Railroad monopoly Russian Railways is planning to open more than 200 hostels near train stations in Russia's largest cities, Russian daily Kommersant reported Wednesday.
The estimated cost of the hostels, which be operate under the brand name “Gorod,” is 400 million rubles ($7.4 million), Kommersant reported. The firm Hotel Management is working with Russian Railways on the project.
Two Gorod hostels have already opened near the Kazansky and Kievsky railways stations in Moscow. A third Gorod is also open in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. Rooms range from 600 rubles ($11) to 2,500 rubles ($45) per night, Kommersant reported.
Moscow is desperate for cheaper accomodation options, especially as Russia works to combat falling tourist numbers. For nine years in a row, from 2004-2013, Moscow was the most expensive city in the world for hotel rooms. Although prices have fallen since then — Moscow room prices fell 13 percent between 2013 and 2014, according to the Hotel Price Index — the number of available rooms remains a concern. Real estate consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle told The Moscow Times in May that Moscow had only 1,433 beds for visitors.
This is not the first time Russian Railways and Hotel Management have tried to open hotels near train stations. In 2008, Russian Railways' daughter company Zheldoripoteka announced plans to build a network of three-star hotels across Russia, but the project was never realized.
