Moscow

Got a friend coming into town tomorrow who's asking about tochki. They're not my cup of tea (too close to slavery for my taste), but he really wants to go.

Any idea of what the going rates are? Last time I went (early summer), it was ridiculously expensive: 5K (over $200 at the time) for putrid pariah pussy, twice that for do-able and three times that for actual hotties. Was wondering if they had moved to dollars (or euros) and what the going rates were. Will scan sextalk for some intel as well.

Thx in advance!

thank you for the lovely song. i am sorry i am not as experience as you are but i am pretty sure i done my fair share of traveling and sacrifice. usmc, blackwater usa.

[quote=bez bezarra]the fairy land choo-choo trainy station in yaroslavl is nice and close to the moscow moo-cow airporty, even steven close so that you can skip candy rope down the happy street in your pretty pink skirt!

just ask some big nice strong chechen taxi mans, to tuck your jumper down into his warm car, and he will give you his bear sausage to play with in your dirty [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord116][CodeWord116][/url] chute.

if you really want to take the real butch man locomotive, its 5 hours and costs 300 ru, but maybe you should hold tight to your mommy's hand![/quote]

[QUOTE=Pizdyets]Am I the only one thinking that Aibolit needs to call 911 and create the most unholy tag team since Tango met Cash? Will pitch the idea to Nickelodeon as a high-concept reality show - core demographic being young playahs in the making. Stay tuned.[/QUOTE]I need to change the name indeed thank you. Working on it! lol

Yes, good question, where can we find tochkas in Moscow at this present time? Is there any bad or good news about tochkas?

Where is the best place to go in Europe? Is Russia the forum's choice. I'm making travel plans.

Thanks

I never thought I'd say this, but things have turned full circle... at least temporarily.

Besides the mongering scene, which probably interests you more than what I am writing about, Moscow has become a CHEAP city... at least in shopping terms.

The ruble is falling and with the Russian government officially stating that they won't support the ruble against the dollar and euro, it is set to fall even farther. Just as a reference, several weeks ago I agreed to screw my sexy secretary for 2500 rubles an hour. It was $100 then. Today, barely a few weeks later, 2500 rubles is about $70.

Shopping. It is not uncommon to see brands such as Pal Zileri, Boss or Prada selling at 70% or more discount. Granted, the goods were 30% overpriced here... but still, 70% off is a major savings. I bought a $1500 Zileri suit today that would retail for $1200 in the US for $500. Three Boss ties for $70 total. Happy times.

Can't decide if I should go to Night Flight and see the discount situation there or if I should instead go to TSUM and buy another suit or a pair of shoes.

[QUOTE=Doctor_Skank]I never thought I'd say this, but things have turned full circle... at least temporarily.

Besides the mongering scene, which probably interests you more than what I am writing about, Moscow has become a CHEAP city... at least in shopping terms.[/QUOTE]

Perhaps, but... those of us who don't live there still have to pay for the HOTEL! In early November I stayed in a low-key 4-star hotel in Moscow (Marriott Tverskaya) and paid 400 dollars per night - breakfast not included. One week later I staid in a high-browed 5-star hotel in Cologne (Excelsior) and paid 240 dollars per night - breakfast included. Now... German is a much richer country than Russia, so... make your sums. :)

[QUOTE=Priamos]In early November I stayed in a low-key 4-star hotel in Moscow (Marriott Tverskaya) and paid 400 dollars per night [/QUOTE]

Proves Skanks point. $400 is CHEAP for 2008 Moscow. Until the credit crisis started to really bite in Moscow about September, you could hardly get ANY Marriott room for under about $900 bux a nite

[QUOTE=Roger Mellie]Proves Skanks point. $400 is CHEAP for 2008 Moscow. Until the credit crisis started to really bite in Moscow about September, you could hardly get ANY Marriott room for under about $900 bux a nite[/QUOTE]Still, moscow hotel prices are just RIDICULOUS, even at the current rate.

I travel quite a bit, and KL (malaysia) is the absolute best in this area, many very good 5* hotel are below 100 USD !!!!.

How moscow can be so expensive in the hotel area is beyond my comprehension ;)

[QUOTE=Jose 911]
I am pretty sure I done my fair share of traveling and sacrifice.
USMC, BLACKWATER USA.
[/QUOTE]

Sir, yessir! I just knew you was a crew cut grunt!
Hoo RAH!!

Thank god for every day in the corps.

And thank you for protecting my sorry ass, and my freedom, to pick my feet and chew redman. This country's full of wankers and profilers, and you sir, are something we all can be proud of. We salute you!

GET SOME, MARINE!!

But don't frag my cherry ass, I'm just another FNG in the DMZ, looking for VC in a hot LZ. What's troubling you is the nature of my game.

And in all fairness, I have not more experience than you do, only active imagination and too many agent orange flashbacks and bad blotter trips.

Semper fi.

[QUOTE=Priamos]Perhaps, but... those of us who don't live there still have to pay for the HOTEL! In early November I stayed in a low-key 4-star hotel in Moscow (Marriott Tverskaya) and paid 400 dollars per night - breakfast not included. One week later I staid in a high-browed 5-star hotel in Cologne (Excelsior) and paid 240 dollars per night - breakfast included. Now... German is a much richer country than Russia, so... make your sums. :)[/QUOTE]Hotels are stupidly overpriced, and still so. There simply aren't (weren't) enough. Hotels had 80% occupancy rates, which allowed them to charge what they felt like. They were going to be full. Now occupancy rates are about 50%... if this continues for a couple of months, prices will go down for 4 star hotels.

I recently stayed at the 4-star Marriott Courtyard. $500/night. Breakfast $40 extra. Internet in rooms $40 extra.

[QUOTE=The Voyager]
How moscow can be so expensive in the hotel area is beyond my comprehension ;)[/QUOTE]

2 reasons ... related to each other.

(1) most simplistically ... supply and demand. For most of 2008 almost every room in every marriott was booked. If they charged 400 bux for those rooms then they would be fools. If your product is being bought regardless of the price, then you need to raise prices. Moscow for a long time has had more demand for hotel rooms than supply. If you are charging 900 bux for a hotel room and still have 85 - 90% occupancy, then you are not charging too much !, regardless of the relative value elsewhere in the world.

(2) ... the root of the issue is land prices. The price of land in central Moscow is sky high. There basically is none. Similarly there is no supply of new buildings. Most exisiting buldings in central moscow are protected (or have residential apartments), and there are no new sites. Ergo, its near impossible to build a new hotel, even if you could get permission past Mr Luzhkov - almost every building is occupied with apartments and there are no new sites. Additionally, with commercial real estate on Tverskaya more expensive than the Champs Elysees and 5th avenue (2nd most expensive in the world only to Oxfors St London) anyone who has property has to get a massive return on it. you cant get the required return by building cheap hotels. Thus, there are none. Again, this comes down to supply and demand ... of land in this case.

Capitalism 101.

- - -

Note ... this is changing rapidly ... prices at the Marriotts have collapsed from 900 bux to 400 due to small chnages in demand. $400 has kinda been their "base rate" in the last few years. Not sure it will fall more even with a fall in demand. The hotels may dig there heels in and collude to put a floor in the prices ... at least for now.

- - -

Another thing to bear in mind ... you were comparing a hotel in moscow and a hotel in Koeln ... so why did you say Germany is richer than Russia? You should be comparing Koeln and Moscow ... and i will tell you now the average disposable income in Moscow is a LOT higher than in Koln ... and there are a hell of a lot more millionaires and billionaires in Moscow than Koeln. Land prices are a LOT higher in Moscow than Koeln. Salaries for professionals are a LOT higher in Moscow than Koeln - as recently as June, a bird I know in Moscow who was trying to recruit graduates (about 22-23 years old) straight out of university, was getting no takers offering $60k a year. She had to offer $72k a year to fill the positions ,,.. graduate positions, and remember thats with a 13% income tax. I dont even think I personally know of any professionals in their late 20s earning less than $100k a year in Moscow. All the late 20s Muscovites I know make more than that. (this is all changing rapidly ... pre crisis situation info)

But bearing all that in mind, maybe it not that suprising that hotel rooms are higher in Moscow than Koeln after all.

[QUOTE=Roger Mellie] ... I dont even think I personally know of any professionals in their late 20s earning less than $100k a year in Moscow ...[/QUOTE]

Classic sign of a bubble. The LESS knowledge and experience you have, the more money you make.

[QUOTE=Ash1001]Classic sign of a bubble. The LESS knowledge and experience you have, the more money you make.[/QUOTE]

not necessarily... the fact that a graduate in manhattan or london makes 3 times as much as a graduate from rural new zealand with the same qualifications doesnt mean theres a bubble in manhattan when compared to hillbillyville new zealand.

again, its all supply and demand.

prices are not crashing because of any russian bubble, but because of the US housing bubble

[QUOTE=Roger Mellie]prices are not crashing because of any russian bubble, but because of the US housing bubble[/QUOTE]That was certainly the catalyst, but the crisis has pulled the carpet away and we can see the roaches living underneath.

Based on the info I am gathering now on location, it is truly alarming.

I'm hoping it's just the Russians being their emotional selves and overreacting pessimistically, but things are actually worse than I thought they would be. The next several months will be testing.