I made the reservation on Maxima’s website. The price quoted was same as Orbitz, however an additional 15% discount was available for users of AmEx. Upon making the reservation, I received an automated message acknowledging the reservation request and stating that the reservation was being processed and I would receive confirmation shortly. The confirmation never arrived, even after I sent a reminder email. Still, I decided that the automated email would be enough to argue the case, and did not call the hotel. Upon arrival and after showing the automated message, the reservation was OK, at the price quoted on the web (average $156/night, for 5 nights). However, from overheard discussion it appeared that other hotel guests had paid a significantly lower price. The staff was neutral, and my general impression was that they saw hotel guests as a necessary evil. I did not take this personally as I already knew that such neutrality was characteristic of Muscovites. Inside, the hotel appeared recently renovated and smelled like new paint. The room was relatively small but modern, with a queen-size bed, a desk, built-in dresser, and a clean bathroom with a shower. There was no AC, but I could open the window completely (for those unfamiliar with windows, the ones in the hotel had two settings – propped and fully opened, and I found myself keeping it fully opened all the time to keep the room aired). My only complaint was that the bathroom had an unpleasant odor, due to the unsealed sewer plumbing. I dealt with it by keeping the bathroom door closed at all times. Breakfast was included in the price and excellent, served in the second-floor restaurant. I did not try the restaurant for lunch or dinner.

On the last day of my stay I discovered that wireless internet was available in the room, an unadvertised feature (there was a sign in the hotel lobby that wireless internet was available in the lobby bar, and I had used it there). Wireless internet required username and password which are only issued at the lobby bar. Price was $7/hour, and I did not inquire about a daily rate.

The best feature of the hotel was the location. For people without a lot of luggage and with basic knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet, from Sheremetyevo-2 (SVO), upon leaving the baggage area, go upstairs to the departure level, exit from the right-most door and cross over into the red building housing the Aeroexpress trains - a leisurely 8-minute walk to the train platform, ticket office is on the way. Take the train to Savelovskaya Station. Trains cost 250 rbls (about $11 at the time), and depart at 5:20, 6:15, 6:50, 7:50, 8:50, 9:50, 10:10, 12:55 (notice the unfortunate lack of service btwn 10:10 and 12:55, when Delta’s New York and Atlanta flights arrive), 13:20, 15:00, 17:00, 17:48, 19:00, 19:50, 20:50, 21:25, 22:20, 22:50, 23:20, 23:50, 0:20h. The duration of the train trip was 34 minutes (for the return trip, Sheremetyevo trains depart Savelovskaya at 5:25, 5:45, 6:25, 7:00, 8:00, 8:54, 9:55, 11:05, 13:55, 14:55, 15:55, 16:55, 17:55, 18:55, 19:20, 19:55, 20:55, 22:05, 22:33, 23:00, 23:25, 23:55). Upon arrival at Savelovskaya, walk over to the subway (look for “M”-sign immediately upon exiting the building, M for metro). From there, almost any location in Moscow is accessible within 45 min. The cost per trip is about 15-22 rbls ($0.7-1.0), depending on whether you purchase a single ride, or discounted 5-ride or 10-ride passes. Hotel Maxima Zarya is at subway stop “Vladikino”, on the same subway line as “Savelovskaya”, only about 10-12 minutes ride time. The subway is clean and very easy to get around, provided that one can read the Cyrillic alphabet. Once at Vladikino, follow the signs to the exit to Botanical Street (“Botanicheskaia Ulitsa”; do not exit on the other side of the station). Once on the surface and outside the building, make a slight right and follow the stream of people entering an obscure passageway between two fences. Follow the people as the path crosses diagonally between apartment buildings and arrives at a pedestrian traffic light at major 10-lane divided boulevard (4-minute walk from the subway station). Cross the road, and continue straight or diagonally left between more apartment buildings and onto a small street which intersects Gostinichnaia Street. Make a left on Gostinichaia and immediately arrive at Hotel Zarya on the left (total 8-minute walk from the subway). Total duration of trip from SVO to the hotel entrance (excluding wait for the airport express train – see departure schedule above) was 1h15min, the total cost was 270 rbl.

Even if you do not use the subway from and to the airport, while in Moscow and without luggage it is the most sensible mode of transportation, much less expensive and faster than a taxi, with the Red Square approximately 35-40 minutes from Hotel Zarya’s entrance.

For finding my way around town I used Google Earth on my non-GPS Blackberry – Google Earth triangulates from the cell phone towers to display approximate location within 1 mile radius – sufficient to find the name of the street and the precise location.

For the return trip to SVO, make sure to take the very left exit when exiting Savelovskaya subway station (the entrance to the Sheremetovo express is on the left side of the train station, not in the main building). Allow 30 minutes to get from Zarya to the airport express train; and another 45 minutes from there to the check-in area. Check-in and security may take one hour or more (for my 12:55 flight to ATL I departed the hotel at 9:15 am, and had a little more than one hour of free time at the airport). The Skyteam lounge is after security (however before gate security), on the second floor. Make sure that you request a pass to the lounge at check-in, as check-in agents sometimes forget to issue the passes and the club cards or business-class tickets are not readily accepted by lounge personnel.