Gala-Al'pik Hotel

We stayed here with a friend of mine, while skiing in Krasnaya Polyna. - Good hotel overall. It's almost brand new, like pretty much everything around. - Staff at the reception was very polite and happy to answer any questions - Bed was huge and with a good quality linen and mattress - The room itself was pretty big too - Wifi was free, but it was constantly on and off... like in the most of the hotels I stayed.. - the overall value was great with the current Russian Rubble exchange rate - There was a free shuttle bus at 0900, 1000, 1100 every morning that would take you to the slopes. - Gornaya Karusel lift is about 10 minutes walk, so you would only need the shuttle if you are going to Gorky Gorod (about 15-20 min drive depending on the traffic) or Gazprom area (small and overpriced in my opinion) - Everything else is nearby: supermarket across the street (across the motorway actually so be careful), there was a disco club next door with a good value karaoke bar, where we spend most of the evenings (there was nobody there and they had a good selection songs in English). Make sure you exchange your currency in Sochi or elsewhere and come prepared - there is only one currency exchange place in the entire valley, in the same building as the supermarket and it was closed for 10 days. I was stuck and could not exchange EUR, so had to use ATM, which wasn't really that cost effective. What we didn't like was: - Ski storage area wasn't really heated. There was a separate room where you could put your stuff to dry out, but it was always filled with stuff and wasn't really convenient - Breakfast was a bit poor, but there was always some porridge, which was what we really needed after those long night with vodkas etc. We would always find something to eat in the morning, but don't expect tonnes of food there. - The biggest disappointment was the fact that we had to pay extra if we wanted to use sauna or swimming pool at the hotel. C'mon guys - that should be included like everywhere else. What's the point of having the facilities that no one uses because of horrendous extra cost? To conclude, we pretty much liked everything at the hotel and in the area as well. Our Russian friends complained about the costs, but if you are used to French Alps prices, you'll be pleasantly surprised with the prices here. Skiing areas are still work in progress and there are too many learners on the slops with no idea what they are doing, but service in bars, restaurants etc was surprisingly good.