All travellers to Moscow must have breathed a huge sigh of relief when the scaffolding was removed from this building. It means that the opening of the Moscow Ritz-Carlton is not too far away! And since Moscow suffers such a massive shortage of prohibitively expensive accommodation options this hotel will really fill a gaping hole in the market. Sarcasm aside, the new Ritz-Carlton does seem destined to become the hotel of choice for those to whom money is no object. It will be interesting to see the price per night there. My guess is around $800 for a standard room...

You can now rent apartments in Ekaterinburg short-term through Way to Russia. There are currently 7 options to choose from starting at $80 per night with more apartments to come. The cheapest decent double room in a Ekaterinburg hotel (excluding the awful budget options) costs $120, which makes the apartments a great alternative.

Click here to see what's on offer.