Hotel Starosadskiy — Hotel in Basmanny District

The main problem of this hotel is zero sound insulation. One will hear every word spoken in the room next to one's as if the people were sityi g right next to one. And, certainly, every other sound. This nullifies the loveliness of the bed, the softness of the pillow and the duvet and the peacefulness of location.||||Importantly - a hugely varying degree in politeness and professionalism was displayed by the staff. The receptionist on the night of my arrival, Anastasia, was gentle and humane, and in request for a quiet room replied that my room was 'in the quiet part of the hotel'. When at 2 am the room was filled with crashing sounds of people moving in and never going to bed, keeping me awake all night, I thought this could be mentioned in the morning.||||The vulgar-looking woman at the reception started mocking me, derisively inquiring 'what do you mean by a quiet part', 'should we not be checking people in?', raised her voice and demostratively looked amused. This is not how to respond to customer concerns, especially if a customer is barely standing, has lost her voice from fatigue and is clearly in distress. The woman's name was Maria. I had plans to ask for a late check-out, as this would have suited my day ever so much better, but the derision, mockery and the air of utter superiority unleashed on me by this agent compelled me to leave as soon as I could.||||The antithesis to above attitude was Eduard, who, technically not responsible for accommodation concerns, helping in the breakfast area, did all he could to remedy the situation. Crucially, he genuinely wanted to know what had caused the trouble, why I was so upset. His manner was the opposite of defensive, it was sympathetic and professional at once.||||While I shall never return to the hotel, on account of the absence of sound insulation, there will be people in it I shall remember...

The staff at this hotel were very nice, and it was clean and central. It was also very well-priced for the location and cleanliness. These are the pluses. However, unfortunately the hotel was fully booked when I stayed which meant I got a basement room without a real window (a window opened onto a well, not sure what I would have done in case of fire...) and they couldn't move me. More importantly, it failed on two key fronts for a hotel room: reliable wifi (the wifi was slow and frequently cut out - I struggled to get work done from the hotel room) and guaranteeing a good sleep. There was noise throughout the night - clanging pipes, and an incredibly noisy air conditioner in the hall, which woke me up each of the four nights I stayed. Sadly this means I would not come back...

+++ Good location. Variety of restaurants in vicinity. Metro Kitay Gorod 10 min, Kremlin 20 min walking distance. Friendly English speaking reception. Quiet, clean, modern rooms, 2nd floor best.||Don’t expect too much, you pay for the location.||---- Breakfast good variety but average quality. No fruits, no bread rolls.||Restaurant in claustrophobic basement. The Borsch-Soup we had, horrible, worst we had in Russia.||Windowless rooms in basement, not for the claustrophobic. First floor near reception with direct view to parking lot. Third floor rooms under the roof, very hot, with tiny windows.||We had reserved 2 months in advance, in low season. Still we could not get the 2nd floor room we...