SNOW QUEEN HOTEL - Odessa

All people very helpful and friendly.

This new hotel (less than year old) has luxury decorations and stylish furniture. Staff are friendly and speak English well. I am from Los Angeles, and can't believe the value I got for staying at the Hotel Kalifornia. (The theme is not like California at all - no Palm trees/no Spanish architecture. I am not sure why they chose the name.) The included breakfast has a nice variety for all dietary preferences. Twenty four hour hot water and clean plumbing. Cleaning staff were very fast and thorough. Only negatives are thin mattress(can feel coil springs) and thin walls(luckily i have earplugs). Location is short walk to Deribasovskaya Street(retail/restaurant district).

The assistance of Maria was extremely helpful. The location was very good, the courtyard and hallways and cleanliness needs improvement, there were cats and smell present. The room was pleasant and clean and had everything that was needed.

This hotel was built this past summer and has many things close by that are all within walking distance. The receptionists at the hotel are very sweet and will go out of their way to help you if you need a pharmacy or good resturant. If you are at this hotel and want to go to city center, just ask directions to bus stop (15 minute walk towards Mcdonalds) and either take bus 185 or bus 242 (numbers are posted on windshield) and for 3 UAH just ride the bus until it is parked in city center. It is obvious where they stop at because the driver's take a break and another bus with same number departs again. Plus, if you stay on the bus until it stops for its break, you know where to walk to get back on the same bus to get back to Arkadia area. If you are interested in a gym, Arkadia Plaza Hotel is about 15 minute walk and for 120 UAH a day, you can use their decent gym. I have stayed at Arkadia Plaza Hotel also in 2009 and it was a pretty decent hotel also. But back here at Geneva, I toured one of the other Geneva Hotels in city center and it is very nice also. Wi-fi is perfect here and if it does slow down for any reason, just ask reception to reset it (which they know how to) and it works fine again. Receptionists speak good english, and there is a small shop right accross the street from hotel that have water, beer, and snacks for the stay. Free breakfast is decent which includes, fruit, tea, coffee, cheese, meat, bread/toast, hard boiled egg.

Yes, it is far from any Odessa attractions/restaurants/pubs. Taxis are cheap to get to the city center but traffic can be a problem and the one-way trip can take nearly an hour. Hotel itself is located inside a gated community; no concerns with safety and it was exceptionally quiet. Our stay was five nights beginning Dec 28 and, as far as I could tell, we were the only guests during that time. The staff was exceptional and went out of their way to make us comfortable and feel welcome. We spent New Year's Eve at the hotel...I was impressed the hotel would even open the restaurant for one table - they'd asked us the day before to select from the menu so they'd have the ingredients on hand. Five Stars for that! Our meal was superb and included a complimentary bottle of champagne to bring in the New Year. The only suggestions I'd have for the hotel would be to put a coffee pot in the room and keep the common area bottled water dispensers filled (assume they are better maintained during busier times). In sum...great place, great staff, but far from everything.