Petroff Palace Hotel Review: Feel Like a Royal at This Moscow Hotel

I’m sure many of your childhood dreams involved being a prince/princess, but did you know that your dreams can *finally* come true? Yes, really! If you’re in Moscow, the Petroff Palace is calling your name ;)

You guys have no idea how excited I was to write this post — and how excited I was to stay in a palace! When we pulled up to the main gate, it was surreal how beautiful the Petroff Palace really was, especially during the wintertime. It was like a beautiful wonderland: the snow was gently falling, huge fir trees standing in the courtyard, and … the perfect time to run around in the snow that I haven’t seen for 10+ years!

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Basic Information

Petroff Palace was built in 1796 by Empress Catherine the Great in order to accommodate noble guests who made the journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Later, during the French invasion of Russia, Napoleon used the palace as his headquarters. Finally, in 1999, it was given to the city of Moscow and fully remodeled to be a luxury hotel.

Pricing

Our Standard Room was around $100USD (6,600 RUB) per night — Granted, it’s not for the budget traveler, but it’s hard to pass up living like Russian royalty for this price. If you’re looking for the very top of the line, the hotel offers the Catherine or Peter Chambers for about $1,000 USD!

Transportation

Since Moscow is a huge city, transportation wasn’t an issue for us. We flew into Sheremetevo SVO airport, ordered a taxi, and were at Petroff in 25~30 minutes. The hotel is a 5 minute walk to the Dinamo metro station (green line). It’s also in a quiet region and close to cafes, restaurants, and other local places.

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The Room

Now for the actual room tour! The interior has hints of warm colors, and was decorated with traditional Russian wood on the cabinets and desks. Overall, it was cozy and comfortable for the 4 nights that we stayed there. It didn’t feel like a typical “hotel,” but rather like I was staying as a guest in a rich Russian relative’s house.

When you walk inside, there’s a small corridor with a seat, mirror, and space for your luggage (in the photo, it’s on the left). One cool thing about the rooms is that there is a little key card reader near the door, which you have to swipe in order to leave. It’s helpful if you constantly forget your keys *ahem* :)

The main part of the room. I love how the furniture blends so seamlessly, especially the wood and golden detailing. I think this was one of the most comfortable hotel beds I’ve ever slept in– the pillows were so soft! It was so nice to crawl into bed after a long day in the city and watch Orel y Reshka (one of my favorite travel shows).

The desk. I love how they provided bottled water and apples, although one downside was that the staff didn’t refill either for the remaining 2 days that we were there. We had to make the ultimate decision: venture out into the cold at 9PM looking for a place to eat, or stay bundled up indoors watching TV? We chose the latter :)

In the bathroom. This was the first time I’ve seen a shower (for feet?) outside of the bathtub! The hotel also gives you complimentary bathrobes and slippers– how sweet. :)

Another view of the shower. The cool thing about the shower is that the door slides to close, so no more wet floors!

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The Food

One of my favorite things about any hotel is the complementary breakfast buffet, and Petroff was no exception. I had no idea that there were so many options, especially traditional Russian cuisine! During our stay, I ordered the following dishes:

Hot Porridge: The perfect breakfast for a cold day. It came with berries, and I added a bit of brown sugar for sweetness.

Russian Blinis: Probably my favorite dish from the menu, because it’s so versatile. It comes with sour cream and 2 blinchiki, which aren’t flavored with sugar or salt so that you can customize it however you’d like. The first day I added sliced salmon from the buffet table (which you’ll see below), and the next day I went with cheese and slices of ham.

Russian Syrniki: Syrniki are thick little pancakes made from cottage cheese and fried or steamed. They can also come with extra toppings, such as raisins, nuts, or jam. At Petroff, the syrniki come with sour cream, raisins, and honey, plus little packets of flavored jam. The syrniki were average, although I might be biased since I can never seem to cook them correctly :|

Buffet Table: Although this isn’t technically a dish you order, I thought I would mention it here: it’s delicious! If you stay at Petroff, I highly recommend trying the smoked salmon pieces, salami, and even the fruit juice. The hotel a separate section in the room where you can pour your own juice– if you want a real taste of Russia, try mors juice!

Here is the buffet table, in the middle of the room. In the front of the photo are the fruit; to the right is a pot of hot milk and cereal; and in the back are cold cuts of salmon, fish, and salami.