My stay at Bashkortostan Hotel Ufa was one of the worst hotel experiences in my life .... and I have traveled all over the world ..... staying in the best and worst hotels that exist.

Further .... I have serious questions about Hotel Club.

Now the story _

When I made my reservation you showed a picture of the type of room. Based on the picture I made a reservation through Hotel Club. But the room they had available was not even close to what you showed. The hotel staff was completely unwilling _ even though the hotel was more than half empty _ to make any accommodation. My room was in an echo chamber above the front desk.

Unfortunately I was forced to extend my stay beyond the reservation I made through Hotel Club. I found out at that time that the rate charged by the hotel is considerably less than what I paid Hotel Club. This is quite annoying, given your advertisements.

But the most puzzling .... AND ANNOYING event occurred when I went to check out of the hotel. I wanted to pay the hotel, partially with the national currency which I still had and the balance with my credit card. The hotel staff said that this was impossible. They could accept payment for the full amount of my balance _ only_ with cash or by credit card, but they could, under no circumstances, split the charges between cash and credit card. At 6 in the morning there was no place to change money and I was forced to leave Russia with more than $1000. in Russian currency because they refused to split the bill.

I am certain this was not the fault of the staff, but rather some idiotic policy made by a manager. I have stayed in other, better hotels in Russia. In my thousands of hotel stays all over the world, this is the first time this has ever happened.

My suggestion ... avoid Ufa if you can! I looked at rooms in the other hotels. They were even less adequate than Bashkortostan Hotel Ufa.