The main typical distinction of the hotels in Soviet period is still fresh in our memory - they never had vacancies. It has become a common place joke. The typical notes at the administrator's desk were made fun of in movies and newspapers, but everything was remaining the same. Then times have changed. Has the situation in hotels changed?

The history of hotels may be divided into 3 periods: the middle ages, the new history and the modern history. The latest can be characterized by what we see now - luxurious beautiful hotels, that have emerged on Moscow streets in last years. The new history is presented by the hotels of the Soviet period such as "Moscow", "Minsk", "Molodezhnaya". No matter how wonderful they could seem at their best time, most of them dilapidated and became inhabited with rats, flooded with cockroaches and stupid clerks. How did it all start?

The very first among the known Rules of organization of the hotel business in Russia was a set of Rules developed for the foreign guesthouses of Novgorod in the XII century. Medieval Novgorod was a center of not only Russian but also international trade. The following foreign guesthouses were opened in Novgorod: Gotish, German, Danish and Swedish. There were Russian guesthouses as well - Pskov and Tver houses.

The development of such guesthouses has, no doubt, required introduction of the certain "rules of conduct and trade", and "skra", which means "book of laws" or "sudebnik", was created precisely for that purpose. Skra played the role of rules of conduct, internal schedule and relationship between local people and all visitors, with no exception. Skra was especially precise in setting up rules of conduct at the table and even prescribed a uniform - certain clothes that was considered decent for each social group. A fine of 5 marks was charged for violating this rule. There was a number of articles on fire safety, as well as certain order of accommodation and payments. A tax on imported goods was developed and strict accounting system was kept up, so called "memory books", and guesthouses' management had to give an account on collected taxes and on expenses related to maintaining guesthouses twice a year. Merchants were divided into winter and summer guests; the former were coming to Novgorod in Autumn and leaving it in Spring. Then they were replaced by summer guests. Schedule of arrivals and forming of groups of merchants were conducted by foreign cities independently. There were certain limitations on the amount of arriving guests and on the schedule of their visits. German guesthouse was set up to accommodate up to 200 people and occupied an area of 1,960 square meters, same area was taken by Swedish and Gotish houses.

Some of the skra provisions played an important role in the development of basic laws of the hotel business at that time. Skra was a worthy predecessor of the currently active "Rules of providing hotel services in Russian Federation", which have kept its main requirements although interpreted them in a modern way. Naturally, when Moscow has became the main trading center, new guesthouses started to appear, so necessary for conducting international trade and developing diplomatic relations between different countries.

After Perestroika the hotel business in Moscow is developing at the very rapid pace. Just 10 years ago, Moscovites could not even imagine what the five-star hotel is. Only after seeing it in movies, one could get some idea of what it is. Up to now in the country, including Moscow, there are hotels that does not deserve even one star. But now, above them proudly rise 4 and 5-star hotels, and even 3-star "Novotel" looks more prestigious than "Pekin", Ukraina", "Minsk" and "Moscow", though previously they were the highest standard of Moscow hotel business. Of course, there were always "Metropol", "Savoi" - quite decent hotels even in Soviet times, but they were notorious around the world for rude manners of personnel and ubiquitous bribe-taking, and that spoiled even those hotels.

Really, where does hotel begin? With the building? With lobby or reception? May be with the hotel room?

Probably none of the above, because despite how wonderful hotel is, everything depends first of all on personnel and service. How can a prosperous businessman live in a hotel where any time he can get rude or negative remark in his address?

One of the most famous events of the modern history of Russian capitalism is the change in the landscape of the capital when shining signs with gold Latin letters, known around the world as symbols of luxury of international level and good service, appeared everywhere. Obviously, we are talking about very expensive hotels.

This shining islands of western prosperity grew almost overnight and started to absorb as a sponge all wealth that foreigners and Russians as well were ready to spend for the place -with unexpected easiness - in this New Economic order.

Such old authorities as "Natsional", Metropol", "Savoi" that were the face of the Moscow hotel business for a long time, suddenly faced competition from the "newcomers" - Radisson - Slavyanskaia", "Palace Hotel", "Balchug Kempinsky" and many other hotels of the capital, which offer the best quality of services that the western hotel industry can offer.

The government of Moscow starts to understand all the importance of the high quality service in hotels. On July 9, 1997 Government issues a directive of the Deputy Prime Minister of Moscow N 708-РЗП "On the temporary order of the complex control of the hotel business in Moscow"

1. Complex inspections of organizations involved in hotel business in Moscow are conducted at least once a year in order to evaluate the real level of safety and quality of services provided to customers.

2. Complex inspections are conducted by commissions comprised of representatives of Moscow License Chamber and expert centers associated with it, offices of certification of tourism and hotel services, Department of external relations of the Government of Moscow, regional department of Moscow and Moscow Region of the State Anti-Trust Committee of Russian Federation, municipal inspection of State standards, prefectures of the corresponding administrative regions, public organizations protecting rights of customers.

Item 5 of the same Order states the following:

In a course of inspection, based on the analyses of corresponding documentation reflecting conditions of the firms activities, inspection of the numbered fund, as well as equipment, nomenclature and quality of services, verification of personnel qualification (interviews, tests, etc.), studying of customers references and other control measures, the commission determines correspondence of data contained in the questionnaire to the actual situation and makes an expert evaluation of each item of the questionnaire.

Each item is evaluated in 5 points rating system, where 5 is "excellent", 4 - "good", 3 - "satisfactory", 2 - "unsatisfactory", 1 - "bad" or the evaluated item is not present in the activity of the applicant. The total number of points (further - rating) is established by adding points received for each item.

For each of five categories of collective funds of distribution the following quantitative criteria of rating is established:

On the directive of Moscow Mayor N 560 - PM dated July 10, 1997, the Conceptual System of measures on quality control of services in the tourism and hotel complex (THC) of Moscow has been developed, where item 2 says:

The purpose of developing the System of quality control of services in the hotel and tourism complex in Moscow.

Quality control of services in tourism and hotel business is one of the elements in the State program of market regulation. It is implemented with a purpose of protecting rights of customers and developing international tourism, conducive to the economical development of Moscow, growth of the city income and creation of new workplaces.

The government of Moscow sets forth the goal of creating the system of quality control of services in the THC of Moscow. Determines required quality of service, organizational structure of the quality control system and measures to stimulate the growth of quality of services in the THC of Moscow. Requires improvements in the system of personnel training for THC.

The Government of Russian Federation decree N 490 "On the approval of Rules of providing hotel services in the Russian Federation" was issued on April 25, 1997.

The Municipal authorities follow very close the providing of hotel services in Moscow, and if in terms of taxes the situation remains unchanged for almost 10 years, decrees and directives related to the quality of services in THC are constantly updated.

We selected five most expensive five-star Moscow hotels in order to form an idea of how are they filled in and is there a big gap between hotels of the same class.

"Radisson - Slavyanskaia" - impressive complex located close to Kiev Railroad Station. Besides hotel, there is a variety of western shops, dozens of offices of companies and the first Moscow English language movie theater. "Slavyanskaia", opened in 1990, is considered to be an American oasis. The price of a very modest room is $ 235, and price of the president suite is $ 900. These are the most moderate prices among the five most expensive Moscow hotels.

"Natsional" The impression of Moscow hotels will not be complete without mentioning such a famous grand as "Natsional". The building of the hotel is an architectural masterpiece, which strikes imagination with magnificent facades and beautiful interiors. Hotel is located in the center of Moscow , on Manezh square where Tverskaia street starts. In October of 1917 the White Army soldiers desperately fighting Bolsheviks were quartered there. Before the Revolution the price of room was 3 rubles and now - from $ 310 to $1,200 a day (the fourth place in the price rating). 80 million dollars were spent on the reconstruction of "Natsional" and it lasted for four years. Now the hotel has 231 rooms, including 36 luxury suites. "Natsional" - is the municipal property and is an associated member of the hotel chain of the "Forte" company.

"Palace - hotel" - is the most modern and purely western in its spirit and service. "Palace" is considered to be one of the most luxurious hotels on Tverskaya street with the lobby finished in light and bright colors and shining polished bronze. The price of rooms in "Palace" is from $ 360 to $ 1,340 a day. This puts the hotel on the third place among expensive hotels.

"Metropol" - was designed in 1898 in Art Nouveau style and soon became popular among representatives of Russian intellectual and cultural elite, including Tolstoi, Rakhmaninov, Shaliapin to name a few. In 1917 Bolsheviks temporary turned the hotel into the House of Soviets. The hotel was renovated in thirties, and its reconstruction started in 1987 was finished only in 1991. "Metropol" is managed jointly by Russian administration and Inter-Continental Hotels Group. The price of the least expensive room is $ 340 a day and the price for the most expensive room - the president suite -is $ 1,800 a day which puts it on the second place.

"Balchug Kempinski" is the example of German standards and traditions. "Balchug" has 202 ordinary rooms, 32 luxury rooms, president suites and the library - reception room for the important people. The hotel has an excellent view of Moscow Kremlin. The least expensive room costs 520 Deutschemarks, and the most expensive - 2,800 Deutschemarks, which is approximately $ 355- 1,910 a day. "Balchug" is at the top of the list of the most expensive hotels in Moscow.

The season factor is a very important factor in filling of the hotels. In other words, the filling of the same class hotels varies depending on the events scheduled at the moment, on the international exhibitions, sport competitions and other events. For example, below (on the next page) is a chart made for five Moscow hotels.

Data on Seasonal Filling of Moscow Hotels, %%