Question about Adam & Eva on Deribasovskaya St in Odessa

[acrzybear]

Does anyone know the reputation of Adam and Eva on  Deribasovskaya Street in Odessa?  I am looking at various agencies to possibly rent a flat for my trip to Odessa and they popped up on my search. 

Also a friend of mine (no it's not me, really-honest) saw some of the women on the site and thought it was too good to be true.  I informed him that indeed Odessa had numerous women that were intelligent and drop dead beautiful, but that I had no knowledge of this particular agency- so any input or comments would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance

[chuckinwdc]

I don't have direct knowledge of this agency. However, I've heard good and bad things about them.

The good things: I've read emails from many men who have used their apartment services and come away very satisfied. By all accounts, the apartments are a little pricey, but very nice and very well located.

The bad things: My wife had a bad experience with them, and she's heard from friends that some letters are written by the agency and not the women.

Chuck in D.C.

[Todd]

Doesn't Adam and Eve figure into Scott's report on Travel to Odessa in 2004?  You might want to check the end of his post for an overview or contact him directly.

[Kevin]

[user=60]acrzybear[/user]
 I don't have any direct feedback on there agency about letter writing or ladies. But I have heard that there apartment are very nice, great location and reasonably priced. This is one of the agency I refer client to for apartments in Odessa.

Kevin

[wendaaaal]

Bear, I've had some contact with Adam and Eva. Their flats, directly over their office, are really posh. Excellent maid and laundry service. A great location, directly across the street from the Irish Bar. Just around the corner from the Opera House, and easy walking to most anything you want in the center of Odessa.

 About the agency. They do seem to run a bit hot and cold. They definately operate in a Ukrainian style, as opposed to an American style. I used them for flats twice about two years ago. No problems at all. I liked the flat, and hoped to use them again on a visit last summer. Sent them emails through their site, with my proposed arrival info, etc. No response to two emails, and one phone call. Then emailed Frank at ukrainebride.net. Immediate response, all details taken care of with no problems. I've used Frank on several occasions now, including last week, and will continue to use his services. He lives there, but operates in an American style and is always very responsive and helpful.

Letter writing - I did use Adam and Eva for a bit of letter writing two years ago. The girls I wrote to, then later met, seemed to be aware that I had written them letters. I get the impression that isn't always the case with this, and so many other agencies. I've since stopped putting much faith in letter writing, prefer to meet first, then do your own correspondence directly rather than through an agency. Hope this helps, PM me if I can be of further assistance. Cheers, Wendell in Austin

[chuckinwdc]

Then emailed Frank at ukrainebride.net. Immediate response, all details taken care of with no problems. I've used Frank on several occasions now, including last week, and will continue to use his services. He lives there, but operates in an American style and is always very responsive and helpful.

I met Frank a couple of times when I was in Odessa visiting my fiancee. I never used his services, but had lunch with him and such. He's a good guy, in my estimation.

Chuck in D.C.

[TwoBitBandit]

I had them arrange three meetings for me.  The first went OK and I think that the lady was sincere even though I didn't click with her.

Meeting #2 showed up and said she couldn't meet with me, but proposed another time.  I couldn't do that time, so we parted.

Meeting #3 flaked.

The manager, Natalia, was indigant when I asked for a refund for #2 and #3, but did give it to me after I was persistent.  It was definitely "Ukranian-style" service.

[Journeyman]

I had a good experience with them back in 2003.  Very good apartments.  Yes, you will also pay a little more.  The owner, Natasha, handled everything very professionally with me and for me.  I left very satisfied after about a week stay.  

On the other hand, at the time, I found relatively few ladies to meet through her agency.  However, Natasha worked hard to help me bring in other ladies from Kherson, Nikolaev, and even Mariupol.  When I had to leave early, she had no problem refunding money to me for a lesser stay.

I did NOT find her to be overly "Ukrainian" in her business manner.  In fact, she was quite gracious, and even seemed to bend over backwards to help me a few times.

I think that us westerners, including Americans (maybe particularly so), sometimes need to "tune in" a little better to the differences over there, and find a way to better interact with the locals.  I've never had any problems with Ukrainian agency owners/directors, even though I have had rather special needs and high requirements on most occasions regarding logistical and other accomodation issues.  Certainly, there are a few bad apples out there, but I've found them few and far between.  

Journeyman

[TwoBitBandit]

I did NOT find her to be overly "Ukrainian" in her business manner.... I think that us westerners, including Americans (maybe particularly so), sometimes need to "tune in" a little better to the differences over there, and find a way to better interact with the locals.  I've never had any problems with Ukrainian agency owners/directors, even though I have had rather special needs and high requirements on most occasions regarding logistical and other accomodation issues.  Certainly, there are a few bad apples out there, but I've found them few and far between.

I don't think I'm the typical American when I'm in Ukraine.  I don't wear blue jeans or sneakers.  I have studied Russian diligently for two years and speak it well enough to meet women without an interpreter.  I can have a conversation with anyone on any topic in Russian if they have enough patentience with me.  (Last time I was in Ukraine, I had an excellent conversation with a lawyer about the differences between the American and Ukranian legal systems.)  I've had many Ukrainians and Russians say that they've never met an American that speaks Russian as well as me.  So (at least in my own mind), I'm not a typical American.

(I *do* know who you're talking about, though!  A lot of these Americans in Ukraine need a visit from "Queer Eye from the Straight Guy.")

Back on the topic of this agency... if I use an agency to meet a woman, I expect that the woman will be on time and sincere.

I expect that the agency will make some reasonable effort to make this happen.

Obviously, Natasha doesn't have DIRECT control of the woman being on time and sincere.  If the woman is a flake, then she's a flake.  But, I would expect that Natasha would at least make an effort to reign this stuff in.  Certainly, she should axe a women with a track record of being a flake.

Perhaps there's a legitimate explination.  Perhaps the first woman had a critical reason why she couldn't meet, and the second one fell and broke her leg and had to go to the hospital.  Who knows what really happened?  Maybe both of these women were with the agency a long time and I was the first guy they both flaked on.  I don't know.

If expecting excellent service means I'm not "tuned in", well, I guess I'm more of a typical American than I thought.  However, if I had to adjust my expectations to see eye-to-eye with her, that just proves (to me) that her business style is "Ukranian".  Her business is to deal with foreigners, so she should understand where we're coming from.

My intent is serious.  It costs me $200 a day in actual expenses and another $800 a day in lost wages to be in Ukraine.  

My time is valuable to me, Natalia's women wasted it, and then Natalia was indignant and insensitive about it.  I didn't even care about the $25/meeting I asked her to refund.  $25 is so little money in the big picture of finding a foreign wife!  I only asked because of the point of it.  The $25/meeting is nothing compared to the value of my time.

In all fairness to Natalia and her agency, I think she's legit and not running an outright scam.  Certainly, I met other guys in Odessa who seemed to be very happy with her.   I met one guy who was engaged to a lady from Natalia's agency and went on and on about how great Natalia and her staff were.

I'm just saying that my own experience with Adam-and-Eva was poor and I personally would not use their services again.

[aikorob]

I have used Adam & Eva for the past several years. No complaints except for the hours the office is staffed, but Natasha does give you her cell number for emergencies. Her flats are excellent, but you do pay for convience. I would not hesitate to recommend her, the only caveat being it is a business for her, so bear that in mind. I will be returning in September, and I plan on using her again.