Where to actually take her in Russia

Moscow and St Petersburg are both cities where the centre does everything and the outskirts do nothing for you: the hotels with real front desks, the bars you can talk in and the short rides are all inside the ring. Stay inside it. What you want to avoid is the front desk that asks questions at midnight and the flat in a block you could not identify again.

Hotels that do not make it awkward

The single most common way an evening goes wrong in Russia is the front desk. Some houses charge a visitor fee, some ask for her passport, some simply do not allow a second person in the room after midnight. The houses below are the ones worth booking in this city - and because policies change with the season and the manager, the one question worth asking at reservation is whether a registered guest may come up to the room.

• Hotel Metropol Moscow Moscow, Kitay-gorodwalkable to everything · discreet entrance, front desk asks nothing · hotel bar - she can arrive without crossing a lobby
• Hotel National Moscow, Tverskayawalkable to everything · quiet enough to talk · proper suites, not a box with a bed
• Baltschug Kempinski Moscow, Zamoskvorechyea view worth the first ten minutes · quiet enough to talk · discreet entrance, front desk asks nothing
• Astoria St Petersburgwalkable to everything · proper suites, not a box with a bed · hotel bar - she can arrive without crossing a lobby

Bars for the first drink

Forty minutes in a bar before anything else is not a formality - it is how two adults find out whether the evening is worth having. Pick somewhere you can hear each other.

• Chainaya Vysota Moscowquiet enough to talk · discreet entrance, front desk asks nothing
• Noor Bar Moscowwalkable to everything · open late · serious cocktails, no queue at the bar
• El Copitas St Petersburgquiet enough to talk · serious cocktails, no queue at the bar · discreet entrance, front desk asks nothing
• Bar Apotheke St Petersburgquiet enough to talk · serious cocktails, no queue at the bar

The areas, honestly

Every city has a district everyone names and a district where things actually happen. In Russia they are not always the same place.

• Tverskoy Moscowwalkable to everything · the nightlife spine of the city
• Kitay-gorod Moscowwalkable to everything · open late
• Tsentralny St Petersburgwalkable to everything · tourist-priced, watch the bill
• Rubinstein St St Petersburgthe nightlife spine of the city · busy and loud after midnight · open late

Three things that cost nothing

• Be where you said you would be, at the time you said it. Punctuality reads as respect, and it is the cheapest respect there is.
• Settle the practical part at the start, once, and never bring it up again.
• Book the room in your own name and go up first. Never ask her to check in for you.

Everyone listed on Red Light District Russia is an independent companion with a verified identity and a verified face. Where you take her is still your call - this page is only so you do not have to guess.