Beta Hotel Izmailovo

With its penchant for mirrored surfaces and neon lighting and reports of prostitutes soliciting guests in the lobby, the Izmailovo Beta Hotel has a few strikes against it right out the gate. The hotel is housed in a somewhat decrepit high-rise with dirt-streaked, white-vinyl paneling. The vast, brightly lit lobby has leather sofas, mirrored walls, columns, and ceilings with cobalt accents, a few planters, a reception desk that looks fit for a TV news room, and a massive flat-screen TV. There is a 24-hour lobby bar with school-room like chairs and tables and a House Bar with dark-wood tables and chairs, some next to sheet-style waterfalls. The Beta Restaurant has a big buffet table for the breakfast service and more mirrors and fluorescent lighting. The hotel attracts an international crowd of business and leisure travelers, and gets a lot of guests from East Asia.  

The hotel is located in Moscow's Izmailovo district, the ancestral land of the Romanov family. The hotel is on a gritty street of sagging electric cables surrounded by restaurants and residences. Within a 10-minute walk, however, is the vast Izmaylovsky Park, a green space that includes a forest. Izmailovsky Market for souvenirs is 15 minutes away on foot, as is the Kremlin in Izmailovo, an interpretive center with fairytale buildings. Partizanskaya is the closest metro, a five-minute walk away. From here, it's 20 minutes by train to the Red Square. Saint Basil's Cathedral -- an iconic architectural flourish commissioned by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century -- is a 25-minute drive or half-hour train ride, and getting to the Bolshoi Theatre takes about the same amount of time. The railway stations of Kazansky, Leningradsky, and Yaroslavsky are 15 to 20 minutes away by car. Sheremeyevo International Airport is 45 minutes by car without traffic or about 70 minutes by train.

Rooms have dated, basic decor that varies a bit, but generally consists of plain wooden headboards, chairs, and desks and small, plain framed prints on the walls. Premium Rooms look like they were fashioned to resemble heart-shaped boxes of Valentines' Day chocolates and feature gaudy red-satin bedspreads and cushions with gold embossing and curtains and even carpets to match. All rooms have flat-screen TVs (though some are tiny), safes, mini-fridges, slippers, and robes. Bathrooms have magnifying mirrors and shower/tub combos or semicircular walk-in showers. Slippers and robes are provided. Rooms on the 15th floor or higher have the best views. Some past guests have complained of cigarette smells in rooms (even in those labeled nonsmoking). 

The Izmailovo Beta offers nine modern conference rooms -- the largest of which can fit up to 500 people. All come equipped with audio-visual equipment. There is no gym, but hotel guests can use the gym at a nearby sister property, the Gamma/Delta, free of charge. Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel, but there have been reports of spotty service. The hotel restaurant serves European cuisine at breakfast, lunch, and dinner; and it has two bars, one of which sells light fare from refrigerated cases. Room service is provided 24 hours, and some guests report that the food is, somehow, better than what's served at the Beta Restaurant. Other features include a gift shop, a photo lab, a hair salon, and a travel agency. Self-parking is an option, for a fee. Pets are not allowed.