Heard about this hotel from a friend who takes his family to the Black Sea coast every summer. When I told him that I was planning a trip to Sochi, he recommended that we also make time to go up to Krasnaya Polyana, in the mountains around the area. I'm glad we took his advice.

My wife and I and our 1 year old daughter spent 5 days of a 12 day trip to Sochi in Krasnaya Polyana at the Nutgrove Hotel ("Ореховая роща" in Russian) in mid August.

The city of Krasnaya Polyana is located about an hour from Sochi up in the mountains where the skiing events will be held for the 2014 Olympics. The hotel is similar to a lodge in that it is one large log-cabin building. It only has about 20 rooms and feels very cozy. We stayed in a one bedroom, but the room had to be about 40 sq meters (400 sq ft). Every room has a balcony and on-suite and the rooms facing the valley have stunning views of the surrounding mountains.

The hotel is family run and we got to know the owner's daughter quite well while we were there. She was very helpful in recommending different places to visit in the area and there was an endless list of lakes, markets, and other places of natural beauty to visit. The rest of the staff was also very polite and service all around was great.

The hotel’s restaurant features typical Russian cuisine with a mix of regional dishes, and they have a billiard room in the hotel and playground for kids outside. It is easy to hire a car to go on a day excursion in the summer and I believe they operate a daily shuttle to the ski mountains in the winter.

The city itself is fairly small, but there were plenty of local pubs, banyas and restaurants. We tried a few and we happy with the price and quality.

All things considered this is a great hotel for a quiet and relaxing getaway in a mountain setting. Great for families and couples. We are planning to go back in the winter for some skiing.