Sochi Tourist Decries High Costs and Terrible Service

Russian woman Marina Epishina came to Sochi for a vacation during the winter season and was so dissatisfied that she will not return. Her story is published by the Zen channel «Tourism Subtleties». The woman is sure that stories about being able to vacation in Sochi and Krasnaya Polyana on any budget are complete nonsense.

— If you pay little, you«ll get a nightmare vacation; here, only walking is free, and even that»s not everywhere. But if you pay a lot, you still won«t get anything good. To get comfort in Sochi, you need to pay very, very much, — stated Marina.

She is convinced that due to high demand for vacations in Sochi, there is no competition. Judging by the administration«s statistics (which is very debatable, since there is actually no counting tool), approximately the same number of tourists vacation in Sochi every year.

Demand is high, and it«s simply easier for hoteliers to raise prices and earn several times more on the same number of vacationers without doing anything special for their comfort. If some broke tourists don»t come, others will, those who are solvent.

This year, Marina Epishina couldn«t find a budget hotel near the slopes, and the season this year is so-so. Not once have all the trails at the ski resorts been open. Sometimes due to lack of snow, sometimes due to its excess. Therefore, Marina»s family settled by the sea, went to the mountains a few times. They spent a pile of money and time on the road, not all trails were open. Horrible queues formed for the lifts.

— The biggest crowd is at 960 m, at 1410 it«s freer, but the price — you understand. Trails close, money isn»t refunded. In the evening we bought a ski pass, in the morning everything was closed. You can«t transfer your ski pass to another person. The number of people on the trail is unsafe, everyone knocks each other over, people fly like bowling pins. The quality of the trails is disgusting, all bumps! Very many are skiing drunk, patrol doesn»t monitor this! — Marina is indignant.

Even the flight on the Gorky Fly hang glider disappointed the tourists, though not the flight itself, it«s actually super: very beautiful views. But the staff — unprofessional: they lost the photos of the flight, spent over an hour figuring out where they were, in the end only found photos of Marina»s husband, and even those of disgusting quality.

At «Sochi Park», the Epishin family paid 5,000 rubles (about $56 at current rates), the child only managed to ride one attraction. Due to bad weather, all attractions were closed, but this wasn«t announced at the entrance. They waited two hours in a cafe for the rain to stop, but the attractions never opened, and the money, of course, wasn»t returned.

— Minus 5,000 rubles (about $56) from the family budget for one carousel and an impressive bill at a local restaurant. No calls to the hotline helped, very sorry for the wasted time and money, — says Marina.

The Epishins lived in the three-star hotel «Gamma Sirius». Marina has no complaints about the room«s cleanliness, but wind blows from the windows like from a pipe. Service at the front desk and in restaurants — like in a rundown dormitory.

— Dining halls in the buildings, like in a pioneer camp, service is rude, no one is responsible for anything, food is swept away. There aren«t enough utensils, people make coffee for themselves in soup tureens, and eat with knives. Guests are on their own, you were given the room key — and that»s it, — asserts Marina.

The only place where everything is good — is the embankment. Everything that doesn«t involve people and service in Sochi is excellent. Marina thinks that you need to come to the resort in summer and immerse yourself in natural beauty and look for wild beaches — or better not go at all. With such an attitude toward tourists, there is no chance for improving the service level.