KYIV ACCOMMODATIONS

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Finding a place to stay in Ukraine

Ukraine Hotels
You will find hotels oriented towards foreigners only in the largest cities of Ukraine or in Crimea and a few other tourist areas.  If you do a bit of searching in the web, you may find be able to find some hotels' websites on your own. However, not all hotels have websites, and not all have English versions. Prices are sometimes lower if you book through a booking agency (website). Hotel prices in Kyiv may seem unreasonably high, even compared to the rest of Europe. This is a mystery. Until recently, most hotels had different prices for foreigners (!) that demoralized many a visitor to Ukraine. Luckily, this discrimination has been removed with a recent law. Hotel taxes remain high, though, and the hotel industry is apparently highly regulated. This is why you do not see low-priced private pensions around the country like you do in neighboring Poland and may partially explain the unusually high hotel rates in Kyiv and other big cities.

Outside of big cities, prices are significantly lower, and double rooms go for $10-25. However, you may need locals to help you if you do not speak the language. Even in big cities foreign travelers sometimes cannot communicate easily with hotel staff since no one speaks English. The level of service and comfort is generally lower than in most of Europe. Sometimes there is no hot water in summer. Sometimes you can't make long-distance phone calls. Sometimes the walls seem thin and the people next door or upstairs keep you from getting a good night's sleep. Often the phone jacks are old-fashioned and you can't hook a laptop computer up for internet access. These are common problems that beset visitors to Ukraine. Some better hotels have business centers or conference rooms with internet access. If not, usually there is an internet cafe or computer club somewhere in the vacinity. If this is important to you, find this out in advance. 

Ukraine Apartments
Apartments are a more economical alternative to hotels. Apartments offered in Kyiv, for example, range in price from $25 to $150 USD per night, depending on the location, size, interior, and conveniences. At most of Ukraine's train stations ladies can be seen walking around asking passersby if they would like to rent an apartment [kvartira]. If you are looking for a bit more predictability or a higher-class apartment, it would be wiser to do an Internet search like "[city name] rent apartment" or, if you are already in Ukraine, visit real-estate agencies that have access to apartments for rent and will help you find what you are looking for. Sometimes ads with pictures of apartments or homes for rent can be found posted in central areas of cities.

Long-term rent
If you are going to be staying in one place in Ukraine for an extended period of time, you will probably want to rent an apartment. Unless you have local friends who have their own connections, the best way to do this is by turning to a real-estate firm. Keep in mind that many people renting apartments are hoping to find a trustworthy-appearing family as long-term rentors and may be mistrustful of any who do not fall into this category—including foreigners, bachelors, unmarried couples, or eccentric people. You may have to try hard to convince people that you are trustworthy and will not run up huge phone on international calls, then disappear, or lead a raucous lifestyle that could get you in trouble with the neighbors or police. They may require a few months' rent as a pre-payment. Usually no contract is signed or the contract is for a much lower amount than you have actually agreed to pay (this is for the owners' tax evasion purposes). In actuality, renting an apartment is best done by a local unless you have excellent language skills and lots of life experience in Ukraine or other post-Soviet countries.

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