Выходные в Минске Weekend in Minsk

The decision to visit Minsk was taken very spontaneously. I was born in Belarus, but left as a child and have been living in Moscow all my adult life. Somehow, my husband suggested "let's go to Minsk, the capital of your historical homeland" We had never traveled through the expanses of the former USSR, somehow all the far abroad, seas, oceans : ) But after thinking a little, I agreed, about which then not at all did not regret!
I must say that the rest in Minsk was not as cheap as it might seem. A day's stay in a hotel with a meal "breakfast" cost $ 230, a total of two days 14.000 Russian rubles, plus the road (there and back for two) 10.000 rubles. Those. 24000r. for two days with the above meals (for such an amount people manage to go to the same Egypt for a week on "all inclusive")) But the pleasure was worth it! We were amazed by the atmosphere of calm reigning in Minsk. After all, this is not a village, but a large (more than two million people) city, but compared to our crazy Moscow, it’s just a paradise! Green wide streets, calm friendly people. . . At night the city sleeps, the streets are quiet and deserted. It turned out to be a problem to find a 24-hour "entertainment place" in the city center, but we also attributed this to the advantages of Minsk : ) It is quite possible to dine in restaurants for 1000 Russian rubles (two dishes, wine, freshly squeezed juice, dessert) Almost nowhere in restaurants you can not smoke, no separation into "smoking" and "non-smoking" zones, if you want to smoke - please go outside : )
Now about the hotel "Minsk". This is the first hotel in Minsk, which received the status of a European "four-star", it is very advantageously located - on Independence Avenue, in the very center of the city. Our "stars" like to stay there, for example, A. B. Pugacheva : )) In general, there were almost no Russians in the hotel, except for us, I saw another family of four, the rest were foreigners. The hotel in general corresponds to the declared 4 * stars. There were minor flaws (somehow I got a rather shabby towel), but these are all trifles. Again, the main thing is the attitude of the staff. We arrived at the hotel three hours before 12.00 (check-in time), no one at the reception asked us to pay extra or wait, we were immediately kindly provided with a room, and exactly the same as I indicated in the "wishes" - the floor as high as possible, overlooking the Avenue. The room had two free bottles of water, a kettle, a set of tea / coffee, a set of gels / shampoos in the bathroom, etc. , everything was as it should be. By the way, a shower gel with a very, very pleasant aroma : ) They cleaned the room well, the maids were also very pleasant, they always greeted us warmly. Somehow, my husband accidentally hung the sign on the wrong side : )), instead of "do not disturb" he asked to "clean the room", he went to the bathroom, and I was still lying in bed. The maid promptly responded to the request and opened the door to start cleaning, but immediately realized that there was a mistake on the right side, and apologized ten times !!! , although it was not her fault in what happened. We left tips, of course, but I think it's not about them.

The food in the restaurant was very tasty and of high quality - good juices (not fresh, but of good quality), cheeses, sausages, meat, even sausages are very tasty (have not eaten such in hotels for breakfast for a long time), good coffee. There are only two types of cakes, but there were also pancakes. True, no one cleaned the dishes from the tables, it’s a bit strange, but maybe they have such a “policy” - do not interfere with the guests to have breakfast quietly (the staff stands on the sidelines, you can’t see or hear them), since there is enough space - the tables are huge for 6 people, so that you set aside the dishes so that it does not interfere. By the way, the restaurant is decorated chic - you sit in such a "royal" interior : ) and look out the window at Independence Avenue.
There is an ATM in the hotel lobby, a currency exchange (it seems to be around the clock), by the way, the doorman was not at all "round the clock", even during the day he was often absent from his place and my husband had to open the door for us : )), but this is nonsense of course.
In general, if you want to relax in Minsk with comfort, choose the Minsk 4 * hotel, you will not regret it!
I want to say THANK YOU to the staff of this hotel, the wonderful city of Minsk and Minsk residents for a great weekend!! !