ONEGIN WOULD BE EXTREMELY PROUD OF HIS YEKATERINBURG HOTEL
(AND PUSHKIN WOULD BE EXTREMELY PROUD OF ONEGIN)!
We are a Russian and American couple who enjoy and respect good hotels, good food, and good customer service.
This was our first time to stay at Hotel Onegin located at Rozy Lyuksemburg St. 49 in Yekaterinburg, Russia and what a TRULY WONDERFUL TIME it was!
This was also our first time to visit Yekaterinburg, Russia’s 4th largest city by population (approx. 1.5 million people) and 3rd largest city by economic parameters.
We stayed at Hotel Onegin (which is quite centrally located) for 4 nights in November 2019 and paid 3,650 Rubles (57.13 USD) per night for the room, for a total of 14,600 Rubles (228.52 USD). Onegin currently offers a 15% discount (“PROMO15”).
By our choice we did NOT include breakfast (535 RUR or 8.37 USD per person) but rather paid for it separately.
After assessing by internet approx. 5 hotels in Yekaterinburg, our choice came down to selecting one of two hotels: either Hotel Onegin or Novotel.
We then sent an email to the two hotels and received a prompt and positive response from Hotel Onegin, but we had to write again to Novotel to receive a response.
In the final analysis, we selected Hotel Onegin because the hotel reflected better CUSTOMER SERVICE when it came to our specific requests/needs during our stay.
Hotel ONEGIN is situated in the ONEGIN Business Center and starts on the 9th floor and ends on the 15th floor (where the ONEGIN restaurant is located).
The following is what WE LIKED MOST about Hotel Onegin:
(1) The HOTEL (in both public areas and in our room) is EXCEPTIONALLY CLEAN;
(2) Our ROOM was exceptionally LARGE at 35 m2 (377 ft2), and it felt good to be in our room simply to relax (i.e., our room made us feel like we were in a “home away from home” and psychologically this is important, especially for longer stays);
(3) The personnel at the RECEPTION desk on the 9th floor were always PROFESSIONAL, COURTEOUS, HOSPITABLE, and HELPFUL;
(4) The BREAKFAST (6:30 am - 10:30 am Monday through Friday; 7 am – 11 am Saturday and Sunday) was DELICIOUS, WELL ORGANIZED, and had a LARGE SELECTION of FOOD and DRINKS (see details below).
The breakfast is served on the 15th floor in the panoramic ONEGIN restaurant – the restaurant is ELEGANT, has a WHITE DECOR, and has a NICE CITY VIEW.
We very much liked that the tables in the restaurant were NOT “on top of each other”, i.e., there was sufficient space between the tables to promote a certain feeling of PRIVACY.
We counted 15 tables in the restaurant (13 tables for 4 people, 1 table for 6 people, and 1 large and beautiful round table for 10 people) - of course, since the restaurant is large (capacity 120 people) it is evident to us that the number of tables and chairs can be increased and/or configured differently depending upon guest and party needs.
The restaurant and kitchen personnel are PROFESSIONAL, HELPFUL, and FRIENDLY and do a good job of clearing plates in a timely yet unobtrusive manner.
The professional CHEF comes out of the kitchen on a consistent basic to check on the food, to see what food items have been depleted and need to be replaced promptly, and also to answer any questions that guests may have regarding the food.
(5) The SAUNA area (open daily from 8 am to 11 pm) is located on the 11th floor of the hotel and has 2 saunas, tropical shower, standard shower, and toilet.
In addition to the sauna area, there are two very nice men’s and women’s locker rooms (with additional shower and toilet in each) and a small fitness area with a treadmill, stationary bicycle, and step machine for those who want to exercise some. And, for those of us who want a more extensive workout, there is a gym in the building that costs a reasonable 300 Rubles (4.70 USD) for one visit.
(6) Several additional things that we like about Hotel Onegin are as follows:
(A) The hotel does NOT attempt to OVERCHARGE its guests for additional services, i.e., for the most part PRICES ARE REASONABLE and FAIR, especially for the hotel industry which often tends to use every means possible to increase its profit.
For example, the Onegin restaurant’s buffet breakfast costs 535 Rubles (8.37 USD).
Compare this to Novotel’s buffet breakfast that costs almost two times more at 1,000 Rubles (15.65 USD) but that in our estimation does NOT have any better breakfast food selection than Onegin has (and also does NOT have the elegant atmosphere that Onegin has), and it is clear that Onegin offers a better value.
We also reviewed Onegin’s a la carte menu and the Lobby Bar’s drinks and desserts menu, and all of these menus reflect reasonable prices in our estimation.
Because we wanted to eat dinner at various restaurants in Yekaterinburg, we only ate dinner one time at Onegin and enjoyed our very good meal – we had caesar salad with chicken, Greek salad, salmon tartare, duck breast, grilled vegetables, potatoes with fresh mushrooms, one glass of wine, Borjomi sparkling water, and a fresh pot of tea - our bill was 2,850 RUR (44.61 USD), which is approx. $ 22 per person.
Onegin has delicious and refreshing freshly squeezed orange and grapefruit juice for 200 RUR (3.13 USD) which we drank several times in the Lobby Bar (capacity 50 people) on the 9th floor (near the Reception desk) during our stay. The Lobby Bar also serves food selected from the restaurant’s a la carte menu and prepared by the restaurant.
(B) The hotel is quite TRANSPARENT when it comes to providing an EXTENSIVE list of the items that it either automatically supplies or promptly supplies upon request to guests (there is a large tri-fold brochure in the room that stands up on the table with this list): bathrobe, slippers, towels, shower cap, paper napkins, bath salt, sewing kit, iron and ironing board, hanging clothes dryer, shoe cleaning sponges and towelettes, basin, blankets, pillow menu, evening turndown service, humidifier, heater, air freshener, antistatic, floor weight scales, stationery accessories, dental kit, shaving kit, shampoo, shower gel, hair conditioner, body lotion, coffee machine, water, dishes, corkscrew, baby cot, baby chair, baby bath, children’s books and toys, etc. Of special note are the large balls of bath salt which were a wonderful addition to our relaxing baths that we took at times as an alternative to our showers, so be sure to ask for them during your stay!
OUR CONCLUSION: In assessing our stay at any hotel (whether in Russia, Europe, the USA, etc.) we always ask ourselves ONE question: do we have a STRONG DESIRE to stay at this hotel AGAIN? And, the answer is YES, DEFINITELY, WE HAVE A STRONG DESIRE TO STAY AGAIN AT HOTEL ONEGIN!
Regarding the DELICIOUS BREAKFAST, below is a LISTING of FOOD and DRINK items for those of you who like to know SPECIFIC DETAILS:
(1) DRINKS – water, juices (orange, apple, cowberry), tea (black, fruit, green) and fresh lemon slices, coffee;
(2) FISH and MEAT COLD CUTS - cold-smoked oil fish, lightly-salted herring, assorted sliced meat cold cuts;
(3) SALAD BAR - coleslaw, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, pickled tomatoes, pickles;
(4) FRESH FRUIT - fruit salad, grapefruit slices, orange slices, whole apples, oranges, pears;
(5) DRIED FRUIT and NUTS – plums, apricots, raisins, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds;
(6) CEREALS – two types of dry cereal, oatmeal, rice porridge (or corn porridge);
(7) EGGS and TYPICAL BREAKFAST MEATS – fried, boiled, and scrambled eggs; bacon, fried sausage;
(8) MILK and CHEESE PRODUCTS – two types of sliced cheese, cottage cheese, cottage cheese casserole, yogurt, kefir, sour cream, milk;
(9) BLINY (thin pancakes);
(10) CONDIMENTS and SPREADS– soy sauce, olive oil, mustard, catsup, horseradish, honey, two jams, condensed milk;
(11) FRESH BREAD – black and white bread rolls, black and white bread slices;
(12) FRESH DESSERTS (one of us has a “sweet tooth”) – eclairs, chocolate muffins, croissants, raisin “snails”, ginger snap cookies, shortcake cookies, meringue, chocolate or vanilla cake sprinkled with powdered sugar;
(13) LUNCH-TYPE FOOD ITEMS – Hotel Onegin has a selection of lunch-type food items for those of us who prefer these items at breakfast, and we tried some of these freshly-made items and enjoyed them: couscous with peas, steamed vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, broccoli), chicken fricassee, grilled zucchini, baked potatoes, tilapia fillet (with tomatoes and cheese), rice (with carrots, bell peppers, and corn); buckwheat/ grechka (with mushrooms and onions).
Finally, there are four “small” but important requests that we have and therefore ask that hotel and restaurant management give adequate consideration to these requests since there may very well be other guests who feel the same way that we do:
(1) The COFFEE at BREAKFAST is a mix of Arabica and Robusta coffee beans, but the Robusta is such a HIGH content that for us the coffee is NOT pleasant to drink (and in fact the extremely strong and harsh smell of the coffee is not pleasant as well).
When we looked at Onegin reviews online before placing our hotel reservation, we noticed that several guests complained about the coffee, so we were forewarned that this could be a problem but did not think that it would be so bad. While this may seem like a “small matter,” for people who like and appreciate good coffee and really enjoy that first (and possibly second) cup of coffee in the morning, this is important.
To overcome this problem, at first we considered having breakfast at Novotel (but for the reasons noted above decided against this). Ultimately, every morning we took small packages of NESCAFE instant coffee (which generally we do NOT use simply because we highly prefer quality freshly-brewed coffee) from our room and simply added hot water and milk from the breakfast counter. From talking with staff at the hotel, we understand that previously there was a better coffee served at breakfast – therefore, we ask either that the current coffee be REPLACED with a better one or at the very least that a quality 100% arabica instant coffee be offered as an alternative to the current coffee.
(2) The restaurant might want to consider replacing the existing DRIED PLUMS/PRUNES (chernosliv) in the buffet breakfast since they are so thin that they can dry out quickly, lose their succulence, and become hard to chew.
(3) There is LIVE MUSIC (piano, violin, or saxophone) in the Lobby Bar on the 9th floor (near the reception desk) from 8 pm to 10 pm, but unfortunately we were told that this depends on the hotel occupancy level, i.e., the higher the occupancy level the more likely it is that there will be live music that night.
While we definitely understand that any business must consider economically “the bottom line” and respect the value of money by spending wisely, we think that it would be good if at least on some SPECIFIC nights of the week the hotel could try its best to have the live music, regardless of the occupancy level. During the four nights (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) of our stay there was live (and beautiful) piano music only on Thursday night but because we were on our way out of the hotel when we heard the music we decided to hear it on Friday night since reception staff told us incorrectly that live music also would be on Friday night – as a result, we did not ever get to hear the beautiful live music that we know we would have enjoyed.
(4) One thing that we would have liked when we took showers/baths is VERY SMALL WASHCLOTHS to use with the soap and shower gel when bathing.
There were nice HAND towels and BATH towels to wipe off with, but not any washcloths to actually wash the body with.
Regarding TOURIST activities, we walked a lot in Yekaterinburg since to walk a city is to get to know it better, visited the Museum of Fine Arts, Yeltsin Center, and a special livre d’artiste (artist’s book) art exhibit at the Yeltsin Center highlighting 15 Russian artists who emigrated abroad (Alekseev, Annenkov, Goncharova, Delaunay, Zak, Kantor, Lanskoy, Lebedev, Pivovarov, Polyakov, Puni, Survage, Tereshkovich, Zadkine, and last but not least Chagall).
Regarding RESTAURANTS, all that we visited had excellent service.
We had lunch or dinner at Onegin Hotel restaurant (very good food, good value), Stroganov Grill near the hotel (excellent food, good value, 10% discount), Bontempi Pizza in Yeltsin Center (excellent food), Cruchon (very good food, somewhat overpriced), and Perchini in Grinvich shopping mall (very good food).
In closing, the EXCELLENT QUALITY of our stay at HOTEL ONEGIN made our trip to Yekaterinburg a most pleasant one.
Thank you, HOTEL ONEGIN staff, for our wonderful and truly memorable stay in beautiful and friendly Yekaterinburg!
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