Russia - Which hotel in Minsk?

Arrival is September 30 with departure on October 4. At the moment, my host has suggested that for my price range, I look at the following hotels:

Orbita - http://www.orbita-hotel.com/eng/

"Yubileiny" hotel ("Yubilee") - http://www.yhotel.by/en/price.html- it's also at the walking distance from the city center (15 min)

"Planeta" hotel - http://www.hotelplaneta.by/en/Rates/ - it's 500 m further from the "Yubileiny" hotel

Anyone have a preference for a 3 star in Minsk? I want Wifi in my room (can buy separate if needed) and may need to get a non-smoking room.

I don't suppose there are sales at these hotels: 4star hotels - "Minsk" in the city center (189 USd per night) http://www.hotelminsk.by/start_en.html "Victoria" hotel (190 USD) - http://eng.hotel-victoria.by/

Arrival is September 30 with departure on October 4. At the moment, my host has suggested that for my price range, I look at the following hotels:

Orbita - http://www.orbita-hotel.com/eng/

"Yubileiny" hotel ("Yubilee") - http://www.yhotel.by/en/price.html- it's also at the walking distance from the city center (15 min)

"Planeta" hotel - http://www.hotelplaneta.by/en/Rates/ - it's 500 m further from the "Yubileiny" hotel

Anyone have a preference for a 3 star in Minsk? I want Wifi in my room (can buy separate if needed) and may need to get a non-smoking room.

I don't suppose there are sales at these hotels: 4star hotels - "Minsk" in the city center (189 USd per night) http://www.hotelminsk.by/start_en.html "Victoria" hotel (190 USD) - http://eng.hotel-victoria.by/

I'm of little help I'm afraid other than saying I heard Victoria is a pretty nice place and "all the western business people" like it a lot. As always, YMMV.

Hope that visa issue with Russia and Belarus is getting dealt with. Fun, fun, fun!

Well, when I ran all the numbers on paying for Wifi, non-smoking rooms, non-refundable fees, and the like I did reserve a room at the Victoria. The actual cost difference for my stay in not that much.

Anyway, since you saved me a $5K fine in terms of the Russian transit visa, I have a little money to invest in my housing!

Hotel Victoria might be the best deal, sice it's a new hote, rather then others, which are remodeled older hotels. You are still pretty close to everything, only few stops by bus or trolleybus to get to the subway/ city center

Anyway, since you saved me a $5K fine in terms of the Russian transit visa, I have a little money to invest in my housing!

My good will bill is in the mail. Two tickets to a Thunder game next year should do it!

Hang in there...

Arrival is September 30 with departure on October 4. At the moment, my host has suggested that for my price range, I look at the following hotels:

Orbita - http://www.orbita-hotel.com/eng/

"Yubileiny" hotel ("Yubilee") - http://www.yhotel.by/en/price.html- it's also at the walking distance from the city center (15 min)

"Planeta" hotel - http://www.hotelplaneta.by/en/Rates/ - it's 500 m further from the "Yubileiny" hotel

Anyone have a preference for a 3 star in Minsk? I want Wifi in my room (can buy separate if needed) and may need to get a non-smoking room.

I don't suppose there are sales at these hotels: 4star hotels - "Minsk" in the city center (189 USd per night) http://www.hotelminsk.by/start_en.html "Victoria" hotel (190 USD) - http://eng.hotel-victoria.by/



I am back from Minsk. Was in the Yubileiny (http://www.yhotel.by/en/). That's my first choice now!
- Within walking distance three night clubs/discos
- Direct bus to the center (2 stops, 1500 BYR)
- Short walk to the center (15 min)
- Several restaurants within maximum five minutes walking distance
- Supermarket directly next to the hotel
- Super friendly and helpful staff

And last but not least, it is best value for money. The hotel has different room types for different prices.

Internet (WLAN) works sometimes in the rooms, sometimes not. It always works on the floor (there is a sofa on every floor) and also in the lobby area (there are also some sofas). Cost is nearly zero: you have to pay 9'500 BYR for 10 hours online time (several log-ins and log-outs allowed) or 4'000 BYR for 3 hours. Speed is fast and convenient.

I don't like the Crowne Plaza at all. Not nice atmosphere and not nice people around the hotel and same I can say about hotel guests. Prices outrageously high.

The only thing I remember of Jubilejnaja is how hot it was there. I stayed there in July 2007. The weather was terribly hot, and the sun had brought the room to heat during the day. I was rolling in bed, soaking in my own perspiration.

Wow, what a terrible experience. In your case I would have taken a more expensive room with an a/c.

I have just learned that I miay be able to reach Minsk one day prior to the effective date of my Belarusian visa. Will the hotel, i.e. the Victorian Hotel, give me grief over this?

Edited to say that I am not worried about the Minsk airport because my flight does not arrive until almost midnight. So to try and parse the visa, would the hotel not say anything if I did not get there until 12:45 am on the effective day of my visa?

Is there anyone that would hazard a guess about how literal the Belarusian hotel would view my visa? By this I mean, the visa is good for 9/30 and I should reach the hotel around 1 am the morning of 9/30 (or night of 9/29 others would say).

I fly out of ATH tomorrow and would like to change my Aeroflot ticket as long as there is no problem with my Belarusian visa.

I guess I should have posted in this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/russia/1352109-questions-regarding-visa-belarus.html - but I am having some issues the last 2-3 days with my laptop scrolling down on some of the FT pages.

I'm not sure I completely understand what you're asking. The main people who are going to be worried about your visa are immigration at the airport. Where the hotel could be picky is what your reservation is. If you have booked a hotel room from the 30 September, I would imagine most hotels would expect that to mean staying for that night, not arriving the middle of the night of 29-30th. This is not a visa issue as such, but an issue of whether they'll charge you an extra night's stay - which I imagine most would if you arrived at 1am and wanted a bed for the rest of the night!

I'm not sure I completely understand what you're asking. The main people who are going to be worried about your visa are immigration at the airport. Where the hotel could be picky is what your reservation is. If you have booked a hotel room from the 30 September, I would imagine most hotels would expect that to mean staying for that night, not arriving the middle of the night of 29-30th. This is not a visa issue as such, but an issue of whether they'll charge you an extra night's stay - which I imagine most would if you arrived at 1am and wanted a bed for the rest of the night!

I am not expecting the hotel to give me a free night as I will pay starting 9/29. My question was how would the hotel view my visa since it says 9/30 and my arrival at the hotel would be after midnight 9/29.

I was reacting in part to a post around the forum (perhaps the link in my previous post) Woody125 said that SVO looked closely at his Russian transit visa but no one looked at the Belarusian visa on arrival at the airport. I would not be staying with friends, but at a hotel so I am trying to determine how literal the hotel would interpret my arrival time.

I suppose if worse came to worse that I could spend the night at the Minsk airport and go from there.

I am not expecting the hotel to give me a free night as I will pay starting 9/29. My question was how would the hotel view my visa since it says 9/30 and my arrival at the hotel would be after midnight 9/29.

I was reacting in part to a post around the forum (perhaps the link in my previous post) Woody125 said that SVO looked closely at his Russian transit visa but no one looked at the Belarusian visa on arrival at the airport. I would not be staying with friends, but at a hotel so I am trying to determine how literal the hotel would interpret my arrival time.

I suppose if worse came to worse that I could spend the night at the Minsk airport and go from there.

I still don't quite understand what your concern is. You have a visa valid from 30 September as I understand it. You are arriving at the hotel on 30 September (albeit early in the morning). What is there for the hotel to interpret?

Thanks bcmatt. I came to the same conclusion but wanted to hear someone else interpret it the same way before I changed my airline ticket and hotel reservation tomorrow.

I am sure that the hotel does not care about your visa. Once you go through immigration at the airport, nobody will care about visa until you are at the airport again flying out.

I am back from Minsk. Was in the Yubileiny (http://www.yhotel.by/en/). That's my first choice now!
- Within walking distance three night clubs/discos
- Direct bus to the center (2 stops, 1500 BYR)
- Short walk to the center (15 min)
- Several restaurants within maximum five minutes walking distance
- Supermarket directly next to the hotel
- Super friendly and helpful staff

And last but not least, it is best value for money. The hotel has different room types for different prices.

Internet (WLAN) works sometimes in the rooms, sometimes not. It always works on the floor (there is a sofa on every floor) and also in the lobby area (there are also some sofas). Cost is nearly zero: you have to pay 9'500 BYR for 10 hours online time (several log-ins and log-outs allowed) or 4'000 BYR for 3 hours. Speed is fast and convenient.

I don't like the Crowne Plaza at all. Not nice atmosphere and not nice people around the hotel and same I can say about hotel guests. Prices outrageously high.

I am returning to Minsk April 2 - 9, 2013. At the moment, the best confirmed price is the Jubileiny at $104 that includes breakfast.

I stayed in the Victoria Hotel last time, but now cannot find a rate for them below $187 after paying maybe $120 last October. It seems to me that I passed the Jubileiny when taking the bus into the city center every day from the Victoria.

Orbita claims a sale of $59 (no breakfast), but likely will go for no less than $95: http://www.orbita-hotel.com/eng
Edited to say that I got an email from Orbita saying the rate would be $91 for a room in a floor with Wifi and this includes breakfast. I noticed there were several negative review of Orbita on TripAdvisor.

There are good reviews on TripAdvisor for Hotel Tourist which claims to have rooms for 53 Euros (or 600 000 rub ) and up. http://www.hotel-tourist.by/en/rooms/#c I can't get their online booking to work so I sent an email to them. Edited to say they responded and said the prices could go up in April so no firm price.

Advice is again much appreciated. I must save money on the hotel because the airfare came in too high.

I am returning to Minsk April 2 - 9, 2013. At the moment, the best confirmed price is the Jubileiny at $104 that includes breakfast.

...

Orbita claims a sale of $59 (no breakfast), but likely will go for no less than $95: http://www.orbita-hotel.com/eng
Edited to say that I got an email from Orbita saying the rate would be $91 for a room in a floor with Wifi and this includes breakfast. I noticed there were several negative review of Orbita on TripAdvisor.


I've stayed at both hotels and in my experience both are absolutely fine. Nothing special and no five star experience, but perfectly adequate. Orbita is a couple of metro stops further out from the centre than Jubileiny - you'll need to use public transport for Orbita whereas everything is more walking distance from Jubileiny. Breakfasts were OK -plenty of stodge you could fill up on! Orbita did have wifi in the lobby and on certain floors, but it wasn't automatically free. However, buying an internet access card at reception was pretty cheap so I wasn't too bothered.

Thanks much. Very helpful.

Later in the day I found this listing and wonder how this place called Prime Apartment Agency (so Expedia) would work out. I really like the location and it gets top review from TripAdvisor:

http://www.expedia.com/Minsk-Hotels-Prime-Apartments-Agency.h5115324.Hotel-Information?chkin=04%2F02%2F2013&chkout=04%2F09%2F2013&rm1=a1&hwrqCacheKey=5bb64b86-d505-4c40-b5dc-205b47201406HWRQ1359768105165&c=7d18c362-24ee-4870-8af7-6c9760c88eb9&&hashTag=default&rfrr=-30461

and

http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentalReview-g294448-d1742959-Luxurious_Apartment_in_center_of_Minsk-Minsk.html
Edited to say this is the wrong link ... I am searching for the correct one.

Now, I am having some difficulty in getting a tourist visa. I sent email both to the Prime Apartment Agency and the Jubileiny Hotel asking for a invitation letter or voucher and no response at this point.

I am going by what I see at the VisaHQ web http://belarus.visahq.com/ in terms of the documents I need.

I really want to stay at the apartment rather than the hotel so would not a receipt of having prepaid for the apartment meet these criteria?

Tourist Voucher/Invitation. Copy of tourist voucher/invitation issued by tourist company or hotel in Belarus approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I just found this page which may suggest I just need a receipt for having paid for my room in advance or perhaps I am misreading this? http://www.minskguide.travel/belarus...s_voucher.html

Just in case anyone else would face these same obstacles, I have a confirmed reservation through the Prime Apartments Agency in MInsk. I got a letter of invitation from them today and I will ask VisqHQ to process my tourist visa for me.

My question of today is about finding ATMs in Minsk. Are they to be easily found at the Minsk airport? I know that Victoria Hotel had one in their lobby, but I don't expect the same from apartments so are they hard to find in the city center?

My question of today is about finding ATMs in Minsk. Are they to be easily found at the Minsk airport? I know that Victoria Hotel had one in their lobby, but I don't expect the same from apartments so are they hard to find in the city center?

There are ATMs at the airport (e.g. http://airport.by/en/banks) and plenty of ATMs in hotel lobbys, department stores, banks and often entrances to the Metro. You should be able to spot one easily enough wandering around the city centre.

Helpful link bcmatt, thank you.

Thanks much. Very helpful.

Later in the day I found this listing and wonder how this place called Prime Apartment Agency (so Expedia) would work out. I really like the location and it gets top review from TripAdvisor:

http://www.expedia.com/Minsk-Hotels-Prime-Apartments-Agency.h5115324.Hotel-Information?chkin=04%2F02%2F2013&chkout=04%2F09%2F2013&rm1=a1&hwrqCacheKey=5bb64b86-d505-4c40-b5dc-205b47201406HWRQ1359768105165&c=7d18c362-24ee-4870-8af7-6c9760c88eb9&&hashTag=default&rfrr=-30461

and

http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentalReview-g294448-d1742959-Luxurious_Apartment_in_center_of_Minsk-Minsk.html
Edited to say this is the wrong link ... I am searching for the correct one.

I thought the Prime Apartments were going to work for me, but they moved me from the location I needed which the head manager had confirmed. The alternate apartment also lacks features important to my work.

I am now looking at an apartment by Alex Apartments - http://vipminsk.com/ So since Prime Apartments issued my letter of invitation for my tourist visa, would I have a problem with registration at the immigration office if I was staying at property owned by Alex Apartments? They (Alex Apartments) have been slow to respond and I leave home at 4 am on Sunday.

You there less than 5 business days? No registration necessary if so remember.

I need a ME visa to Belarus for a few trips I have coming up this year and it looks like you might too. We might need to source such a thing together.

I loved the Tourist Hotel when I stayed there in February. That's likely my place of choice now.

I thought the Prime Apartments were going to work for me, but they moved me from the location I needed which the head manager had confirmed. The alternate apartment also lacks features important to my work.

I am now looking at an apartment by Alex Apartments -http://vipminsk.com/ So since Prime Apartments issue my letter of invitation for my tourist visa, would I have a problem with registration at the immigration office if I was staying at property owned by Alex Apartments? They have been slow to respond and I leave home at 4 am on Sunday.

Counting a late arrival and an early departure, I am in Minsk for 6 business days.

I was drawn to Prime because of location, features and price but the last minute move has made a mess of my plans.

If Alex Apartments will keep their word, they have the location that I want so I am a bit curious about the registration and suppose I am left with traditional taxis to/from airport since they do not provide an airport shuttle like Prime Apartments do.

I have seen others giving high parks to the Tourist Hotel, but I am driven by other considerations on this visit. With my search coming at the last minute, availability is low so prices are high at my second tier choices. I originally had a decent rate confirmed at two of the hotels mentioned earlier in this thread but gave them up when I signed on with Prime.

Sorry, but I don't know about an ME visa for Belarus.

I am now looking at an apartment by Alex Apartments - http://vipminsk.com/ So since Prime Apartments issued my letter of invitation for my tourist visa, would I have a problem with registration at the immigration office if I was staying at property owned by Alex Apartments? They (Alex Apartments) have been slow to respond and I leave home at 4 am on Sunday.

I have finally been getting emails from Alex Apartments and they claim there will be no problem with registration. They also told me they provide airport services at a reasonable fee.