Hotel Kyiv

The windows were dirty, the joints had two layers of scotch, through which the wind was howling. No bottle opener and hair dryer in the room. The business center was in fact just a computer. Writings in Russian or Ukrainian, no paper in printer. Printing the boarding pass was payable. No signal on TV from Friday evening to Monday morning. The bed was comfortable, the room had a low table, a desk, the furniture was fine. Breakfast buffet was nice. I would rate this hotel as a 3 star with a price not exceeding 1100 UAH or less than 40 $, compared with the previous 4 star hotel I stayed this year with your site.

The Kyiv Hotel is a Soviet-era hotel, where most rooms seem not to have been renovated in several decades. It is located in the "government quarter," across the street from parliament and the Mariinsky Park, so it is very safe and quiet in the evenings. Every room has a balcony with spectacular views, and contains a refrigerator and individual heating/cooling unit. The bathrooms look old, but they have deep-soak bathtubs and plentiful hot water. The standard rooms are preferable to the economy twins, which bear the marks have having once been smoking rooms and where the wi-fi is spottier. There is an extensive breakfast buffet, and the lobby contains shops catering to the nouveau riche. There are not quite as many cafes and restaurants as you would find down the hill, but there is a 24-hour market a couple of blocks away, and the hotel is equidistant between two metro stations (one of them, Arsenalna, beeing the deepest in the world). Recommended for a central location at an affordable price.

Good hotel but old

I arrived quite late, staff on reception spoke English and sorted check in quickly, room was on 10th floor. Food in the hotel was good, beer choices not the best but good value. Breakfast each morning had plenty of choice, might be better if started earlier than 7:30. WiFi was temperamental on my floor, sometimes great, other times dropping out but came back quickly. Good location, close to Mariinskyi Park and palace, 15-20 minute walk to the centre of the city. Balcony provided good views out over the park and the river. Allowed me to leave luggage after check out. Would stay again if in the city.

Interesting place. It feels built in Soviet times, which is good and bad. The rooms are relatively small and the room felt quite well-used but it had the usual mod-cons and individual balconies with great views as it towers over the local area, and sits at the top of the hill, so the panoramas are fantastic. The interior of the common areas feels like it's from a bygone age, with opulent fixtures that have attracted an old world lustre mixed with an Eastern European 'bling' feel, with gold-coloured sofas and quasi-romance-age chairs. Location-wise it sits in the middle of the political district, across the road from the Ukrainian Duma, presidential palace and administrative buildings, so expect demonstrations (all peaceful when I was there) and tight security, with armed police on guard around all the time. It's easy walking distance to the Parkovy conference centre, is not far from the city centre and sits between there and Boryspil airport, which makes for a fairly easy departure. By western standards it's not expensive for what you get, with a beer from the hotel bar costing a little more than a pound! I would recommend, if only to get a good feel of what it feels like to be in the epicentre of the world's relationship with Russia and the mixed views of the local population.