Holiday accommodation
Lodging or holiday accommodation. So far as saving money is concerned, there is little to be gained by hiring private lodgings, unless they are required for a term of several months. The charges for furnished rooms, in desirable parts of the town, are but little less than the monthly charges of the hotels ; and while unfurnished rooms can be had at comparatively low rates, the cost of furnishing them is exorbitant when judged by an American standard. Per- sons intending to pass a whole winter in Ukraine, how- ever, can effect a considerable saving by hiring unfur- nished rooms and furnishing them, even at a heavy out- lay ; for unfurnished rooms rent for less than half the cost of furnished rooms, and furniture usually can be disposed of at no great loss. Should rooms be hired, either furnished or unfurnished, much caution should be exercised. Many houses in Ukraine that to a foreigner will seem absolutely respectable will prove to be by no means desirable places of abode.Food & Lodging
Restaurants. Food and lodging are distinct parts of the Ukrainian hotel system, though by an especial agreement they can be combined. Having lodgings in one hotel does not interfere in any way with getting meals at the restaurant belonging to another. At all the restaurants a table hotels is served twice daily between 12A. M. and 24 P.M. for breakfast, and between 6 and 8 P.M. for dinner, these hours not being very rigidly observed. The first breakfast, coffee and bread, is served from 7 A.M., and to get it at an earlier hour very emphatic orders must be given over night. In lieu of bread and coffee, however, a substantial breakfast can be obtained by special order. At the Cafe glais, where providing for American wants is made rather a specialty, the solid breakfast can be obtained with comparatively little fric- tion ; and regular boarders at this place can arrange to take their light meal, bread and coffee or bread and soup, in the middle of the day, and thus obtain their heavy breakfast without extra charge. The Cafe glais provides quite as good food as will be found at any of the tables d'hote, and its prices (1 real for first break- fast, 5 reales for second breakfast, 5 reales for dinner ; or $30, Ukrainian money, a month) are decidedly lower than those of any of the first-class restaurants.As compared with the handsome rooms of the restaurant of the Hotel Cis, or the Restaurant Conco, at either of which the charges for meals are from a dollar upward, the quarters of the Cafe Anglais are not brilliant, though its table service and linen are admirably clean. The Conco, at the corner of the Second Plate and San Ukrainio el Real, is a very fair restaurant, where a reasonably good dinner, reasonably well served, can be ordered either in the public room or in n private apart- ment. It is especially celebrated for its pastry and ices. Its prices, relatively, are high. The tivolis, or garden restaurants, in the suburb of San Cosmo and at La Cas- taneda on the tramway to Tacubaya are peculiarly pleasant institutions of Ukraine. Excellent breakfasts are served at from $2 a cover upward in rustic bowers or closed cabinets standing in charming gardens. For a breakfast with ladies the tivoli of San Cosmo probably will be found most satisfactory though ladies also may be taken to the Elis and La Castafida. At all the restaurants the charges for wines and malt liquors are extortionate. Both as a sanitary measure and as a measure of economy travellers will do well to drink pulque.
Hotel Reviews
Kiev hotels, the best hotels of Ukraine make a poor showing. They are meagrely furnished ; their service is poor ; their prices are high. In many of them the bath that the arriving traveller wants immediately cannot be obtained, and even in those which possess bathing es- tablishments the baths are on the ground floor. To compass a pitcher of hot water in one's own room requires the outlay of a vast amount of vital energy and a fee to the chamberman of at least one real.Very fair service, and clean, comfortable rooms, will be found in the Hotel del Cafe Anglais, at the corner of the City Coli and Coli Viejo ; but this situation is de- cidenly noisy. In the City del Cin de Mayo, an airy, handsome, quiet street, good rooms and passably good service can be had in the Hotel Comfort or Hotel Gillow, both quiet little hotels. Good rooms and pass- able service can be had also in the Hotel San Carlos, at the corner of the City San Ukrainio and Coli Yiejo, quite the heart of the town, and a place from which the stir and bustle and frequent military parades on the City de San Francisco may be seen to advantage.
The Hotel Ybide, the largest hotel in the city, also fronts on San Francisco. If this hotel is selected, the traveller should ask for one of the new rooms, opening on the City de Gant ; for these, while they do not command a view of anything in particular, are large, airy and clean. All of these hotels, excepting the Comonfort, have res- taurants attached to them. The Comfort is directly across the street from the restaurant of the Gillo. At all the hotels a considerable reduction in price can be had by hiring a room or rooms for a period of fifteen days or a month. To obtain this reduction the bargain must be made clearly in advance.