Genoff

Compared to most hotels I saw or am aware of in Krasnodar, Russia, the Hotel Genoff does seem new and nicely renovated by comparison. It offers some very nice and new modern decor in the common areas and rooms, and it offers free wi-fi internet access, but these stand-out features fail to make-up for the property's key short-comings in my opinion. The #1 failure is that it is impossible to get any food on-site after the free breakfast period from 7-11am. It is not available in restaurants or via room service. You must simply leave the hotel to eat or even acquire food... period. This leads to the #2 concern which is a very poor location, as nothing is available near by the hotel either. Food, shopping and all points of interest in Krasnodar are at least a 20-30 minute cab ride away, each way, so you will need to factor this into your planning and budget to stay there. The rooms are nice and do come with free wi-fi internet, but unless you speak Russian, the new flat screen tv is really only a nice piece of wall art, as you will not be able to understand anything on tv. The staff does their best to be polite and accommodating and is apologetic about the short-comings of the hotel, but their English abilities are also strongly lacking. I toured the Red Royal Hotel and would have likely moved there to stay except for the fact that they charge hourly for internet access and their location was not all that inspiring either. If I ever have to return to Krasnodar though, I would clearly have to consider the Red Royal Hotel or another site vs. staying at the Hotel Genoff again. It was a nice little boutique hotel on the surface, but even most taxi drivers do not know where it is, even if you supply the address. And service is an important ingredient too, one that Hotel Genoff has simply either forgotten to supply or simply cannot afford to provide for its guests. Unless this changes with time, it is not a hotel site worthy of recommending to saavy international travelers [*]