If it were not for the great and friendly staff from the concierge team through to the bellmen, I would rate this hotel much lower. The whole hotel is now quite old, both in style and product delivered. The food and bev spaces really let the hotel down - she may have been a grand dame once upon a time, but no more.

I stayed at the Marriott Grand for 6 nights during my second trip to Moscow. I really enjoyed this hotel- it was very clean, service was good, and the gym was nice.

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Check in was very smooth and my room was very clean. They kept my passport for about 30 minutes for whatever they need it for.

The room was spacious and clean. The king bed was comfy as expected. The bathroom was nice and the towels were soft.

I used the hotel for transportation almost daily and the car was always prompt and clean.
The wireless internet worked incredibly well.

I ate at the main restaurant in the hotel a few times. Food was fine; service was slow.

Check out was efficient.

Location is great too- it is an easy walk to the Red Square and very close to METRO system.

The gym is nice- it is clean and you always get a nice clean towel.

I have spent a week in June at the Marriott Grand Hotel in Moscow and it was a very pleasant experience. One glitch was that the first room which was given to us was noisy due a party going on in one of the reception room below. Although the reception indicated that it would not last long, they move us without any problems to a quieter room. The rooms are large, comfortable and well appointed. There are plenty of storage and a comfortable desk. The only oddity is that you can control the air conditioning but not the heating. Wireless Internet is available at a fairly steep price (950RUB which is nevertheless less than the one advertised in the room) and requires that you sign a form before be given the access code. The service was good with all staff in contact with customer speaking good English.

The choice of restaurant is limited in summer. The Russian Restaurant (Russkiy Pogrebok) was already closed and I was told the other specialty restaurant (Grand Alexander) would close shortly. I had dinner one night at the terrace (only open Monday to Friday night during the summer) which was excellent. The only remaining choice is the main restaurant (Samobranka) where I had breakfast every morning with a very good buffet.

Location is fairly good with a metro station nearby and the Kremlin/Red Square can be reached on foot within 20/25 minutes.

It may well be, that new economic realities have begun to purge Moscow of hotels like this. For now, you should go along and enjoy this relic while it still exists. From the first moment to the last, the entire experience was chronically bad from A to Z.

On arrival, my check-in took forever. I pre-paid my room but they refused to check me in. It was explained that the travel agent I'd used had not yet settled its account with the hotel. An argument ensued, to the effect that this was the hotel's problem not mine. Now the travel agent in question is not some tin-pot affair, it is the main consolidator for the Marriott Grand in Moscow and provides the bulk of its bookings. A good start and indicative of the attitude to follow.

After that it was a litany of minor irritations which have no place in such an expensive property. My room key required constant re-programming to get the lift to work. In true Moscow style, the wi-fi requires a paper invoice in triplicate which you collect in person from a special desk etc. etc. etc. Such a moronic and irritating waste of time. Next, I tried to ring housekeeping to collect some laundry. The hotel asks you to ring "One Touch Service", a function which did not work at any time during my stay. Problem is, there are no alternative numbers. I ended up having to ring the business centre and ask them to connect me to X Y and Z departments which they did with the usual bad grace.

In terms of food and drink, I can only recommend that unless you are an oligarch or have pretty wild expenses you avoid it altogether. On my final day I succumbed during a short business meeting - 2 small glasses of water, one coffee and a piece of cake in the lobby - price 1710 roubles (around £35).

The positives - excellent breakfast ($60 I believe) and the incomparable Marriott bed.