Дом-Отель Соломин

I was in a hurry and booked this hotel for a night in Krasnoyarsk solely on the basis that it was supposedly a "5-star" hotel and the only 5-star available in Krasnoyarsk that night. I didn't bother to actually read the reviews as I should have. When we arrived at the hotel we thought we must have made a mistake because it looked more like an old, decrepit Russian dacha or a 2-star hotel in rural Russia than a 5-star hotel in a major city. Then, the receptionist informed us that all the guests had arrived and that they had no rooms available. We told them that we had a reservation. When they checked in their system, it turned out that we had accidentally booked the hotel for the wrong night (the following night). Since they were full for that night, they couldn't offer us a room. That was understandable. However, we were quite surprised when they refused to refund any of our 100% advance payment for the following night. They even refused to give us any credit toward a future stay. Basically, what they said was: "Your mistake, too bad, so sad." This is not the way a true 5-star hotel behaves. We went down the street to the Novotel hotel, which was far nicer and had great service. That hotel was rated as 4 stars but probably deserves a 5-star rating based on our experience. When we mentioned to the receptionist what had happened to us at the Solomon Historic Home Hotel, she laughed and said that it's a running joke in Krasnoyarsk that the hotel has a 5-star rating. Quite a few Novotel customers have reported moving from the Solomin hotel after experiencing dismal service there. So our experience there was probably anything but unique.