Best of Kyiv/Kiev

[mendeleyev]

I know of a gentleman who will travel for the first time this winter to meet a lady in Kyiv. He tells me that a decent hotel, but it doesn't have to be 5 star, would be good. He'd also like to know things they can do and visit that time of year.

Who has been to Kyiv recently in the last year or so and what are your recommendations?

Good apartment recommendations?

Things to do and places to eat?

[LAman]

I know of a gentleman who will travel for the first time this winter to meet a lady in Kyiv. He tells me that a decent hotel, but it doesn't have to be 5 star, would be good. He'd also like to know things they can do and visit that time of year.

Who has been to Kyiv recently in the last year or so and what are your recommendations?

Good apartment recommendations?

Things to do and places to eat?

You know Mendy, I was there right after the big snowfall...... and it was freakin cold....I was not about to wander walking around so everything was about being indoors. 
I like the restaurants on the river, I think one was called 'Koleso'.

[JayH]

 A point about hotels -- 5 star is hard to achieve and will cost in Kiev. My favourite Ukraine hotel has all the features of a 5 star-- but is rated 3 stars!! It does not have a lift( elevator) -- so is stuck on lower rating. It does have doorman and porters 24 hours a day to carry bags  up to 2nd floor(3rd if you count ground level!!)  up a most gracious stairs.
In Kiev-- you do not have to pay ridiculous amount to get decent hotel --although you can !!
My question is this-- how many days? What price does he/you see as reasonable?  $80-$100 per night incl breakfast?

[lonedrake]

I looked at this site for places to go.


http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g294474-Activities-Kiev.html

[JayH]

Ok-- I have 2 of interest
Slavutych Hotel   3 star- Soviet era type with good reviews-- $50-60 per night .I have seen rooms here as low as $21 per night. I would presume Russian speaking booker would achieve excellent price!!  A few I mentioned this hotel to thought it was to cheap to be acceptable standard!
Cosmopolite  Hotel   4 star  ,newish with as good as reviews as possible,central location and convenient.  Can be as low as $80 but typically a little more-- same Russian speaking rule could affect price!!  I would stay here in any circumstances  without thinking about it.
 I think the Christmas period sees price hikes.
The   5 stars have their telephone numbers mixed up with room prices !!
Another point I would make about hotels-- while apartment is great also I would only use apartment in longer stay and when I had already seen it prior to committing. I like to stay in hotels where there are people around and some action happening !!

[mendeleyev]

I should tell him that there is a big difference from 5 stars in the West to the East. I've stayed in some FSU 3 stars that made Motel 8 look like an Intercontinental.

[2tallbill]

I would recommend an apartment instead of a hotel.
Vinny had some excellent and sage advice regarding
this.


You should ask him or send him a PM.


Udachi!


Bill

[mendeleyev]

Bill, good point.

When he first contacted me I was headed off to a meeting so quickly recommended an apartment and shot him the www.airbnb.com link.

You are correct and there is more freedom and privacy with an apartment.

[Ooooops]

We went to Kiev quite a few years ago, so I don't have any fresh recommendations, but wanted to say about apartment - I found and booked it on-line, right off Kreshatik, large and pretty reasonable, but to tell you the truth it was pretty crappy and dirty.   Good thing that we've seen much worse places in our travels  and the location was unbeatable, so we stayed.   Conclusion is - unless you see what you rent - you are in for a lottery.   

[2tallbill]

Bill, good point.

When he first contacted me I was headed off to a meeting so quickly recommended an apartment and shot him the www.airbnb.com link.

You are correct and there is more freedom and privacy with an apartment.

Yes, and the price is about the same or less. Plus if you wake up at
O dark thirty from jet lag and want a sandwich you can go to the
refrigerator and make one.

[2tallbill]

We went to Kiev quite a few years ago, so I don't have any fresh recommendations, but wanted to say about apartment - I found and booked it on-line, right off Kreshatik, large and pretty reasonable, but to tell you the truth it was pretty crappy and dirty.   Good thing that we've seen much worse places in our travels  and the location was unbeatable, so we stayed.   Conclusion is - unless you see what you rent - you are in for a lottery.

Agreed, the last apartments my GF found for me. So she thoroughly checked
them out.

[calmissile]

Mendy,

A couple years ago this fellow named Val was highly recommended and I concur.  I used him for every trip prior to getting married.  He speaks good English and is a kick to be around.

Only once was an apartment not suitable and he changed it the next day.

He also offers many other services that might come in handy for your friend, including tours, driving to anywhere in Ukraine, etc.

http://valkiev.com/services

rutto2003@yahoo.com

[mendeleyev]

Thanks, I will be happy to pass that link along. I believe that he will stop by and hopefully see these suggestions for himself as well.

[Ooooops]

As of what to see and do in Kiev - Pecherska Lavra is a must, of course.   And if lady in question is of Russian Orthodox Church then I would suggest a small monastery shop that sells religious artifacts, including crosses - most beautiful ones, I think.  Silver with gold accents. 

[mendeleyev]

In past years I produced the English language broadcasts of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and will check for their holiday and Christmas concert schedule. That would a classy way to spend an evening!

[Turboguy]

As far as hotels in Kiev go my favorite was the Rus.  I stayed there at least a half dozen times and really liked it.  Rooms there should run just under $ 100.00.  It is a ten minute walk from the center.   If I wanted a hotel in Kiev I would pick it without hesitation.   


I stayed a few times at the Kreschatyk  The rooms there were tiny but nice.  It is very central.  The lobby area is dreary.  At the time it was expensive but seems less so now.  I think rooms there are around $ 120.00.  I think I paid closer to $ 160   


The Dneper is fairly nice.  The service there was good and sort of old world elegant.  It is ok, has a good location and is in the same $ 100.00 price range.  Those are the ones I have first hand experience with.  I did stay at one other hotel in Kiev but it was out of the way and I don't remember the name.


As far as things to do in Kiev there are tons of things.  Just waking on Kreschatyk st is fun, the two shopping malls are cool.  The Lavra is good but the thing I loved was the Catacombs at the Lavra.  That was really interesting.  There is a downhill walkway on the right rear side of the Lavra complex.  You walk down that to the end and the Catacombs are at the bottom on the left. 


If your friend likes military stuff the museaum of the Great Patriotic war is something he might enjoy.  One thing you don't hear much about that I really enjoyed was the Chernobyl museum in Kiev but I was there with someone who had worked at the facility at the time it melted down which might have made it more personal.


The Opera there is quite nice.  The park up on the hill just past the Dnepro hotel is nice.  Touring the churches there is an amazing site.   There are lots of great restaurants.  I liked the TGIF and the Italian place next to it and ahhhhhh, McDonalds, my main choice.  I have been in a ton of restaurants that were great but don't recall the names.  The Chinese restaurant near the Olympic complex sucked.


That is what I can think of at the moment.

[LAman]

Mendy,

A couple years ago this fellow named Val was highly recommended and I concur.  I used him for every trip prior to getting married.  He speaks good English and is a kick to be around.

Only once was an apartment not suitable and he changed it the next day.

He also offers many other services that might come in handy for your friend, including tours, driving to anywhere in Ukraine, etc.

http://valkiev.com/services

rutto2003@yahoo.com

Doug, last year I asked you for Val's number, I just needed him  to get me a bus ticket. I called once, he said call back, I called again...he was busy to call him again in 15 minutes...... and third time he blew me off never answered his phone and didn't call me back. So here is  a story from a non-renting potential customer. I guess I'll never know what other services he offers!!

[lordtiberius]

I stayed here. 
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294474-d3547720-Reviews-Kreshchatik_Apartments-Kiev.html

It has a nice view and has nice interiors.  It is rather overpriced and the customer service is not good.  The lobby is very Soviet. But it is only $ 10 or $ 20 above the Hotel Dnipro which is a dump.

If he wants a deal, try this:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294474-d3547720-Reviews-Kreshchatik_Apartments-Kiev.html

[calmissile]

Doug, last year I asked you for Val's number, I just needed him  to get me a bus ticket. I called once, he said call back, I called again...he was busy to call him again in 15 minutes...... and third time he blew me off never answered his phone and didn't call me back. So here is  a story from a non-renting potential customer. I guess I'll never know what other services he offers!!

Sorry to hear that report.  I never got that kind of response from him.  I am going to send this post to him.  If his service has deteriorated he should know about your comments.

The last time I used him, I had to be out of the apartment at a certain time and my flight left me several hours with nothing to do and nowhere to store my suitcases while I shopped, killing time.  He sent his daughter to pick me up and allowed me to store the luggage at his office.  He also had his daughter personally deliver flowers to my (now wife) at her apartment several times.

He is in business and doesn't offer many freebies, but I found his fees reasonable other than one time his driver hiked up the fare to the train station because he was 'english speaking'.  It wasn't worth raising a fuss over, so just paid the driver the extra.  LOL

I hope your experience was an abberation and not typical of his current business model.

[mendeleyev]

LT, this gentleman will be there around the holidays although I don't know the exact dates. What do you and others recommend he and his lady see around Kyiv?

[Boethius]

I suggest a ballet at the Kyiv Opera House, Pecherska Lavra, as suggested by Ooooops, St. Sophia, St. Andrew's Church, the National Art Museum of Ukraine, and maybe the Pinchuk Art Centre. 


I like the Shevchenko Museum, but you have to know something about Shevchenko to appreciate it. 

[Anotherkiwi]

I used this company for both my stays in Kyiv, although it was three years ago:
 
http://www.kievhotelservice.com/index.html
 
I've recommended them before and would have no hesitation in using them again.  I stayed in one of their apartments behind the Intercontinental Hotel, just across the street from the Foreign Ministry and very close to St Michael's Cathedral.  As for things to do, where do you start?
 
Pechersk Lavra of course; the Great Patriotic War Memorial and the Mother Ukraine statue are only a few hundred metres away from there, and it's a very comfortable stroll with good quality food stalls in-between, so you can easily do both in a day, or less if you're a bit pushed for time; wander around Independence Square and Kreschatik Street, and the underground mall; visit St Michael's and St Sophia's Cathedrals (again, only a few hundred metres apart); the Golden Gate; the great arch behind Dinamo Stadium and the statue of St Volodymyr to get great views of the river and the suburbs on the far side; take a quick trip on the funicular down to Podil, then take a cruise on the river for an hour or two.  I also loved St Volodymyr's Cathedral, with the Botanical Gardens across the road (just behind Shevchenko University and not far from Park Shevchenko).  For something a bit different I would recommend the Water Museum, also on the hill behind Dinamo Stadium.
 
If your friend is an opera or ballet fan, there are bound to be performances which will suit his tastes.
 
Of course, I certainly wouldn't recommend most of the "wandering" in the middle of winter!
 

[ML]

Sorry to hear that report.  I never got that kind of response from him.  I am going to send this post to him.  If his service has deteriorated he should know about your comments.

The last time I used him, I had to be out of the apartment at a certain time and my flight left me several hours with nothing to do and nowhere to store my suitcases while I shopped, killing time.  He sent his daughter to pick me up and allowed me to store the luggage at his office.  He also had his daughter personally deliver flowers to my (now wife) at her apartment several times.

He is in business and doesn't offer many freebies, but I found his fees reasonable other than one time his driver hiked up the fare to the train station because he was 'english speaking'.  It wasn't worth raising a fuss over, so just paid the driver the extra.  LOL

I hope your experience was an abberation and not typical of his current business model.

As I have written before, this deterioration of service over time for previously highly recommended 'helpers' follows a predictable path.

And this deterioration is greatly due to the westerners that they help.  The westerners insist on overpaying (relative to what the local labor conditions and pay are) the helpers.  The helpers develop a 'big head' as to their importance; and the deterioration starts.

[lordtiberius]

LT, this gentleman will be there around the holidays although I don't know the exact dates. What do you and others recommend he and his lady see around Kyiv?

Sir!  It's good to read your words again.   I just finished this:

http://www.amazon.com/Gulag-Boss-A-Soviet-Memoir/dp/0199742669

I enjoyed it thoroughly,  I am re-reading this.

http://www.amazon.com/Gulag-Archipelago-Abridged-Experiment-Investigation/dp/0061253804/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383406681&sr=1-1&keywords=gulag+archipelago

I am not reading Solzhenitsyn not so much to understand Russia but to get a sense of where America is going.

When I went, I didn't have a lot of money.  I looked like a foreigner.  I did speak enough of the language to get me in trouble.  And I lived off Kostya Gardenika.  Complete strangers were always handing me cards with phone numbers with roses on them and they would say things like "The Best" or "Dev VOSH key."  I guess they wanted me to call them.  But my date book was all full up.

If the traveller doesn't speak a lot of English and is only there a week, I would not stray past Kreshchatik.  Ice is a problem at this time of the year and the government and businesses salt Kreshchatik very well.  Everywhere else is a bit of a risk.  Besides, there is so much in and around Kreshchatik to see.  The shops underground at Maidan Nezhenosti near the McDonalds are in my opinion better than the Pinchuk Art Centre.  I think Pinchuk is overpriced and doesn't have a lot.  But . . .I disgress.  Betsy and I always ate at the Ukrainian cafeteria style restaurants and only once in while ate at a French or European style cafe.  It cost about twice or one and a half times more expensive and the service was nominally fair.  He should see Keshchatik, St Sophia's, Andrew's Ascent, the Rada, the Presidential Palace, the Lavra, the monuments of Holodomor and the Great Patriotic War.  If he is feeling adventurous, the he should check out the Arsenal-knee metro where a great Red-White Civil War Battle happened and you can see the bullet holes in the Arsenal building that the Reds later seized from the White Ukrainian separatists.   The Chinese Embassy sits not far from these in pre-Revolutionary building.  Despite its blue color the building is gorgeous.  I think some count or industrialist owned it before the Revolution.

If he likes architecture and history especially Russian, Ukrainian or Soviet history, he will have a feast for his eyes.  His woman should do all buying for him because she will know what prices really are.  He should go before or after New Years Eve preferably after because that's when the prices go WAAAAY down. 

If he is there two weeks, then he should spend four days in Kiev and the rest in L'viv.

One alibi, the only reason why I stayed at the Hotel Kreshchatik is that I wanted to stay somewhere nice and I only had 24 hours to decide so I booked my reservations online at one of the travel sites like Expedia.  But he has the time to shop, I would stay at the apartments offered by the individual owners.  They speak English and cater to Westies to offer darn good customer service.  I just didn't know anyone and didn't have time to research it and book it.  Any more questions?

[Boethius]

St. Andrew's Church is on Andriyivsky Uzviv.

The Pinchuk Art Centre is free, or at least, there has been no admission when I've been there, and its website states there is no admission fee.   There are even free guided tours in the evening, 7 p.m., I believe, though I don't know if they are offered in English.

http://pinchukartcentre.org/ua/about_us/mission

Kyiv winters are not uniformly snowy and icy, although the past few years have had a great deal of snow.   Often it rains.   However, because of the humidity, I found it colder than our winters, where one can walk in -20C comfortably if there is no wind.