Stayed here with a group of friends, and had a very enjoyable week in Kyiv, fine hot sunny weather every day. I thought I would do a review on the hotel, because some earlier reviews were a bit poor, and I found it nothing like these. Clearly not an upmarket hotel, but clean & comfortable and quite cheap, but in a very convenient location, particularly for the metro station up the road, which in Kyiv is a cheap way to travel (very cheap..pennies). Food was good, bar good, all quite friendly, even though some poor English, but if you smile you get results. You can get better, but you will pay a fair bit more, son it depends what you want.

This is the second hotel I stayed at in Kiev. I first stayed at Oselya. The room at Oselya is much nicer, cleaner, and has a huge bathroom compared to Express. I chose Express this time because it was supposedly a fairly "new" hotel, it's closer to the city and to the train station. My first impression of the room was that it looked old. For example, the carpet in my room looked weathered, discolored, etc. The bathroom was really tiny, especially the sink. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting especially because I chose the premium single room. But it was OK. As another person mentioned, "it gets the job done", but I definitely recommend staying at an apartment instead.

The first night, I noticed lots of water bugs coming from under the shower. I killed a few of them as they were crawling by my feet (about 5). The next morning, I asked for a different room and instead the staff looked at me like I was crazy and asked me to show them the bugs, and they will clean them. So a member of the cleaning staff that didn't speak any english came to the room and was staring at dead bug guts on a towel that I used for a few minutes. I thought it was a bit strange, she rambled some ukr things, I left the room and when I came back the bathroom smelled like heavy chemicals. OK. It did absolutely nothing to get rid of the bugs. I didn't want to bother complaining again. So I lived with the bugs for the whole week. Overall I killed about 25 of them (sorry bugs).

If not for the major bug issue, this would be a decent hotel. It's a short walk to the train station if you plan on visiting other cities. There's two restaurants - the one on the 16th floor owned by the hotel and the restaurant/bar downstairs Jaardin. A couple of blocks from the hotel is Sunduk pub if you want something tastier. The internet works good - you have to pay like $12 or 12 grivnas.

The following week I decided to stay at an apartment instead. For about $100/night I got a beautiful modern apartment one block from the main street. The bed was much more comfortable, the apartment was huge, and overall I was much more satisfied living there. I definitely recommend getting an apartment instead of trying to find the best "budget" hotel.

Western style hotels are unusually expensive in Kyiv and the Hotel Express is a decent option bc it is very reasonable and has a location within walking distance of the train station. I stayed here at least half a dozen times from January to June 2010. It was recommended by the people I was working with. The first few times I had no problems, but then the shower leaked one time, and another time the air conditioning dripped on the bed all night. At least they had AC though, as many places don't. The bathrooms are tiny but most are in Europe. No frills in this hotel and bring your own toiletries bc you will only get soap and a shower cap. Wireless internet is not available in rooms and each time I tried it it was not working in the lobby.
The best aspects of this hotel are the price, the location, and the breakfast. The breakfast buffet is included in the price and is great (western style, drip coffee is served, which is a rarity).

Very new hotel, in the city centre. Large rooms and very omfortable bed, linens and towels. I can assure you that I am most satisfied. Like fellow travellers have commented, the room and bathroom are spacious.
All staff very helpful but reception especially fab. Lovely breakfast too!