Babushka Grand Hostel, Odessa

IVERY IMPORTANT: The entrance to our hostel is on MALA ARNAUTSKAYA #60. There is NO entrance on Ekaterinenskaya 85.

WE ARE 3 BLOCKS FROM THE TRAINSTATION AND 1 BLOCK FROM THE TRAM TO ARCADIA.

OUR STAFF: Welcome to the Babushka Grand, we opened this hostel because we love meeting new people and we love Odessa. Let us introduce ourselves: Masha, the owner, is a working jazz singer born and raised in Odessa, John is a writer who has been living in Odessa working as a bartender, translator and editor, and Neil has been working in hostels in Ukraine since he came through for a week and never left, he has taken the best from what he has learned from other hostels (and left out the worst) to help make The Babushka Grand a special place. We love going the beach, listening to live music (or making it), walking around the city, cooking (especially Mexican food), playing poker, smoking hookah and just sitting around talking. We want to show you a great time and having lived on Ukrainian wages we know where to eat, what to do and where to drink CHEAP (and because we have friends that work in bars and clubs we may even be able to get a few things free). We've got a great group of friends, locals and expats, who we would love to introduce you to, because we know that it is people, more than anything else, that makes the experience. Odessa is our home and so we are less in the hostel business than making and keeping Odessa a great place to enjoy life.

OUR HOSTEL: Our hostel is a large spacious apartment with chandeliers and gold gilded ceilings. We have two balconies for lounging or smoking, two bathrooms and a large comfy communal area with carpets and a TV. Our kitchen is fully functional with a blender, microwave, stove, oven, meat grinder, spices, hot sauce (siracha). The dorm room is large, carpeted and spacious. Our private rooms are luxurious and decorated with classic furniture. The apartment's 18th century aristocratic style makes the Babushka Grand a truly gorgeous hostel which helps add to the home-like relaxed atmosphere that we try to provide for travelers rushing around Eastern Europe and exploring the former Soviet Union.

!!!EXTRAS!!!: To show our excitement for having you we offer a FREE WELCOME BEER.
And because we want to have time to get to know you, we offer as thanks to our longer term guests a 5TH NIGHT FREE if you BOOK or RESERVE 4 NIGHTS.
We also offer a 10% DISCOUNT to PEACE CORP VOLUNTEERS.

INCLUDED IN THE PRICE:
Breakfast, coffee and tea
available computer and Wi-Fi (with printer and scanner)
Secure storage
Hot sauce
Sheets and towels
maps

FACILITIES:
air-conditioned dorm room
Luxurious Private Rooms at backpacker rates
Spacious comfortable common room
Fully equipped kitchen
Two balconies for smoking
Hammock on the main balcony
Comfy box spring mattresses
Laundry
We're always open, 24 hour reception/ No lock outs

We can also arrange train tickets for you and starting in June can send invitations for free.

THE CITY: Odessa has character. Founded on free trade it became one of the richest ports in the Russian empire and because the stone used to build it was taken from below it, its thousands of kilometers of catacombs were perfect for smugglers during the days of the empire, partisans during the war, and then bandits after the fall of the soviet. Odessa is the resort city of the former Soviet Union and the Pearl on the Black Sea, a city home to and beloved by poets, artist and musicians. The locals have turned their tumultuous into a special humor that they carry with them everywhere as they stroll down the long tree lined Boulevards. Odessa is the one city where it is ok for Russians on the street, and if you ask them why they like Odessa, their smile will turn mischievous and they'll say, "Odessa is the best place to take a rest." This is the Odessa we want to and are qualified to show you.

LOCATION: We are located right in the center of the city next to the train station (which is where you take the bus or tram to get to Arcadia) and are surrounded by great bars, restaurants, stores, markets and are five minutes from the biggest club that is open during the summer PALADIUM.

By foot:
5 min. from the trainstation
5 min. from Prevoz market (where you can get the freshest, cheapest food in the city.)
12 minutes from Deirbasivskaya (the main pedestrian street) and all the main attractions
15 minutes from the sea

By public transport:
5 min. from Deribasivskaya
15 min from Arcadia Beach and Club complex (the backpackers Ibiza)
20 min from airport

TOURS: We save you from getting ripped off by providing our own local tour guides that can show you any of the popular historic sites, galleries or museums.

OR if you're feeling a bit more adventurous we are also happy to show you the dive bars, the slums, the courtyards or catacombs under Odessa. We can also arrange special excursions for you to go to a nearby castle and shoot cannons, visit a babushka and eat a traditional home cooked feast with traditional drinks, check out the graffiti and abandoned buildings, take cruises on yachts, go to a shooting range, go on a pub crawl (dive bar or disco). We can put together Russian, Ukrainian lessons and Odessa style cooking classes. Whatever you imagine, we can arrange it.

If there is something we haven't mentioned that you would like to see, just let us know what it is a day or two in advance and we'll make it happen.

NEW TOUR
Pirate cultural center in an old underground water storage unit, where you will be outfitted like a pirate, given brew and can cook sausages- translator and crazy old Russian man included.