Weekly hotels top five of five - Russia

(Small Luxury Hotels of the World)

Next week sees the start of Art Moscow, the largest contemporary art fair in Eastern Europe, which turns Moscow into something of a mecca for cutting-edge art fans.

Although tourism to Russia has surged since the collapse of the Soviet Union, visitor figures plummeted by ten percent during 2009, especially from former Soviet Union countries, which still make up the bulk of visitors.

The situation has been exacerbated this year by a severe heatwave, which made life in major cities such as Moscow unbearable this summer and led to many governments advising their citizens against travel to the affected area, badly hitting the number of expected arrivals for 2010.

Moscow

Moscow offers some of the most lavish hotels in the world, with the price tags to match. The Savoy Hotel pushes the newly reopened Radisson Royal into second place.

1. The Savoy Hotel Moscow
2. Radisson Royal Moscow
3. Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow
4. Swissotel Krasnye Holmy
5. Renaissance Moscow Monarch Centre

Average price of top five: $373 - $736 / €287 - €567

St Petersburg

Compared to Moscow, St Peterburg's top five hotels are a bargain. Guests praised the excellent location and superb service at the top-rated Pushka Inn.

1. Pushka Inn
2. Alexander House 
3. Comfort Hotel St. Petersburg
4. Nashotel
5. Rossi Hotel

Average price of top five: $127 - $311 / €98 - €239

Novosibirsk

Novosibirsk is the administrative center of Siberia, Russia's third largest city and one of the country's industrial powerhouses. Guests praised the "quirky" Sibir Hotel, which clinched top place over the River Park Hotel.

1. Sibir Hotel
2. River Park Hotel
3. Garden Apple Hotel
4. Hotel DeLuxe
5. Hotel Novosibirsk

Average price unavailable

Yekaterinburg

Despite being the de facto capital of the remote-sounding Urals, Yekaterinburg is a fairly popular place with tourists and home to several major hotel chains. The Hyatt Regency Ekaterinburg was ranked the best hotel in this beautiful, lively city.

1. Hyatt Regency Ekaterinburg
2. Park Inn Ekaterinburg
3. Voznesensky Hotel
4. Angelo Airporthotel Ekaterinburg
5. Novotel Yekaterinburg Centre

Average price of top five: $145 - $211 / €112 - €162

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod is Russia's fifth largest city and the cultural center of the enormous Volga-Vyatka region. One traveler described the top-ranked Nikol Business Hotel as "the best hotel in Russia."

1. Nikol Business Hotel
2. Hotel Volna
3. Nikola House
4. Jouk Jacque
5. Alexandrovsky Garden Hotel

Average price of top five: $115 - $228 / €89 - €176

Data is taken from millions of independent reviews and rankings surveyed at TripAdvisor taken on September 15, 2010.

Website: http://www.tripadvisor.com