Sochi 2014 - Journalists live-tweet their hotel experiences
Feb 5, 2014, 1:31 am
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Sochi 2014 - Journalists live-tweet their hotel experiences
Some amusing hotel "review" tweets... 
Journalists at Sochi are live-tweeting their hilarious and gross hotel experiences
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...l-experiences/
I'm hoping this is not the trend people will face in the coming weeks! No internet might be a luxury for some (right?! Oh wait, it's the digital age!), but hot water is a bit of necessity I think...especially in the winter!
Journalists at Sochi are live-tweeting their hilarious and gross hotel experiences
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...l-experiences/
...reporters from around the world are starting to check into local hotels — to their apparent grief. Some journalists arriving in Sochi are describing appalling conditions in the housing there, where only six of nine media hotels are ready for guests. Hotels are still under construction. Water, if it’s running, isn’t drinkable.
Feb 5, 2014, 8:22 am
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More here (in Russian but the pics tell most of the story)
http://www.theinsider.com.ua/lifesty...iadoi-v-sochi/
http://www.theinsider.com.ua/lifesty...iadoi-v-sochi/
Feb 6, 2014, 8:57 am
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Feb 6, 2014, 9:14 am
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Some of the coverage I've seen of this on TV makes me wonder whether some of these journalists have little foreign travel experience. They should know, and not be surprised, that one should not drink the tap water in Russia, although it shouldn't be brown or yellow either for showers and baths. They should also have seen bathrooms beefore with the trash can for used toilet paper, which is common in Turkey for example. It reminds me of the cable news journalists, IIRC covering Iraq, going on and on about shoes being thrown at some statue in a parade and obviously not having a clue what this meant.
Feb 6, 2014, 2:05 pm
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Some of the coverage I've seen of this on TV makes me wonder whether some of these journalists have little foreign travel experience. They should know, and not be surprised, that one should not drink the tap water in Russia, although it shouldn't be brown or yellow either for showers and baths. They should also have seen bathrooms beefore with the trash can for used toilet paper, which is common in Turkey for example. It reminds me of the cable news journalists, IIRC covering Iraq, going on and on about shoes being thrown at some statue in a parade and obviously not having a clue what this meant.
Feb 6, 2014, 5:27 pm
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All these reporters have no context to what they are reporting. Is this their first trip to Russia? If they poked around further, they should find out why the hotels were never finished.
I decided to take a step back and think then it occurred to me : the federal government put a limit on how much the hotels are able to charge during the Olympics. I saw a chart somewhere, on the Moscow Times I believe. The numbers look low for Russia. REALLY LOW.
For example : The maximum rate allowed per day for a suite at a 5 star hotel is 11000 rubles. ( about 300 dollars)
That seams ludicrous : In MOW a room of that class would go for multiples of that. Heck, 11000 won't get you a room ( during the weekday) at the Ukrania or Park Hyatt for example, much less a suite.
No wonder the Hyatt Sochi never got finished!
If you were the owner, would you spend all the money to finish construction knowing that the maximum rate you could charge per night is 11000 rubles?
( for a suite ! ) . I think not, especially not in a place where literally EVERYTHING has to be imported.
I decided to take a step back and think then it occurred to me : the federal government put a limit on how much the hotels are able to charge during the Olympics. I saw a chart somewhere, on the Moscow Times I believe. The numbers look low for Russia. REALLY LOW.
For example : The maximum rate allowed per day for a suite at a 5 star hotel is 11000 rubles. ( about 300 dollars)
That seams ludicrous : In MOW a room of that class would go for multiples of that. Heck, 11000 won't get you a room ( during the weekday) at the Ukrania or Park Hyatt for example, much less a suite.
No wonder the Hyatt Sochi never got finished!
If you were the owner, would you spend all the money to finish construction knowing that the maximum rate you could charge per night is 11000 rubles?
( for a suite ! ) . I think not, especially not in a place where literally EVERYTHING has to be imported.
Feb 6, 2014, 10:25 pm
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Feb 7, 2014, 1:12 am
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Yeah, right... However, the plumbing system in the good old USSR could handle toilet paper just fine. Actually, in most Russian homes it still can. So, I really do not think it was intended to be like this.
Feb 7, 2014, 1:16 am
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So, you either invest now in a good quality equipment or you have to spend even more later to bring those toilets up to standards. He-he...
Feb 7, 2014, 4:59 am
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No wonder the Hyatt Sochi never got finished!
If you were the owner, would you spend all the money to finish construction knowing that the maximum rate you could charge per night is 11000 rubles?
( for a suite ! ) . I think not, especially not in a place where literally EVERYTHING has to be imported.
If you were the owner, would you spend all the money to finish construction knowing that the maximum rate you could charge per night is 11000 rubles?
( for a suite ! ) . I think not, especially not in a place where literally EVERYTHING has to be imported.
Feb 7, 2014, 12:52 pm
#13
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Well me for one ( and no I won't pay 1 million. LOL. Please don't give the hotel owners ideas)
Part of the reason why I did not go was because I could not get a hotel room. Also, who wants to stay in a ship.
Lets also not forget, the G8 meeting this summer is coming up.
An alternative besides the tired Radisson is needed. This may not be a problem for VVP but the rest of us need a place to stay.
Part of the reason why I did not go was because I could not get a hotel room. Also, who wants to stay in a ship.
Lets also not forget, the G8 meeting this summer is coming up.
An alternative besides the tired Radisson is needed. This may not be a problem for VVP but the rest of us need a place to stay.