for the whole paying-off-criminals aspect.

I think there's nothing wrong with a soviet-style apartment, personally. When i was apartment-hunting in russia, since i was american the agent kept on showing me these 2000 euro a month places with mosaic'ed hot tubs and separate sauna rooms. give me a break!

Problem with "Soviet style" flats is often nothing works very well and the kitchen and bath are "worn" pretty well. Moscow Rick's flat I rented and abandoned was rough...very rough. Maybe a single guy wanting an in town location on the cheap could deal with it...but not for romance. As the woman I met told me..."My flat is better than this one!" So off we went to a decent hotel. It was the Alpha Hotel and was very nice for $100 a night including breakfast and was very close to a metro stop...but kind of far from the centrum. It was off-season (November) so we got upgraded to a VIP room for free. This was a few years ago.

I will say Rick gave me a partial refund but only because he was able to find a quick renter. It just shows how crazy things are in Moscow...you pay Paris prices for third world housing and smile when you get a crapola place under $150 a night.

I will add that Moscow Rick has a number of flats to rent at varying levels of cost and quality. I went with a place that was $70 a night and looked pretty nice in the photos...but as we know, photos can be misleading.

I lived in a soviet-style flat for six months and everything worked normally, but i only paid 240 dollars a month. For 150 a night i'd want to get my money's worth too.

For $240 a month you can't get a cardboard box in Moscow. Where'd you live...the Arctic Circle?

Five years ago, I rented an apartment through waytorussia. While it was small, everything worked and it was clean. And the owners were very helpful and nice. It was fine for the three nights that we needed to be there. At that time, the apartment rented for $70/night. I just checked, and the same apartment now rents for $97/night......a little too much for such a small apartment IMO. But, the location is good. It just depends on your standards, how long you want to be there, and how much you can afford. $150/night is a bit pricey for me.

Nope, in the center of spb. I had 2 flatmates though, so the whole cost was 800 a month.

I think part of the problem is that to get a good deal in Russia, you really need connections. Services which cater to foreigners are always going to be ridiculously overpriced because they figure, hey, you're a foreigner, you can and will pay it.

And we have a winner! Exactly, Eekee. There is a reason I will let Alla find her own accommodations in Moscow for her interview. She'll work her circle and maybe even pull it off for free.

Yep, it's like when you go to a museum in russia and the price in english is listed as 400 roubles, and the one in russian is 100.

I think most of the guys here are just trying to give their fiancees the most comfortable experiences possible for their interview, but it'd probably work out better if the lady worked it out herself and didn't let on she needed a place so she could go to an interview to marry an american. Not only does one have to type like a Russian, but one has to think like one too.

This is the one piece of advice Alla has been constantly reinforcing in mind! I'm all for chivalry, but let's face it, our Russian girls and guys know what they are doing! Alla will work her circle and find a place far cheaper with reasonable comfort than I could from this side of the pond.

You guys have now joined the official Satellite bandwagon.

"She speaks Russian, is in Russia.... make her rent an apartment like a normal Russian. You're suckers if you pay 10X the money a Russian would for an apartment in Moscow."

If you got something 10x nicer, go ahead and treat your girl to a nice place. But my impression is that you mostly get the same stuff, but pay a lot more.

I guess I was on the sat bandwagon before I ever joined vj, because I didn't even go to look at the apartment we rented for six months until the contracts were signed for fear they would charge us more once they saw an american would be living there too. If my guy is with me, he does all the deals with cabs etc. I'm not paying extra just cause I have an accent. If an american girl tries to pay 150 roubles for 10 kilometers they'll be like hell no, but for a russian guy and girl most will.

Unclepasha.com also has some "alternative" (cheap) contact info on his site.

I swear that guy has the strangest site I have ever been on, it's like a maze of old pages over lapping new ones, you never know where you end up following the navigation links.
Lots of odd yet interesting stuff though.

If you really want to cut corners on the price tag in moscow, you can go to globalfreeloaders.com and there are a lot of folks there who will put folks up for free or cheap.

In fact, if you are the "personable type" you can travel anywhere and be hosted by locals who like to meet and get to know travelers.
The honor code says you will host others from time to time as well.

I've done that before, twice. It was actually very cool and my hosts were wonderful. Did not use this site, a different one, I cannot remember the name.

On this trip we stayed with one person from couchsurfing.com and one person from hospitalityclub. It worked out really well. I think Russia tends to be a difficult place for that kind of accomodation though, because not that many people in Russia have an extra bed and people live with their parents until marriage.

If we manage to afford an extra room in spb though, we will definitely host people this way.

That was the one Eekee! «Hospitality Club». I agree, not many people can host guests in Russia. It seems they barely can host themselves sometimes! I went to Tallinn, Estonia and split my stay with an Estonian and a Russian family. The made me feel very welcome and went out of their way to accommodate me.

there is a hotel,not in the centre a bit far from embassy but stkill in Moscow,Little hotel called ksk bitsa,its a place for horse riders,staying there can cost 50baks per night,they have also cheaper hostel options as i remember..the only problem is she should pay cash and booking possible only on phone..
Its from metro Kalujskaya on a little bus 10minutes.
Also there is a chain of hotels alfa betta gamma on Izmailovskaya,they charge more but stil under 100usd availible...

there is a hotel right on tverskaya street-centre,called centralnaya,ikits cheap but very soviet hotel,some rooms dont even have toilets in the room,there is public restroom and shower at the end of the hall...
since she is with a little girl,i would book her hotel,so she is safe...

From what i heard renting flats are more expensive...
Oh and i just remembered my friends from england were staying at hostel called godzilla also in the centre,near circus of Nikulin..they found it onlikine and from what i remember was not too bad...they had room with 3 beds 2 of them and they just paid for 3rd bed to be alone.I think they paid like 60 usd per night...but that was last year...


Good luck!