March 30, 2008

• $20-60/night beds/rooms, many of which are direct from owners who will not only appreciate your financial contribution but will also be happy to be your friends. Proceed to Rooms, Homestays, hostels, B&B.

• Once in a while I even receive an offer of Free accommodation in exchange for English.

• $80-180/night apartments, mostly in good areas of MOSCOW.

• I also document rooms and apartments in SAINT PETERSBURG

• Accommodation offers from places in Russia/CIS/surrounding territories tend to end up here, especially when these are direct from the landlord, which is regretfully is not a common practice in this market dominated by agencies and go-betweens.  

• $100/night and under hotels in Moscow. Proceed to Hostels and Budget Hotels. 

• train tickets at domestic prices plus my humble service fee of $25.  [more about train tickets]

• my famous practical orientation tour  that will help you to be self-sufficient in Moscow and avoid rip offs, thus recovering, within a day or two, your $50 investment into this exercise. [details]

• the rural experience & Horse riding. You are invited to my "dacha" near Staritsa (also spelled "Starica") in the Tver region, right on the Volga river. My dacha is a natural stopover point for someone travelling between Moscow and St. Petersburg through small towns and villages. Recommended for reality tourism enthusiasts. All the mud and manure and horseflies and potato moonshine you can handle for a $40/day contribution to my household economy. ($60 for VIP treatment: prepared meals, help with horses, and your normally grumpy and grouchy host will do his best to fake cheerful attitude).

• www.kalugaregion.net [an aborted project]

• ALTERNATIVE TYPES OF ACCOMMODATIONS: campgrounds, "sanatoriums", "houses of rest" and other vestiges of the Soviet era, when the aim was cheap travel and recreation for masses yet unspoiled by comfort and western service style.  

• Free accommodation, from garbage dumpsters (no obligation) and hot air vents to luxury apartments (usually in exchange for English) .. 

Information provided "as is" and a lot of it is outdated. note that i am not an apartment rental agent. The only two pages updated with any regularity are Rooms and apartments. Feedback about your experience with landlords & hosts listed here is welcomed. again, note that information is provided "as is".

Thoughts, questions, information, hints?
Please write

Please note
that I am not an agency. Contact hosts and landlords DIRECTLY. I'm here to collect information from landlords, hosts, and travellers. If you prefer someone to do the looking and booking and other arrangements for you I recommend my ex partner Olesya, who knows well the Moscow accommodation scene.

I am to be contacted

if you have questions or need advice related to travelling, living, or working in Russia

if you want to hire me to assist you in your projects

in you are looking for the dacha experience, want to go camping, horse riding, boating etc. near Staritsa, Tver region

 is normally in Moscow  Write or call me only if you want to rent my apartment, need a backpacker-type place to stay, want to visit my dacha, or hire my services (eg. Business Services or Guides & Drivers). That is not to say I don't want to hear of your experience with hosts or service providers listed here. In fact I rely on your feedback. Just don't call me as if I was an agency. And heaven forbid you ring me in the middle of the night without there being a truly extraordinary reason.  - Pasha

Accommodation search assistance from Olesya

Invitations:
Tourist - $60, issued same day. Registration $25, pickup and delivery of documents included.