Where to Stay

Reservations
Quality
Hotel Grading
Business travelers
Children
Absoulute Cheapest Way to find a room
Renting a flat / apartment through an agency
Booking a hotel online
Finding an apartment for long-term stays in Odessa
Rental Boards
Classified Ads listing rentals

CLICK HERE FOR THE MOST EXTENSIVEAND DETAILED LIST OF ODESSA HOTELS AVAILABLE ONLINE

Reservations
The average occupancy rate in Ukrainian hotels is 25%, so finding
a vacant hotel room in Odessa is usually easy. If you do choose to
make a hotel reservation online, refer to online guide below.

Quality
Similar to the rest of Ukraine, western-standard hotel rooms in
Odessa are ridiculously over-priced.

Unipress travel also states (travel-2-ukraine.com):
"Prices and quality fluctuate even within the same star category.
This strange situation is caused by numerous room types the
majority of hotels have. You can see suites A, B, C, semi-suites
with the same nominations, a couple of standard and economy
rooms as well - all in the same small hotel.

There are several reasons for such a vast categorization. One of
them is that hotels usually make renovation in part of the rooms
they have, the rest stays untouched. And since this process is
repetitive and stretched in time, new and new room types appear.
On the top of it, rooms can differ in size and amenities - air-conditioning,
newer furniture, Hi-Fi stereo system, VCR, etc. As a result, economy
or non-renovated room at a 4-star hotel might be of a lower quality
and higher cost than suite or semi-suite at a 2-star hotel. "

Hotel Grading
There is no third party arbiter which grades hotels in Ukraine, and
each hotel decides its own grading system. Hotel grades listed in
this guide are based on the hotel's own advertised ratings. Pay special
attention to the hotel description to get a better idea of whether the
self-appointed grading is accurate.

The Ukrainian rating system for hotels is very different from western
standards. It is often based on the physical accommodations available
rather than the condition of the facilities, quality of services, and the
cleanliness. A three star hotel in the Ukrainian system may not qualify
as a three star hotel in any western city because of rude service, neglected
maintenance, bad food, and worn interior decor.

Business travelers
Of all of the hotels, Londonskya, Kimpinski, and Chernoye More all have
business facilities for the business traveler.

Londonskaya is advertised as: " The business center offers fax, telex,
international communication, copying, and typing."

Kimpinski is advertised as: "designed with the business traveler in mind
and feature a large desk, direct dial telephone, PC connections, safe,
mini-bar, air-conditioning, TV with extensive satellite channels… Business
Center offers secretarial and translation service. "

Chernoye More is advertised as: " equipped with fax, satellite
communication system, telex, personal computers, laser printers, Xeroxes,
banquet and meeting halls and provides secretarial and translation service."

Children
Odessa hotels do not usually make any special provision for children.
There are several hotels that do have swimming pools.

Cheaper options for bargain travelers
Refer to the sanatorium section, which are much cheaper than Odessa hotels.

Women advertising rooms for rent
from frockland at virtualtourist.com

The absolutely cheapest way to find a room is to rent a room in someone's
apartment. Go to the train station and look for people, usually old women, standing
at the entrance with small pieces of paper or cardboard attached to their clothing
by a clothes pin. These signs will say:
Комната "room"

Being a foreigner you will probably be charged much more than a local. But you
should not have to pay more than $10-$15 a night. Make sure to ask if there is
hot water (garyachya voda / горячя вода) and a kalunka (water heater) available
in these apartments, as there often is not.

Renting a flat/apartment through an agency
The following sites and organizations act as go-betweens to rent apartments to foreigners:

Web sites:
ukraine-tours.com

Odessa Rental Service
www.accomodation.odessa.ua
reliable@te.net.ua

HOTELS OFFERING ONLINE BOOKING:
No credit card is needed to book hotels online.
Chernoye More (Black Sea) www.bs-hotel.com.ua
Krasnaya www.londred.com
Londonskaya www.londred.com
Yunost (in Russian) www.yunost.com.ua

Booking a hotel online
The three best established and most expensive hotels in Odessa:
Krasnaya, Londonskaya, and Chernoye More (Black Sea) can be
booked from any of the major international hotel booking companies
online. The other 16 hotels listed in this guide are nearly impossible
to book through a hotel booking company (with the exception of all-hotels.com.ua).

The following organization can book most of the hotels listed online:
all-hotels.com.ua

The following organizations can book many of the three and four star hotels:

travel-2-ukraine.com/hotels/default.htm (includes views from rooms)
www.odessaglobe.com/english/hotels.htm (includes pictures of the rooms)

Finding an apartment for long-term stays in Odessa

Average rent for a native Odessite for a furnished, non-renovated
one room apartment in the center of Odessa is $80-$150 a month.
Being a non-native, you may have to pay substantially more, especially
if you go through a dealer who advertises on the Internet.

Landladies often openly discriminate against visible minorities when renting flats/apartments, particularly to people of non-Caucasian background. This reputation has evolved from international students in Odessa from wealthy backgrounds according to Ukrainian standards, for being wild and noisy tenants.

If a renter goes through a dealer/agency, the renter must pay a one-time
fee to the agency, which is usually one-half of one month's rent.

Rental deposits are not typical in Ukraine.

Landladies may come into the flat unannounced and are not as sensitive
about privacy as Western landlords.

It is best to find a translator to help you find an apartment. See the
businesses section for more information on this.

Rental boards
Located just south of Grecheskaya Ploshat (Square) (Греческая Площадь)
at the median at the junction of Grecheskaya (Греческая) and
Aleksandrovsky Ave. (Александровский проспект)
Many Odessites know this area as Kiev Restaurant from a defunct
restaurant, which once at Grecheskaya 1 (Греческая).

There is a rental board where landlords place thousands of
advertisements on small flyers.
Every Wednesday morning until the early afternoon dozen
of buyers and sellers come to this location and barter.

Classified Ads listing rentals:

Aviso
Deribasovskaya 33 (Дерибасовская)
Tel: 26-26-16
Email: est@yuzhny.odessa.ua

New edition available in kiosk on: Monday

Mak-lep ("broker" Маклер)
Malaya Arnautskaya 57 (Малая Арнаутская) apartment 8
Tel: 728-78-74
715-56-71
Tel/fax: 728-78-73
Email: makler@tm.Odessa.ua
www.makler.md

New edition available in kiosk on: Saturday

These two want ads newspapers (each less than 2 Hr) are found in many
kiosks around Odessa. To find a flat/apartment pick up the paper early in
the morning. Many of the flats/apartments advertised are through dealers.
You may get lucky and find an advertisement for an independent landlady
and avoid the dealer's finder's fee.