IT Time Hotel

The bed was comfortable and the room itself was in okay condition. Still, breakfast pastries could be fresher, and the maid replaces soaps even when they’ve only been used once. There should be a bin in the room too, not just in the toilet, since I had to leave everything on the desk. The toilet paper is painful to use.

The restaurant downstairs was the worst part. The staff had a communist-style manner, and brought us low-quality food, sometimes reheated from the day before, dry, tasteless, or all of those, and not what we’d ordered. We spoke Russian and understood each other perfectly, so it felt like they were doing it to make us pay a little more. The hotel had just opened in April 2014. It’s close to the Minsk ring road, which makes driving around and visiting the surroundings convenient, but the nearby railway tracks make nights fairly noisy. Rooms are very basic, with no air conditioning, large grey gloomy shelves, no litter bin, and a view of other blocks. The staff weren’t flexible and wouldn’t let three of us stay in one room, even though it had a double bed, a regular bed and three towels. Choose it only if you have no other option.

They checked our passports every day, like at checkpoints. They wouldn’t speak any language other than Belarusian, and when they wanted a passport for inspection, they didn’t ask politely or explain. A large bodyguard would just hold out his hand to stop you. If you tried speaking English, they got angry. I like Belarusian people and think they’re kind. I want to learn Belarusian, but seeing people like this at the hotel could make visitors stop loving your country.

The restaurant shuts early, though they’ll still serve a simple dish. Rooms are clean, breakfast is okay, and the hotel is reasonably priced.