How to find & book a hotel in Russia in 2024
Visa, MasterCard and American Express cards do not currently work in Russia. While most popular online booking services are not accessible. However, there are Russian alternatives. So, you won’t be left out on the street!
The inability to book a hotel or an apartment in Russia today via popular international services is compensated by both new Russian online portals, as well as personal payment systems of a number of hotels. In addition, many of them offer their services in other languages.
The most popular accommodation aggregator in Russia is Ostrovok.ru. It’s a convenient database of almost every hotel in Russia, where you can choose an option for every taste and budget, find out general information and compare options based on features and amenities. The interface supports English, German, French and a number of other languages. Paying for a reservation, however, is only possible with a Russian bank card, but the portal also has a partner - Zenhotels.com, where the the same database of hotels is accepted and international Visa and MasterCard cards are accepted for payment.
Another large aggregator for searching airline tickets and hotels is onetwotrip.com (available in English, German, Spanish) and also gives users from abroad the opportunity to book hotels throughout Russia with payment using international Visa and MasterCard cards.
When searching for a suitable hotel and having a card exclusively from a Russian bank, you can use other aggregators for comparison - for example, travel.yandex.ru (only in Russian) and anywayanyday.com (available in English and German).
Some hotels in Moscow and St. Petersburg also work with cards from foreign banks online. These are, for example, the five-star Ararat Park Hotel (ex-Hyatt) and The Carlton (ex-The Ritz-Carlton) in the capital, popular among foreigners, or Hotel Astoria in St. Petersburg. There is also the possibility of online payment with international cards through the Ibis economy network.
Most well-known international networks operating in Russia - such as Novatel, Radisson Blu or Hilton - accept payments only with Russian bank cards or provide the option of paying on the spot in cash.
Private apartments throughout Russia can be found on the Sutochno.com portal. There are about 200,000 advertisements for daily rental of rooms, apartments and cottages. According to the rules, to make a reservation you must make an advance payment with a Russian card, but the service allows you to write to the owners and agree with them about payment on the spot. The service also offers an English language option.
