I stayed at the Napoleon Hostel for two nights. I was in a 6-bed female dorm. The facilities were good and the beds comfortable (A change having just come from Asia). The staff are very friendly and helpful with good English. The common area is a gret place to mingle with others or just relax. It was a bit tricky finding the hostel as there is a tiny sign stuck to the wall and that is it. My taxi driver had to call to find out exactly where it was.
The location is great. 5-10 mins walking to Red Square and only a few to the metro. I had a few meals at the little cafe 30 seconds walk on the corner. Food was good but not sure about the smoking. Reminded me of Australia like 15-20 years ago!
The only down side was the stairs up to the hostel. It was on the fourth floor and very hard to get luggage up and down the stairs especially when there is a bit of weight involved.
Would recommend it though.

The hostel is in a great location, very near to the main sights, the staff were very friendly. As a lone traveller on a Round The World trip I enjoy socialising with other travellers and talking about our travels. Unfortunately there seemed to be few if any backpackers there. I shared a room with people who mainly seemed to be long term residents and Russian businessmen. It is a shame because the hostel has nice rooms, free laundry and great Wi-Fi, just not a very comfortable atmosphere when I stayed.

It was a very nice hotel. The staff speaks very good English and is very helpfull. The location is perfect! The rooms are okay, a bit small with all the luggage but that's not a problem because there is the very nice big living room. The only negative things are the terrible beds, you're back is broken after a few hours sleep and there are only two showers in a hostel with place for more than 40 people.

I stayed here with my partner in Late Jan/Early Feb 2011 while travelling by train through Russia. On arrival we were a little disappointed as it was very small and we were put in a dark smelly dorm where everyone was still asleep (it was 3pm!) however after asking, we were moved in to a smaller (more expensive dorm) at no extra cost so I was pleased. The staff are very genuine and fun and the manager (who has a screw loose in the best possible way!) is more than friendly. We stayed up until 5am drinking with him in the common area and he bought us beer which was nice too. It's no frills here but the location is great and you meet some interesting people as there are a few long term Russian guests who work in Moscow and live here. There was a great atmosphere at all times and you would always find someone to hang out with in the kithen or common area in reception.

The showers and toilets are a bit skanky and the kitchen is bit limited (we seemed to be some of the only people using it to cook) but it doesn't matter when the location is this good and the place so fun.