Podol Plaza Hotel

The breakfast, cooked to order, was very good, and the WiFi was fast and reliable. The hotel has an old-fashioned style, but plenty going for it, and it's centrally located. I'm staying for two weeks and was given a larger room at no extra charge. For the comfort you get at this price, it'll be hard to find a better match.

The food was quite good, though there wasn't anything for vegans, and the staff were great and spoke decent English. But this only just qualifies as a four-star hotel for me. On two of my three nights, noise disrupted my sleep. The walls are so thin I could hear the person next door moving around in the bath. Other guests smoked in their rooms, and the smell drifted into mine.

As someone from Kyiv and a hotel professional, I found the location very central, within walking distance of many main attractions. Breakfast was filling, even if the choices were limited. Still, the quality doesn't match the price, and I wouldn't rate this as a four-star hotel. My room was a reasonable size, but facing the street made it VERY-VERY noisy. The tram passes just a couple of meters from the entrance, and I could feel the vibrations, so I didn't sleep properly. The shower doors were broken, the room wasn't very clean, and the A/C, safe, and minibar fridge didn't work. The two bottles of water at arrival were a welcome drink, but there was no more water provided. Shower amenities were fine. The check-in was short on information. The woman who checked us in did a good job, but didn't explain much, and I expected more details for my foreign partner too. Most of the staff weren't fluent enough in English to explain things or give information. We arrived in the evening and there was no receptionist, only a cleaner. There still wasn't a receptionist when we came down to check out in the morning. With no double lock on the room, I didn't feel safe.

The breakfast was decent and tasted good, and the staff were friendly despite the problems. The hotel itself is very old and seems to have had little investment in recent years. My key card failed constantly, so I had to replace it 3-4 times a day and sometimes wait for security to let me into my room. If I'd forgotten something inside, I couldn't get back in. I also had to keep reminding them every other day to put water in my room. There was hair left in the shower from a previous guest, and I could hear a family checking in at 3 AM, arguing and putting clothes into the cabinets.