Обновление Крыма Crimea renewal

Since I have a family holiday - two children 5 and 3 years old, there are medical indications: mountains + pine trees + sea (using the example of St. Vlas in Bulgaria, it became clear that such a combination once a year for three weeks is the best remedy for adenoids), then chose from similar options, in no more than 5 hours of a direct flight from St. Petersburg and preferably not in a Muslim country.
There were three such places - St. Vlas in Bulgaria, Simeiz and Abkhazia. We were in St. Vlas two years ago, they read unflattering things about present-day Abkhazia (besides, the same level as Alexandria was twice as expensive there (pravda with full board), so we chose Simeiz and Katsiveli in particular because they liked hotel "Alexandria" booked two months before arrival, they asked for a room with a sea view, they lived in a double apartment for 1120 hryvnias with breakfast.
The booking was confirmed after the amount was transferred to the card indicated in the email. No problem. A week before arrival, they called and asked if a transfer was needed, I agreed. A transfer from Simferopol airport costs 729 hryvnia, a little expensive, but it's still a Mercedes Vito - a minibus where it's very convenient to travel. Since we arrived in the evening, I decided not to bother and not save.

The hotel itself is fully consistent with the pictures on the site, I confirm.
No photoshop, in reality everything is absolutely the same - new, clean, thoughtful, stylish, comfortable. All this - furniture, room equipment, plumbing, hydromassage in the pool, a good sauna (which was extremely important for me), high-speed Wi-Fi in the room (which is very important, since I sometimes worked, and the children watched online children's films on VKontakte in good quality), a TV with a USB connector - you can watch your movies from a flash drive, but with such an Internet speed, this is not necessary. We almost never even turned on the TV (and there are two of them in our room), only when football was shown. ) reinforced me in the idea that this is a full-fledged 4 *. At least last year, in the declared four-wheel drive in Cyprus near Paphos (Theo Sunset bay), which cost a little more, the conditions were worse than in the "Alexandria" in Katsiveli.
The staff feels well trained. There is no rudeness at all. Everyone tries to please, smiling. Room cleaning - on request (they say not to disturb guests at an odd hour). We hung out a sign every two days - everything was perfectly cleaned and linen was changed.
Breakfast is not a buffet. In my opinion, in principle, this is a plus. Very tasty cereals, very tasty different types of omelettes and scrambled eggs, tea, coffee, bread, rolls, cheese. This is all included by default. But, for some reason, a step aside (for example, the children did not drink tea, but wanted juice) - for money. We immediately paid for all twenty days for juices. Milk for coffee - also for the money. It jarred a little. Not very smart and petty. No fruit for breakfast - minus. There are no sausages and cuts from any smoked meats - a plus (we only eat sausages and sausages on New Year's Eve). In general, if the breakfasts had been improved - they would not have been so trifling, they would have expanded the assortment, retaining their individuality (i. e. , the absence of deposits of weathered tomatoes and smoked sausages called the buffet) - I would have put ten for the hotel.

Maybe, of course, we liked everything so much, precisely because we rested at the beginning of the season. Empty. Quiet. As there in July - August, I do not know.
The village itself was very nice. Again same - the beginning of the season? Cleanliness, silence. The atmosphere in the spirit of Tarkovsky - a half-abandoned hydrophysical institute, a radio telescope (a mysterious thing), everything is permeated with some kind of scholarship, high-moral Soviet austerity, just super. After similar one to the other resort towns of southern Europe and Turkey - just an outlet. But for an amateur. If the brilliance of the embankments and the number of shops are more important to you than silence and pine trees, go to Turkey.
Our evening walks in Simeiz, climbs and descents along Mount Koshka and along the juniper massif are just a storehouse of health, especially for residents of Ligovsky Prospekt in Leningrad, where it is winter for 7 months a year, light for 5 hours a day, asphalt, reagents, exhaust... Of all our travels in recent years - Budva, St. Vlas, Paphos - Katsiveli is still in 1st place, without any guile. True, again, if you are fed up with the superficial gloss of cheap Turkish and Egyptian resorts. If you haven't had enough of this "abroad" yet, Crimea will seem dull to you. But, of course, this is one of the highest potential regions for tourism in the world.
On the minibus you can drive around the entire South Coast, see everything (and there you can see a lot of things, unlike, again, from Africa and Turkey). And everything is pretty close. You don't have to drive all day to the pyramids. And if you rent a car, or if you came here on it, then you can spend your vacation doubly fruitful.
And taking away the types of excellent Massandra port wine from 90 to 300 rubles . . Red (Alushta) cost about 90 rubles in Katsiveli, the same one in my store in St. Petersburg is sold for 340!
Crimea - Foreva!