July 3 (Bloomberg) -- The Ritz-Carlton Moscow threw open its neo-imperial doors near the Kremlin this week. The cheapest room for the summer tourist season is $1,036 with tax.

That rate reflects how Moscow hotel openings are lagging behind room demand fueled by soaring tourism, exports and investor interest in the world's largest energy producer.

``I can't spend more than $200 a night, so I ended up a 15- minute bus ride beyond the southern end of a subway line,'' said Peter Beck, Korea director for International Crisis Group, after arriving from Seoul. ``When a Russian looked at the address of my hotel, he said, `Don't go out at night.'''

Little relief is in sight for business travelers. While the number of visitors to Moscow hit 3.8 million last year, up from 300,000 in 1991, wrecking crews have demolished four Soviet-era hotels in the past five years, wiping out 5,000 hotel rooms within a 10-minute walk of Red Square.

Moscow, Europe's most populous city, has 70,000 hotel rooms, little more than it had a century ago during the reign of Czar Nicholas II, according to Iosif Ordzhonikidze, deputy mayor for international relations.

To attack the shortage, the city government is reviewing projects that would more than double available hotel rooms to 180,000 by 2010, when Moscow expects 5 million visitors.

Forward Planning

Projects include a $700 million, 210-room Four Seasons next to the Kremlin, as well as hotels proposed by InterContinental Hotels Group Plc, Novotel and Sofitel, two units of France's Accor SA.

``Every three days, we are going to open a hotel,'' Ordzhonikidze said, adding that hotel openings will peak at 190 in 2009. ``Tourists cannot stay in rooms at $500 a night.''

Hotel industry analysts are skeptical Moscow will cut red tape fast enough to spark a hotel boom.

In 2003, city officials promised to double the number of hotel rooms in Moscow to 130,000 by 2005. Instead, hotel expansion barely kept up with demolition. The Ritz-Carlton, a $350 million project, opened three months late.

``If you compare with what they have said and what they have done, there is a big discrepancy,'' said Stephane Meyrat, an associate director for hospitality at Colliers International. ``It takes too much time and money to get all the signatures.''

`They Get You'

For now, foreign visitors resort to planning far ahead, keeping their visits short and staying greater distances from downtown. Close to the Kremlin, hotel bills hit four figures for a single night.

``The room goes for $700 to $800, then they get you on the extras -- $35 a day for wireless Internet, $40 to $50 to deliver a cheeseburger to your room,'' Abraham Wagner, a Los Angeles- based lawyer, said after staying at the Savoy Hotel Moscow.

The newly renovated, 67-room downtown hotel charges $755, tax included, for its cheapest room. That drops to $682 for the summer season, June 29 to Aug. 19. Room service delivery of a cheeseburger sets a guest back $22, according to the hotel.

At the Savoy Hotel in London, under different ownership, the cheapest room rate on the hotel Web site is $339, tax included. Wireless Internet access is free in the lobby, and a room-service cheeseburger costs $37.

High hotel prices reflect Russia's economic outlook. Foreign direct investment reached $9.8 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 150 percent from the same time last year, according to the Federal Statistics Office. Russia's economy is now about $1 trillion, ranking it 10th in the world between Spain and Brazil.

``There is huge foreign investment coming in,'' said Andrew Somers, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia. ``The only feedback I get is not cancellations, but shock at the room rates.''

Disappearing Bargains

Part of the problem is the disappearance of bargain hotels in the city of 10 million people. The Rossiya Hotel, once Europe's largest, once offered rooms for as little as $60 a night. The Rossiya was torn down two years ago to make way for a $1 billion complex that will include four hotels with 1,200 rooms, the deputy mayor said.

Some international chains are breaking through the bureaucracy associated with getting projects off the ground. Three Holiday Inns have opened outside of central Moscow, adding 1,138 rooms. This fall, Hilton's first hotel in Russia, the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya, is to open with 275 rooms in a 1954 ``Stalin tower,'' one of seven landmarks built across the capital during the dictator's era.

For now, spur-of-the-moment trips to Moscow remain only for business travelers with deep pockets or sturdy walking shoes.

A 20-minute walk north of the Kremlin, MaMaison Pokrovka Suite Hotel opens in August with 84 suites. The cheapest accommodation is $794, tax included.

``There are no hotels nearby, and there is very high demand,'' said Yulia Lupanova, the marketing director.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Brooke in Moscow at jbrooke2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 2, 2007 19:11 EDT