very loud becouse big street was neer hotel and of course service of hotel always checked what I was doing or where I was going

What constitutes a luxury hotel in Minsk is comparable to lower- to mid-type American hotels, but we were grateful for the Orbita. It's clean and pleasant enough.

Be forewarned: the beds are hard, and the sheer curtains let in all light, which makes sleeping more difficult. We couldn't have slept without "chemical enhancement" (sleeping aids such as anti-histamine). Our friends had rooms on the east-facing street side, and the morning sun is a brutal wake-up force. Our room faced the back of the hotel, which was quieter, but the afternoon sun was so strong my husband had to put on his brimmed hat in order to sit at the desk and use his computer! After several nights we pulled a blanket from the duvet cover and hung it in the window to block out the light.

Also be warned that the rooms do not have a clock or a hair dryer. We were, however, surprised and delighted by the excellent strength of the water pressure in the shower.

And be warned that you have to lock yourself in your room when you’re in it. I forgot one time, and was quite surprised when a drunk hotel guest (or visitor?) opened our door by mistake one night. I shudder to think what might else have happened besides a look of surprise on both our faces.

The breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant offered fried eggs and boiled eggs in addition to an assortment of eastern European fare. If you use artificial sweetener, bring your own. We had dinner in that restaurant one night and were pleased by the portion sizes and quality of the food. (Interestingly, we were the only patrons.) We ate in the pizzeria several times and were grateful that they had an English dinner menu available (but not lunch). The coffee bar is very good also.

As you go out the hotel door, there is a market to your right which is helpful for things like bottled water, which we bought in 5-liter bottles. (Even the locals don't drink the tap water.) And tissue (Kleenex), which the hotel rooms did not have. We came prepared to make our own coffee in the mornings since in-room coffee makers are non-existent, and were glad to buy large mugs at that market.

Behind the hotel is a supermarket and many flea-market type stalls. It's an interesting stroll if you have the time.

There are steps EVERYWHERE. In the hotel, outside the hotel, downtown. I usually use a scooter or wheelchair when traveling due to a mobility problem, but either would have been useless in Minsk. I saw a number of people on canes, but only one wheelchair and that was in the hotel the morning we left. I wondered how the man was going to get to the restaurant or even up the two steps to the pizzeria. (But then, this is really not out of the ordinary. Even at the Minsk airport, near stairs there are signs with the wheelchair logo that say "with assistance," and two men come to carry wheelchairs and their occupants up and down stairs.)

There is fast wi-fi in the lobby; you buy cards for an hour at a time for about 60 cents. Cheap and good! Only one of the couches had a power outlet close enough to plug into.

My husband's previous experiences with Minsk hotels included aggressive, unwanted prostitutes banging on his door and calling rooms in the middle of the night ("Massage? Sex?"). So he remarked several times on the refreshing difference and classiness of the Orbita. The no-nonsense business-suited security guards always in the lobby, did not allow prostitutes to openly work the hotel.

We were pleased and hope to return to the Orbita.

This hotel is, in my opinion, the best choice in Minsk, on the quality/prices side.
It has quite good rooms, especially on high floors; a little bit noisy on the Prospekt Pushkina side.
The metro station is directly in front of the hotel,so you can reach the downtown in a few minutes.

The minus is the restaurant, poor quality and rude staff.

The wife and I where on a trafalger tour that stayed for one night at the Orbita. When we arrived we where given accomodation that was there business class standard. According to the information leaflets at the front desk. this standard had air conditioning and a mini fridge. The room in fact had two single beds, no fridge, no air conditioning, fans or cooling of any sort. The mattreses sat inside of a wooden frame that pushed into the back of your legs if you sat on the bed. The only floor in the hotel with air conditioning is the top 14th floor. I was lucky enough to be able to upgrade for US$115.00 to one of the rooms on the 14th floor. I quearied the false accomodation information with the front desk. The answer that the girls gave me was. We know the advertising is wrong but managment dosen't see fit to change it. The next morning we sat down to a fixed breakfast of two fried eggs and two small pork sausages. Not one person in our group touched the sausages as they wher still thawing and when the wife complained that the eggs where cold. She was promptly told by a large russian woman ( not cold you eat) We also noted this with the front counter. All the girls at the counter could do was shrug there sholders and agree that they know that they have a problem with the kitchen staff.