My Experience: Staying At An Ex USSR Hotel In Kyiv: Hotel Ukraine
Intro
Upon taking the train from Warsaw to Kyiv, I ended up staying two nights at two separate properties in Kyiv. For the first night, I decided on this hotel named "Hotel Ukraine," primarily due to the cheap cost of the hotel. Little did I know that this hotel was actually an ex-USSR hotel (quite cool if you ask me).
Anyway, here is what it looked like and felt like!
The Exterior
The exterior was the first telltale sign that the hotel was a USSR building. Located in the central part of Kyiv, perched on top of this cliff, lay one of the most magnificent-looking pieces of architecture I had seen in a while. I've never been to Russia (I have always wanted to go), but from what I have heard, there are some grand buildings that look quite similar.
Isn't it absolutely beautiful 🙃.
The Hallways
While the first tell was seeing this massive building on the way from the airport, the biggest tell was the hallways. Obviously, the colors of the USSR were gold and red for the most part, and the hotel resembled the two-color, striking contrast.
Honestly, this makes me want to visit Russia even more now to compare and contrast this hotel versus an older-styled hotel in Russia.
I do not get involved in politics; I simply want to see the history and culture of every nation in the world.
The Rooms
Put it this way: I stayed at the Fairmont Hotel the night after, and I felt like that had some serious Ukraine swagger to it. The rooms at the Hotel Ukraine were functional but nothing special.
Once again, though, the carpets were in relatively the same color scheme as the hallways.
The Shelter
Most hotels in Kyiv will have a bomb shelter in the lower levels to accommodate those who would like to go during air raid alarms. The shelter at Hotel Ukraine was large, probably due to the amount of rooms that they had at the hotel.
Once again, the carpets were in the red color scheme.
The golden chairs did resemble the Ukrainian color scheme in one way or another.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, what a fun and unique experience it was staying at a former USSR hotel in Kyiv, Ukraine. The color schemes and the beautiful architecture blew me away. If the rooms had been a tad bit nicer and the mattress had been more comfortable, I might have stayed a second night there.
Full review coming in the future
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