>I don't know where things were like when you grew up,
>but except for one awful hostel in Tallinn, every
>place I've stayed in the former SU has been quite
>good. I stayed in the same place in Volgograd as
>Chavez, adjacent to the Avenue of the Heroes of
>Stalingrad. It has a business center, two bars, a
>restaurant, and a beauty salon. I think I paid about
>$40 a night. The places in Rostov-on-Don and Kazan
>were similar. I've stayed in youth hostels in all the
>Baltic States, and they were pretty much like American
>ones, except the aforementioned one in Tallinn. Which
>was full of drunk Finns.
>
I love hostels & I've stayed at plenty in Europe -- with no problems and
no complaints EXCEPT for London, where the hostels were relatively
expensive, filthy, and depressing.
When I go to NYC next month, I will check out the hostels personally....The reviews mentioned bedbugs, vomit, urine...which won't do. On the other hand, Americans have odd standards of cleanliness....so I need to see what's up.
Joanna