Ukraine Hotels

Central Ukraine is comprised of the following oblasts: Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, the Capital Kiev (Right-Bank Ukraine), Chernihiv, Poltava, Sumy (Right-Bank Ukraine). These regions used to be the centre of the Russian expansion to the Ukraine (Little Russia) and were constantly fought over between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia.

Eastern Ukraine is comprised of the following oblasts: Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhaporizia, Donetsk, Luhansk (Eastern Ukraine Proper), Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kherson (Southern Ukraine) and the autonomous Crimea. For the great share of modern history this area was under Russian rule and was accordingly strongly influenced by Russian culture. Eastern Ukraine also has the largest Russian minority in the country.

With exceptions, the Ukrainian hospitality industry has yet to develop the level of service most business travelers come to expect.

Recently, a number of famous international hotel chains opened their doors in Kyiv, but the attractiveness of investment opportunities in Ukraine’s hotel market continues to be constrained by bureaucracy and prolonged delays in the adoption of sensible land­ use law, industry experts said.

“With the growth of the economy, visitors to Ukraine increased in number by more than 50 percent between 2003 and 2007, nearing 20 million annually," said Galina Martynyuk, sales and marketing manager for Senator Apartments. "At the same time the number of hotel beds is less than a quarter of Prague’s.”

Senator Apartments is Ukraine’s first chain of high­quality, full­service furnished accomodations. The company currently runs two complexes, Senator Apartments City Center and Senator Apartments Executive Court, both in the capital.

More than 1,250 hotels operate in Ukraine, Martynyuk said, though these figures should not be misunderstood — only half of these meet European three­ to five­star standards.

Hotel room rates of the same category are much higher in Kyiv than in other European capitals, according to Iryna Yablochkova, general manager of the boutique hotel Riviera on Podol. Thus, Radisson SAS hotel charges 367 euro per night in Kyiv and only 175 euro in Warsaw.

Riviera on Podol opened in Kyiv in May 2007 as the first classic boutique hotel, attracting elite travelers with nightly rates ranging from $375 to $1000.

Industry insiders emphasize the huge gap between high prices and low quality service in Ukraine’s hospitality sector.

Ukrainian hotels usually charge double the price for deluxe rooms, Yablochkova said, because the demand is especially high for the best suites and as a rule the price rarely corresponds to an appropriate service level.

“The demand for high­quality hotel service greatly exceeds the supply, and the shortfall is filled by Soviet­era hotels and private sector apartment rentals,” said Martynyuk, adding that the occupancy level of Kyiv’s four­ to five­star hotels came to 60 percent last year, at the average room price of about 300 euro per night.

“This is among the highest average price in Europe and will not fall until at least a dozen new quality hotels are opened,” she added.

Industry insiders said the Kyiv five­star hotel market is nearing saturation and will reach it when the 10 planned luxury hotels are completed before the EURO 2012 football championship.

“One should not forget that the three­ and four­star hotel segments are also not filled in Ukraine," said Oleksandr Lytvyn, the general director of the elite Premier Palace hotel in Kyiv.

"And if we are talking about attracting a massive amount of tourists to the country, it is this segment that will be satisfying the demand,”

A number of mid­level international hotel chains have announced plans to fill the void in the three­star segment, industry players said.

With a 100­year history and renovated in 2001, the Premier Palace was the first five­star hotel to appear in Ukraine. The hotel was originally designed and built by city architect Lev Ginsburg and was known as a luxurious hotel before World War I.

The two­ to four­star hotel sectors in Ukraine remain thin and are low in quality with a poor range of services, hence international players might successfully fill up these undeveloped niches, industry insiders expect.

“This share will fall into the hands of hotels under the management of international operators, who also charge higher rates but offer a corresponding quality of service familiar to many travelers," Yablochkova said, naming Intercontinental, Ritz Carlton, Hyatt, Radisson as candidates.