- The $18,000-a-night Ritz-Carlton presidential suite in Moscow has hosted high-profile guests including Barack and Michelle Obama.
- The 2,443-square-foot suite has multiple rooms, a grand piano, a private sauna, a jetted soaking tub, a panic button, and an unbeatable view of the Kremlin.
- The suite garnered international attention after it was mentioned in the infamous Steele Dossier, an intelligence report that included unverified claims of an alleged night's stay in the suite by Donald Trump in 2013.
- On a recent trip to Russia in June, I spent a night in the opulent suite.
- While it was probably the most luxurious experience of my life, I wasn't impressed by the food.
- Editorial Note: Business Insider paid full price for a standard room at the Ritz-Carlton, and the reporter received an upgrade to the presidential suite at the time of check-in.
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The Ritz-Carlton in Moscow sits on Tverskaya Street, a stone's throw from Red Square and the Kremlin.
While the Ritz-Carlton brand is known for its high standard of luxury, the Moscow location's $18,000-a-night presidential suite has been in the spotlight for its mention in the infamous Steele dossier, a private intelligence report authored by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer.
The report includes unverified claims that President Donald Trump stayed in the Moscow Ritz-Carlton hotel in 2013 and watched hired prostitutes "perform a 'golden showers' (urination) show in front of him" with the goal of defiling the presidential suite bed where Barack and Michelle Obama had previously slept. The dossier indicated that Russian intelligence videotaped this encounter to use to blackmail Trump.
Buzzfeed News released the full report in January 2017, after Trump was elected president and before his inauguration.
The claims in the Steele Dossier are unverified and Trump has denied that such an event happened.
On a recent trip to Russia, I stayed in the ultra-luxurious, $18,000-a-night presidential suite. Here's what it was like.