Palas Delʹ Mar — Hotel in Odesa Urban Hromada

My first visit to Ukraine and Odessa and I was apprehensive to say the least. Even more so after our landing at Odessa airport where the runway looked to be made of pavement slabs ! (the roughest landing I have ever experienced).||Then there was the drive to the Hotel passing run down houses, ramshackle suburbs, very old dishevelled apartment buildings...yes! I was worried.||After a crazy hectic drive dodging the mad Odessa traffic and navigating a few side streets we turned through security gates and into a beautiful garden area and pulled up at the entry to a fabulous white Villa.||From the moment that I stepped out of the cab I knew that this would be a brilliant experience. The welcome was so warm and friendly (in English) and my treatment stayed that way for the entire 10 days that I was there.||The reception staff, the bar staff, the restaurant (which is available 24 hours a day) staff,||the pool staff and even the security guards...all were amazingly friendly and helpful.||My room was immaculately clean as was the bathroom and balcony (overlooking the pool and with a glimpse of the Black Sea).||The food and service at the hotel is excellent (not 5 star, but you are not paying that much).||The hotel has easy access (maybe 5 minutes walk) to Arcadia which an incredible entertainment precinct full of restaurants, bars, nightclubs, serviced beaches, cafes, dancing fountains, a water park and shops. It is called the 'Russian Riviera' and deserves the title...although I would now call it the 'Ukraine Riviera'.||I have now stayed at Palace del Mar a second time because I loved it so much the first time and have made friends with many staff.||That's the sort of...

My wife and I stayed for 6 days in this hotel. We booked a standard room with balcony, ground floor, facing the pool area. The room is spacious and the bed is large and comfortable: the furniture looks quiet cheap though, so I would not rate it a as 5 stars. The property (a former villa) is surrounded by a beautiful small park with different type of trees and flowers. The pool area s really nice. Few minutes walk to main Arkadia restaurants and clubs.||||||The staff and service:||If you are not a Russian speaker, you may have some difficulties communicating with the staff, since their English is poor. The personnel seemed to me very "shy" (hardly smiles) and some waiters appeared to me a bit rude. This is only my personal impression as non Ukrainian. The people at the reception are however very professional.||||The clients:||most of the clients were from the former Soviet Union countries. Honestly I was a bit shocked by the behavior of some individuals: you would expect to see these people everywhere but not in a 5 star hotel. They had no manners at all and were shouting at the hotel staff...no wonders why the waiters are shy. So if you are westerner, you may have some interesting cultural experience staying at this hotel.||||Value for money: the hotel is nice but...

I booked this hotel because I needed a place that would accept pets. Surprisingly, many hotels in Odessa did not. The staff was kind, gracious and absolutely accomodating. And this was the entire staff, from reception to restaurant, to gardener and guard. It was off season, and chilly, but still we had an easy walk to the beach, where we enjoyed the sound of the waves, and walking along the sand. The staff even arranged a tour for us that allowed us to take the little dog! The grounds are beautiful and relaxing. The breakfast was adequate, but the coffee was exceptional! We ate our meals at the restauraraunt, and the meals were good. I highly recommend the chicken soup! It is pretty far from the city center, but it was easy to get a taxi to get there. I would book this hotel again. I would further recommend that other Odessa hotels think about accepting pets, as I'm beginning to see more Ukrainians with beloved...