The Hostelz.com Review
Napoleon Hostel is magnificent. You will be welcomed by Moscow's friendliest staff, best location, best atmosphere, and best travelers.
The entrance sits on a friendly, quiet street, but walking fifty meters and turning the corner brings you back to one of Moscow's bustling streets. ATMs, grocers, cafes, and good nightlife are abundant within a four-hundred-meter radius. The Metro is two hundred meters away -- and a must for exploring Moscow. The Kremlin and Red Square lie five minutes away on foot.
The hostel is very easy to find if you follow the directions on the website and follow the signs to the right Metro exit. Cabs may have a more difficult time finding it. We recommend inexperienced travelers arrange a cab from the airport through the hostel. It seems expensive, but it is cheaper, safer, and more convenient than many alternatives.
The hostel provides sheets for your comfortable bed. There are generally six to eight beds to a dorm room. Most dorms are spacious, but some can feel cramped. Door locks or in-room lockers were not supplied during our stay. However, the hostel's exterior security is superb. Travelers must be buzzed in from the street with a closed circuit surveillance system. They are then buzzed into the hostel again with the aid of another video camera. A video camera also monitors the hall leading to the dorms, with staff on hand twenty-four hours.
There are two toilets, two sinks, and two showers. They seem adequate for the size of hostel and are kept clean daily by a cleaning lady. Our only counterintuitive complaint relates to the absence of cold water over a two-day period. However, this situation added to the romanticism of being in Russia, and proved that cold showers are truly better than boiling showers.
The common space provides a great ambiance with old Soviet propaganda posters covering the wall. This combines brilliantly with a beer fridge and a great group of backpackers. We find Napoleon nurtures a great environment to socialize. You will meet fellow travelers eager to see the sights with you, swap stories, raise a toast, or head to a club. It can become overly rowdy on Friday and Saturday. Smoking is allowed in the adjacent stairwell as the hostel is situated on the fourth floor of a building. Minimal effects of the smoke are experienced in the common area, but avoiding secondhand smoke may prove impossible in Russia.
The kitchen is fully stocked and a fridge is provided. There are two computers with free access, but the internet slows down considerably in peak hours.
The biggest negative is the charge for visa registration. The visa process is confusing, but this is clearly a cash grab. It leaves a bad taste in travelers' mouths, especially those on a short visit.
Overall, this hostel competes with Western Europe's top hostels in terms of quality. More importantly, it provides a safe environment and prime location from which to explore Moscow. You will find friendly staff, but most importantly a solid group of travelers eager to explore and understand an amazing city.
The entrance sits on a friendly, quiet street, but walking fifty meters and turning the corner brings you back to one of Moscow's bustling streets. ATMs, grocers, cafes, and good nightlife are abundant within a four-hundred-meter radius. The Metro is two hundred meters away -- and a must for exploring Moscow. The Kremlin and Red Square lie five minutes away on foot.
The hostel is very easy to find if you follow the directions on the website and follow the signs to the right Metro exit. Cabs may have a more difficult time finding it. We recommend inexperienced travelers arrange a cab from the airport through the hostel. It seems expensive, but it is cheaper, safer, and more convenient than many alternatives.
The hostel provides sheets for your comfortable bed. There are generally six to eight beds to a dorm room. Most dorms are spacious, but some can feel cramped. Door locks or in-room lockers were not supplied during our stay. However, the hostel's exterior security is superb. Travelers must be buzzed in from the street with a closed circuit surveillance system. They are then buzzed into the hostel again with the aid of another video camera. A video camera also monitors the hall leading to the dorms, with staff on hand twenty-four hours.
There are two toilets, two sinks, and two showers. They seem adequate for the size of hostel and are kept clean daily by a cleaning lady. Our only counterintuitive complaint relates to the absence of cold water over a two-day period. However, this situation added to the romanticism of being in Russia, and proved that cold showers are truly better than boiling showers.
The common space provides a great ambiance with old Soviet propaganda posters covering the wall. This combines brilliantly with a beer fridge and a great group of backpackers. We find Napoleon nurtures a great environment to socialize. You will meet fellow travelers eager to see the sights with you, swap stories, raise a toast, or head to a club. It can become overly rowdy on Friday and Saturday. Smoking is allowed in the adjacent stairwell as the hostel is situated on the fourth floor of a building. Minimal effects of the smoke are experienced in the common area, but avoiding secondhand smoke may prove impossible in Russia.
The kitchen is fully stocked and a fridge is provided. There are two computers with free access, but the internet slows down considerably in peak hours.
The biggest negative is the charge for visa registration. The visa process is confusing, but this is clearly a cash grab. It leaves a bad taste in travelers' mouths, especially those on a short visit.
Overall, this hostel competes with Western Europe's top hostels in terms of quality. More importantly, it provides a safe environment and prime location from which to explore Moscow. You will find friendly staff, but most importantly a solid group of travelers eager to explore and understand an amazing city.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
July 2007
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NAPOLEON is the best Hostel I've ever stayed in my life WOW! That is the HOSTEL. And believe me I've seen more then 70 Hostels during my almost 2 year travel around the world. When I was in Beijing one guy recommended me NAPOLEON. I booked a place on there website and stayed 6 days in Moscow. NAPOLEON's location is excellent -- 7 minutes walk from Red Square and just 1 minute from the Metro. Clean and nicely designed. Cool wall with Soviet posters by the entrance! English speaking staff was helpful. They navigated me on the main attrations points of Moscow and surrounding bars, clubs, places to eat, and so on. Visit My-My self service restaurant that is just 2 minutes walk from NAPOLEON. Very tasty and cheap Russian food! The price of stay in NAPOLEON is just 700 rubles that at a current exchange rate is around 21 USD. — Thorsten , USA (2010-01-30) Great location but not a great hostel We liked the great location, just a few blocks from Red Square. However, we cannot see how this hostel got "Best Hostel In Russia 2007," unless things have really changed since the rating was applied. The dorm rooms are all close together along one hallway with a door leading to the common room. There seemed to be mostly Russian people staying at the hostel, some of which seemed to live there (is this allowed?), and they stayed up most of the night, TV blaring, and coming and going in the hallway, leaving the door open so light sleepers were wakened a lot. People were coming into our room at 4 or 5 in the morning, looking for an empty bed to crash in. In general, the Russian kids were very inconsiderate of the backpackers staying there who were not interested in partying. Despite signs asking people to clean up in the kitchen area, both the common room and kitchen were a disaster every morning, with bottles, dishes, food piled high. Not a square inch of clean space. Added to all this, the reception people were sleeping much of the time, either on the couch or at the front desk, and were not pleased to be woken up and asked a question. There were so many people staying there that were not travelers, using the hostel as their home, that it was pretty strange and uncomfortable. If you are an untidy party person, don't need directions or help in Moscow, and a deep sleeper, you would probably think this hostel was ok. For the rest of us, we would not recommend this hostel. — A well-traveled backpacker couple , Canada (2008-06-22) Home from home Everywhere in the hostel itself is spotless, although the entrance may look a bit dodgy. The beds are extremely comfortable as is the lounge area. It's also kept nice and warm during the winter. There is a decent kitchen and a laundry service is available. The internet is free but can be a bit on the slow side. There are really nice hot showers too. The staff are extremely friendly and helpful -- you can ask them anything and they will do their best for you. The atmosphere is very friendly among guests -- a good mix of people in transit and people who are around for a bit longer. It's really easy to make friends and a good stopover for people on their way out or back from the Trans-Siberian. This was the last hostel my friend and I stayed in on our six months tour and was easily the best. — Lu , Irish (2008-03-15) The perfect place if you want to feel like at home (spacious, clean, and safe) and at the same time close to Moscow's main attractions. The staff were awesome hosts and will provide any help whenever is required.The living room with beer fridge, decorated with old soviet posters, was a great place to chill in the evening and meet other backpackers. The hostel is located with night night all around and the receptionists always knew the best places to go. Moscow night-life rocks by the way! All in all a very good hostel, the best I have stayed in Moscow. — Octavio (Mexico) (2006-11-03)