This is quite a basic hotel but the staff did seem to speak quite good English and were always cheerful.

The reasons why I cant give this hotel full marks is because:

The hotel website room photos did not correspond at all to what we got and the bed was extremely uncomfortable. In addition they describe the hotel as the oldest in Yalta but apart from the plaque on the wall in the lobby I could have easily of believed it was all built 20 to 30 years ago (apparently it is from the 19th Century). They even have the cheek to say on the website that "You can hear the roar of the surf and sea breezes and the stunning views of the waterfront will not leave you indifferent" well the only thing we could see from our balcony were trees and a road which was noisy from both cars and late at night tourists. We were also woken by music and singing from the hotel restaurant (sounded like Karaoke). The door also has little sound proofing so when the tour groups check out early in the morning they are all heard marching off.

Twice when going to breakfast four of us couldn't sit together because the restaurant was full. The breakfast restaurant has two parts the nice outside "conservatory" bit but the larger inside bit is oppressive. The quality of the breakfast itself was ok but nothing special.

Overall I just don't see why other reviewers rate this place so highly.

I stayed here for only one night with friends and I must say: it was the best hotel on our Ukranian tour (Odessa, Sevastopol, Simferopol). I stayed in the new part of the building, in a double room that cost about 750 UAH and the hotel really met European standards. The staff was very friendly, spoke English very well and fixed the lame bathroom lock immediately. The room was spacious and clean and the swimming pool was nice. Breakfast is served a few doors away and was excellent. The boulevard is only 50 m away, but if you walk the other way around (to the left from the hotel) you can find some excellent eating spots (e.g. the Van Gogh restaurant). Away from the crowded part of the city, but with the same view of the Black Sea.

We stayed here for 5 nights in May, the room was spacious, clean and very comfortable. The location couldn't be better, it's really central. Also the staff were friendly and helpful and I would not hesitate booking the Bristol Hotel again.

I stayed at Bristol hotel for 3 nights with my husband. I have to stay this hotel worked out kind of perfect for us. We had a Deluxe room and it was way bigger than we expected! I can't really compare to the other rooms that this hotel has to offer, but ours was very spacious, clean and comfortable. I liked that the staff pretty much just leaves you alone which is what we needed. Hotel is very close to the strip (Naberezhnaya) as well as the little grocery stores, bus stops and restaurants.

The only improvement if I were to suggest would be to install shower curtains. The bath tub was set up for taking baths so was a little complicated to just take a shower. Other than that, I would say we had an excellent stay at Bristol hotel.

A few comments about activities we did:

- We ended up taking one organized excursion to Vorontsovsky Palace which you can book right there on the strip. It was very well organized and affordable (120 HRN = $15). We then figured out that we can just catch a bus on our own to different places since we didn't want to have a guide. Bus ride ranges from 2.5 to 5 HRN per person (30-60 cents). We took bus 34 to Nikitskiy Botanical Garden which was really neat. We also went to try Massandra Wines by taking bus 40 to the winemaking plant. Massandra Wines are known for their dessert/liquor wines and both my husband and I found them too sweet. The wine tasting was still very interesting as you are taken to the tasting room where you sit down and they bring out a flight of 9 wines. Then the local wine expert explains about each wine individually: the history of wine, how it’s made, sugar vs. alchy content, what types of food it goes with, what types of flavors you might taste etc etc. Quite different than wine tasting we have in California.
- The restaurant right across the street (I think called "Parus") - food was just ok. The bill was incorrect and I had to argue with the restaurant owner about fixing it. They fixed it in the end, but made it very clear that they were very upset with us for pointing out their own mistake.
- If you go up the "Painters alley" which starts at the end of Naberezhnaya (the opposite end of where Bristol is) there are a few very good food stands. The one that was right next to the little overpass was really our favorite - we literally had Peroshki and Chebureki three times that day! The guy selling them thought it was funny that we kept coming back.