FAQ's concerning payments

FAQ's concerning General Issues

FAQ's about Apartment Servicing

FAQ's about Breakdown & Complaints in your Apartment

FAQ's about Problems during your stay in the apartment.

FAQ's concerning payments

Suppose we missed our flight and would come one day later. We would be charged for this missed night?
Yes. We do understand that it’s not your fault, however, we do reserve the apartment for your use and therefore the owner will not be to rent it out on such a short notice and will thus lose this rental income. In case you missed your connection, missed your flight please call our manager and specify your new arrival time. In case your flight is delayed please contact our manager, we’ll arrange your pick for the new time of arrival.

How do I pay for the apartment?
An advance payment in amount of one night rate is required. Please check our payment and cancellation policy. The balance should be paid on arrival, payments may be made in US dollars, Euro, local currency — grivna. Currency exchange.

Deposit for guaranteed booking is required to confirm a reservation. This can be done by any of the following means.

1. On-line Credit card payments. Check the chosen apartment availability and get our answer. If apartment is available you'll be able to provide deposit on-line through the secure server (find a link in our answer).
2. You may pay the deposit with either Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discovery using PayPal`s secure online payment facility. If you are not a member it is fast and easy to join. (simply joining does not require you to give your credit card details).
3. Western Union transfer. You can do it either from any WU office in your country or through the web site: www.westernunion.com.
4. One night rate amount could be blocked on your credit card, than on arrival it would be unblocked.

Bank transfer
This way is longer than both mentioned above, but apartment availability option may change during those few days that money is on the way. Contact us for details if you prefer this way!
The balance should be paid on arrival, payments may be made in US dollars, Euro, local currency — grivna. Also security deposit is to be taken in the amount of 50—100USD. This deposit will be refunded to you on the day of your departure in case nothing is damaged in the apartment. Please be careful with all the stuff inside and everything would be fine.

Cancellations
For guaranteed bookings, the deposit is not refundable in case of booking cancellation (or dates change) made less than 7 days before arrival. In case of later cancellation, or “no show” one night rate penalty is to apply.

Can we ask for the invoice or receipt confirming the payment. Shall we conclude an agreement for lease?
Yes, we can issue a receipt with the original stamp. We can sign the short term rent contract if needed. But please inform us in advance about your requirements.

FAQ's concerning General Issues

How do we find the apartment if we didn’t order the transfer service?
Please indicate your arrival time in the booking form and we will be waiting for your phone call around this time, and then will arrange your accommodation ASAP. In order to find the apartment you can use the map which is in the photo gallery of the apartment, you will have the address of the apartment on your  booking confirmation (guaranteed bookings).  In case of non guaranteed booking the apartment would be assigned only on the day of your arrival and the address could be send by SMS to you.

Suppose we didn't book your transfer service from the arrival point to the apartment, how do we get from the airport?
You can easily find taxi at the airport (the average rate should be 15-20$, but you must discuss the price with the driver in advance!!). We also have municipal mini-buses which you could take (there are a lot of them going from the airport/train station to the city center).

Can we bring our pets?
Pets are permitted, but you are fully responsible for the safety of the apartment and of all the furnishings/accessories/objects inside. Some owners may not be willing to rent to clients with animals – which is why we ask you to indicate in your booking form if you intend to travel with a pet. We would find animal friendly owner for you.

What is the best area to stay in? Arcadia? Downtown?
Odessa is a big city, it’s population is over 1,5 million people, but the downtown area is quite small, all our apartments are not more than 10-15 walk from the main street. There are some apartments near the sea side (Arcadia), but most of them are available only in summer (during winter time they are on long term rent). The best area to stay in Odessa is the downtown, you’ll find all infrastructure here (supermarkets, cafes, restaurants, currency exchange, banks, Internet Cafes etc.), the taxi to Arcadia area (seaside) would cost 25-30grivnas (5-6$) only, double rate at night. Downtown is a more secure area — because it’s  lit up,  with streets busy with people during day and night, our police supervise it during 24 hours. 

We’ve heard that the entrances to the apartments are not very good in Odessa?
City of Odessa is more than 200 years old. The majority of centre buildings are the historical heritage of Ukraine. Many of them were under restoration many years ago. That is why a lot of yards, buildings in downtown Odessa are in need of refurbishment. Unfortunately our City Administration hasn’t found enough money to refresh the inside parts of many buildings in Odessa.  Sometimes you might find garbage and smell there!
We do not deal with apartments where the entrances are really very bad, or during summer period (when most of the apartments are booked out) — we warn clients about this matter.




But as soon as you walk into apartment you will forget you had to clear a hurdle. We chose the apartments with good entrances, entrances with good lighting. Sometimes apartments have external stairways, metal, wooden, concrete. We do not deal with parts of Odessa which are dangerous for foreigners, or even for local citizens (such as Primorskaya str., Moldavanka, the area near Train Station), we do not deal with the apartments which are in suburban districts of the city (Kotovskogo, Tairovo, Cheremushki).

Is Odessa a secure place for a tourist?
Yes, Odessa is a secure place for tourists, but if you left your bag on the street — somebody will take it, if you left digital camera, valet full of money and other expensive stuff on the beach without supervising it would be of a big temptation for a small thief.  We recommend that you carry on you only small amount of money for taxi and drinks, towel, sun glasses etc (on the beach). Do not take passport to the beach! Do not have lots of cash, tickets, credit cards. You would be better off leaving all these belongings in the apartment. It’s like everywhere. Just be attentive and alert and everything will be fine.
Do not open the door to strangers, even to children just only to our manager and to your friends. It’s not dangerous, but we have such services who come to the apartments to check electricity, water, heating etc., when they will come, you’ll start to call your agent, the agent would be calling the owner so you’ll be busy for at least 1 hour. Do not lose your precious time for this! It is much better spent on excursions, for pleasure.

Do we need to carry our passport all the times?
Essential documents for tourist staying in Ukraine:
—  copy of passport
—  original immigration card (which you  should receive at the airport).

FAQ's about Apartment Servicing

What is included in the rental fee?
Sheets, towels a big one and a small one for each tenant, toilet paper, soap, kitchen towels and bathroom mats. Cleaning before your arrival, cleaning and sheets change every 4-5 days during your stay, to order cleaning please call our manager, or send SMS with the time when you want room maid to come to you and your address. In case you need cleaning more often, it will cost 5-7$ for 1 room apartment, 10-20$ for 2-3 rooms.

Do we need to pay for the phone calls from the phone in the apartment? Can we make calls abroad or to local mobile phones?
Phone in the apartment is only for local calls, they are included in the daily rent. Local phone numbers are 6 and 7 digits. If you want to make a call to a mobile phone, to another city, phone call abroad — you will be better off getting Ukrainian SIM card — Kyivstar, UMC, LIFE etc. You can easily buy it on each street corner — vendors with blue and rose umbrellas are selling these cards on the streets from 9am to 6 pm, they will also help you to set it up and to recharge it with minutes. When you get a local Ukrainian number, please send an SMS to your agent with your name from this number so that we know how to contact you locally. We also have cell phone rent service.

How can we use the high speed Internet in the apartment? Is there an instruction how to do this?
There is cable Internet in most of the apartments who offer Internet service. There would be a CD with drivers which you’ll need to install into your computer. There is an instruction how to do this in most of the apartments. Or our manager will help you.

Can I have early check in?
The standard check in time is 14:00, check out time 12:00. In case the apartment is available before check in time we would accommodate you before. If you would like to have guaranteed early check in you need to pay for the night before your arrival. Late check out could be confirmed in advance only if you would pay for the next night after your departure. But in case next clients are coming late evening you’ll get late check out free of charge.

What is security deposit? Why do we need to provide you with this sum? How is security repaid?
Booking the apartment you’ll get the apartment and all the stuff inside. The owner runs a risk that you could damage something in the apartment. That is why the security deposit of the amount of 1 night rate is to be taken and will be refunded to you on the day of your departure in case nothing is damaged in the apartment. Please be careful with all the stuff inside and everything would be fine.

What happens if some extra persons join me? Will there be an extra charge?
There will be no extra charge for up to 5 persons staying in the apartment. But you should understand that you and only you are responsible for apartment rented.

How many persons could stay in one bedroom apartment?
Normally one bedroom apartment is suitable for one couple and one/two extra persons who could sleep on a fold out sofa in the living room. Two bedroom apartment would be for 2 couples, sometimes 3 couples. But please inform us if you are more than 5 persons living together. We must organize in advance appropriate amount of towels, sheets in the apartment. More than 5 persons could cause extra charge, please indicate in your booking form how many persons you are!

FAQ's about Breakdown & Complaints in your Apartment

How do I notify breakdowns and/or shortages?
Please check everything in the apartment when first entering. Inform our manager about any problems in the apartment using the phone number we give you upon the arrival.

If I identify any breakdowns on moving in, when do they get fixed?
As soon as is reasonably possible. Most problems are attended to on the same day but we cannot promise to handle no-urgent matters on Saturdays, Sundays.

Suppose we are generally dissatisfied?
We want you to enjoy your stay in our apartments and come back to us again. That is why we always do our best. If you are dissatisfied for any reason then we would like to know about this ASAP.

Suppose we don't like the apartment or it is unsuitable?
The description of apartments is given on the website and it is your obligation to ensure that the chosen apartment is suitable. If there is an error in the apartment description we will take responsibility for this. All the pictures are real, we do not use Photoshop or any other programs to make pictures better then they are. All the information on the web site is updated regularly to ensure you get complete and up-to-date information. 

FAQ's about Problems during your stay in the apartment.

What shall we do if there is no water/electricity in the apartment?
There should be water from 5am till 12pm (no water at night in case there is no extra supply water tank in the apartment). There would be no water only in cases of water services faults in the downtown area, our water services company may be carrying out some repair works during a day. If you are concerned you can call our manager and tell about this, but in most cases we can’t help. The same situation is with the electricity. If there is no electricity in the whole building, district — there might have been a fault. If there is no electricity in your apartment only please contact our manager.