Crimea has always been considered a place of delightful summer vacations. Visitor there understands that approximately this is what paradise looks like: inimitable beauty of nature, living mountains, warm sea, pine forests, cypress alleys. Catherine the Great called him "the most precious pearl in the crown of the Russian Empire."
Summer residences of Russian tsars and the most famous nobles were erected here. Palaces and mansions built in those days, as well as parks laid out on the slopes of the mountains, are still the pride of the peninsula.
In the Soviet years, Crimea was called the "all-Union health resort" and turned into a place where the inhabitants of the country considered it a blessing to relax. Numerous departmental sanatoriums, boarding houses and rest houses hospitably welcomed vacationers.
But times have changed. Free trips have sunk into oblivion, and visitors to the Crimea now have to pay for their accommodation. Former health centers urgently mastered new principles of work. The easiest way was to transform into hotels, placing sanatorium services in the list of additionally paid options.
Today's Crimea Hotels
Over the past decade and a half, Crimea, as a resort center, practically did not develop. The infrastructure of Soviet health facilities was not updated and, moreover, was not brought into line with world standards.
The buildings were dilapidated, equipment was obsolete. Beaches and piers fell into decay, parks overgrown. The cultural values ​​of the peninsula were being destroyed. There was a lack of funding, and accordingly, appropriate content.
The foregoing did not apply to the prices of the services provided. They have successfully grown and are quite consistent with world performance. As a result, a developed network of unjustifiably expensive hotels that provide a level of service appeared, offensively, but precisely referred to as “shovels”.
According to data provided by Georgy Psarev, Minister of Resorts and Tourism of Crimea, there are more than two thousand hotels and mini pensions and 74 spa complexes operating on the peninsula. Three hundred of them carried out repairs in their rooms, and only 160 went on a complete reconstruction.
However, these efforts have not yielded significant results. In 2010, the evaluation of hotels for the compliance of the service with star categories began. Only three hotels “pulled” a four-star level, and only twelve hotels correspond to three stars.
Among the favorites:
Hotel “Oreanda”, deservedly known as the most respectable and fashionable in the Crimea, providing services of a spa club, seaside resort, entertainment center and comfortable hotel, providing hospitality to all public stars who come to the peninsula.
Elite spa hotel "Palmira Palace", located in the small village of Kurpaty, specializing in the provision of therapeutic, wellness and spa tours of premium class. There are also various options for VIP relaxation.
Hotel Radisson SAS Alushta is located in an old elegant mansion in the historic center of Alushta. Well-groomed park, developed entertainment infrastructure, proximity to the sea, high-quality service - all these factors provide hotel guests with a comfortable and respectable vacation.
Reviews of Crimea Hotels
If you read online reviews of hotels in Crimea, it is easy to make sure that the Black Sea neighbors Turkey or Bulgaria provide a better vacation. At the same time, such advantages as the cleanliness of the territory and the sea, the quality and variety of food, the level of service, the friendliness of the staff, the availability of entertainment or recreational opportunities are noted. All this with equal financial costs.
The Crimean advantages include a more beautiful nature and a closer location, which is convenient when it comes to one - two-day vacation.
Holidays in Crimea with children is characterized as completely unorganized, since hotels in Crimea do not provide for appropriate options. The maximum that you can count on is the presence of a children's town on the territory.
Crimea hotels, development prospects
Today, tourism and resort industries account for only 6% of the budget revenues of the autonomous republic. The Crimean authorities plan to change the situation and bring this figure to 30 percent within five years.
According to Georgy Psarev, hotels in Crimea were interested in large hotel operators. The famous Hyatt has agreed to build a high-star hotel in Partenit (between Alushta and Yalta) at the Aivazovsky sanatorium. Mariott is also negotiating on joining the hotel chain of Crimea.
It is planned to develop a network of hotels oriented to rest in Crimea with children, family and youth vacations. Particular attention will be paid to wellness programs and entertainment services.