Where to live during your vacation in Crimea - tips for booking hotels and finding accommodation

Booking hotels in the resorts of Crimea

To our great regret, the hotel infrastructure of the Crimea is still extremely poorly developed for Independent Budget Travel. There are very few hotels, especially budget ones, and in high season (from the second half of June to September) they are all booked several months in advance. Fans of travel in Southeast Asia, accustomed to moving from city to City and booking hotels the next day or just on the spot, may be unpleasantly surprised by the lack of such an opportunity in the Crimea. In the season, it is almost impossible to find a hotel worth less than 1500 rubles. In general, seasonality in prices here is very strong, almost twice. And in general, the price of hotels in the Crimea, both budget and expensive, does not correspond to their quality in comparison with many other countries.

In general, our hotel booking advice is: look for and book a hotel for the high season (this is from the second half of June to September) another 2-3 months before it starts. You can do this through the search form:

Short term rental

A real salvation for budget and not only tourists is short-term rental housing in the Crimea. Prices are much lower than in hotels, the choice is huge. But there are some features and tricks that you should definitely know about, especially if you are going on vacation in the Crimea for the first time.

• Booking accommodation in Crimea for a short time online

  

  Unfortunately, the popular short-term accommodation booking site Airbnb around the world is unavailable due to sanctions on the Crimea. There are many small local Crimean sites where you can find accommodation and contact the owners, or you can use bulletin board sites like Avito. But even there you can only find accommodation and call the owner to book accommodation by phone. But if something goes wrong, the bulletin board is not responsible for anything. Therefore, it is best to book accommodation through local sites that allow you to do this online, and your reservation will no longer be the same as after a phone call, but guaranteed. One such site is turum.ru. There is also a popular site sutochno.ru, and here is its search form for direct booking:

  Another effective way is either booking by phone on a tip from friends who have already been there and can recommend proven reliable hosts and good housing, or searching for housing on the spot upon arrival. How to do this and what not to make a mistake, read on:

• Where and how to find accommodation in Crimea on arrival

  

  Housing in resort places is rented everywhere. It is only necessary to arrive at the bus station or in the city center, as you will immediately be surrounded by intermediaries or homeowners with offers. If you are not surrounded, look around, and for sure you will see a person or a counter with a sign "rent a house". They usually work until late in the evening, but if you come at night, finding them will be problematic.

  You can safely use the services of these intermediaries, because for their services they usually do not take money. If they offer you to pay them first or offer to take a taxi at your expense to a place (sometimes they ask for gasoline) to see housing, we recommend that you refuse their services and look for other intermediaries. And in general, make it a rule to pay only with the owners (when you make sure that you really have the owners in front of you).

  So, the intermediaries are before you. Now you need to clearly explain your requirements, as in the search engine (term of removal, need internet or not, amenities in the house or on the territory, availability of hot water, air conditioning, TV, kitchen, far from the sea, number of beds, etc.), and you will be given several options to choose from. If the options didn't fit, move on. Outside the bus stations, especially in the tourist areas of the cities and on the embankments, there are also plenty of intermediaries. Yes, you can go through the streets yourself and see a lot of ads right on the gates of houses or on poles. If you can not find anything, contact the sellers of excursions, taxi drivers, sellers in stores, and you will definitely "nasuet" something.

• How much is housing for rent in the Crimea

  To begin with, I want to talk a little about pricing on our (The Authors of the site) experience of renting housing in the Crimea. In our experience, the pricing of rental housing in the Crimea for a short term does not lend itself to any logic and understanding. It seems that sometimes the owners set prices "from the ceiling" or are based solely on their needs, and not on its quality. It turns out that in the same city in approximately the same area, at the same time for the same price, you can rent a separate apartment with all the amenities or, forgive the expression, a hut with amenities in the yard. No kidding... You can, for quite decent money, find yourself in a dirty, untidy room with falling wallpaper, a miniature bed for two (usually two beds pushed together), a toilet and shower on the street (you have to dress at night every time to go to the toilet), without cold water (yes, you have to warm water and walk with basins in the old Oh, and with giant Crimean cockroaches behind the wallpaper. It all depends on you. How not to make a mistake with the choice on the spot, read on.

  The price spread is very large, but here are the minimum prices for more or less comfortable housing in some popular cities for reference:

  Prices for accommodation in the resorts of Crimea

  Resort	Price in rubles in low season (from October to June)	Price in rubles in high season (from the second half of June to September)
  Yalta	500 room / 800 apartment	800 room / 1500 apartment
  Theodosius	700 room	1200 apartment
  Evpatoria	800 room / 1000 apartment	1000 room / 1800 apartment

  These prices are real, from our practice, but only for reference, as you can find housing and cheaper and more expensive at times.

• How not to make a mistake with the choice

  

  In order not to make a mistake with the choice and then not to suffer all the rest, running with basins of hot water, be sure to check everything in place. Intermediaries can promise a lot of things, the owners promise a little less, and you yourself will certainly see everything. Be sure to unobtrusively check the availability of hot water (even if you are shown a water heater, it is not a fact that it will work), the efficiency of the stove in the kitchen, the availability and performance of the Internet. Please note beds, linens and pillows.

  Even if you rent a room for 500 rubles, this does not mean that it should be dirty and smelly. Everything should be cleaned, beds clean, dishes washed. If the opposite is true, and the owners do not even come out to meet you and apologize that they did not have time to wash the dishes and take out the garbage after the previous tenants (you communicate only with the intermediary), our advice is to run away from such a place.

  And more advice on the location of housing. Here, too, you should be careful, because in the Crimea, even if you rent a house 100 meters from the sea on the map, this does not guarantee that you really get to it by walking 100 meters. In many places, access to the beach is blocked by large hotels, sanatoriums, construction sites, paid parks, and instead of 100 meters you have to go around kilometers. Well, here you have to rely on the answers of the owners or the mediator, looking into their honest eyes.

Good luck in your trips to Crimea, and do not forget to share with others information on our forum.