Hotel Arena

I chose the Arena hotel for one night after arriving about 8pm from Vilnius. Minsk is a huge city and the airport is far from the city. This hotel is literally at the end of the highway before you get into central Minsk. As such it’s the closest thing to an airport hotel. It’s a good base if you fly in and want to be near the westbound highway if you’re doing a Road trip across Belarus the next day. So it was convenient. Check in was super efficient. Tatsiyana, the night receptionist, was cheerful and welcoming , and ready with information as needed . She explained the registration requirements for Belarus, which are unusual for Europe, and took care of everything professionally. When I got to my room I was pleasantly surprised to find it well appointed , far better than I expected for a hotel I chose largely for its convenience more than anything. WiFi was excellent. There is a bank across the street so it’s easy to change money (dollar is your best bet in Belarus). There’s an on-site third party restaurant which has a decent breakfast buffet for 7 USD. Highly recommend if you want to stay one night and be close to highways , and it really is as close as you can get to the airport if you’ve arrived at a strange hour. They’ll even arrange a transfer for a charge, which is useful as rentacar offices close at 7.30 and taxis are a bit pricey