Swissotel Krasnye Holmy Hotel, Moscow (review, video & photos)
The Swissotel Krasnye Holmy in Moscow is fantastic. The rooms are fantastic, but so largely speaking is the price. My room was around $300 a night.
I spent 4 nights there, although I was only due to be there for 3 but the BA crash landing at London Heathrow meant I stayed another night. That was actually a sort of test for what I thought of the hotel for, although I was disappointed not to be going home, I did think that at least it was another night is a lovely hotel.
I was staying in an Executive Room on the 18th floor (room 1803). The hotel was 33 floors, with a fantastically trendy bar on that floor that circles the hotel tower. The views are great from both my room and the bar.
I knew as soon as I arrived in the lobby the hotel would be good. The greetings were warm and the style, design and artworks were all stunning. Even the lift looked so good, with a TV playing BBC World News, that I felt I needed to take a photo.
When I walked into my room I did go “wow” audibly. The room is large, with a long wide passageway with wooden panel cupboards which also houses a Nespresso machine. Then on the other side is a gigantic and beautiful bathroom with stylish fixtures and very large all glass shower. The bathroom was a real treat.
The bedroom has a large, and comfortable, king size bed with high quality linen. It was a bed you did not want to get out of in the morning! A good desk to work at and the TV had loads of channels from all over Europe.As a new hotel there were funky gadgets and controls for lights etc.But things were expensive. Drinks were especially costly. Internet access was very high.As I was in an executive room, I could use the lounge on the 19th floor which had a great breakfast with everything from fruit to hot food. In the evenings they served drinks and snacks, which were enough to have as a meal if you were only moderately hungry. There are some places to eat, but I only tried the Cafe on the 3rd floor which was good (with an amazing dessert buffet) but costly.
Swissotel Krasnye Holmy Moscow View from the City Scape Bar on 33rd floor, originally uploaded by garybembridge.
On the 3rd floor is the spa/fitness centre. Considering the size of the hotel the gym seemed small. But the few time I went it was not busy even at the traditional peak times for hotel gyms and so maybe it is just well thought through. There were a few running machines, bikes and cross trainers and then a good selection of weight machines and free weights. There is a pool, but that was being renovated while I was there.
The hotel is well located for the major tourist attraction of Red Square and also the nearby trendy (and expensive) restaurants like GQ. When I first got to the hotel I thought it seemed to be out of the way, but quickly realised it was very well positioned.I liked it a lot as you can tell.
Watch the video of my room (1903): Click here or watch below
