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Dakkar Resort: Hotel in Balaklava

I booked the Dakkar Resort on the advice of my Bradt guide, it sounded like a nice place to stay in a nice location. And it *was* a nice place to stay, if it had just been somewhere else. Balaklava is 12km from Sevastopol and while that doesn't sound like a great distance, if you are taking public transportation, it can easily take 30-45 minutes to get between the two. A taxi will of course be quicker and more expensive.

I'll start with the location since it was the biggest downside to this hotel, I had paid for an upgraded room with a balcony because I thought we would have a nice view overlooking the Black Sea. But Balaklava is centered around a cove that feeds into the Black Sea so our view was of the marina, much of which was filled with military ships, and of the gravel mine across the street. Another added "benefit" to the balcony room was that it was on the 4th floor and I got plenty of exercise climbing the 4 flights of stairs several times a day.

The staff was very pleasant and very helpful, they were always able to tell us which buses to take to get where we were going and spoke English quite well. The stop for Marshrutka #9 was within walking distance, there was a 24 hour convenience store about a block away.

Unique Qualities: Although not what I'd consider a resort, the hotel itself was quite nice and I have no complaints about the room or the staff.

Room-Room 402 was very spacious, the bed was a king sized moderately comfortable bed. There was an in room safe, minibar and refrigerator with a bit of extra room for our stuff. Saturday and Sunday night there were other guests in the 22 room hotel but Monday night I think we were the only ones there. The noise level was fine except for Monday night when the gravel mine was fully operational all night long, I slept but my husband did not.

Bathroom-very nicely decorated, plenty of hot water, toiletries included soap, shampoo, conditioner and bath gel.

Breakfast-included in the rate, you order off a menu instead of a breakfast buffet. The 1st morning I ordered the Irish breakfast which the Irish would be surprised to find out is toasted bread with an over easy egg, thousand island dressing and bacon. The next morning I ordered scrambled eggs and bacon, a little lost in translation as again I got an over easy egg and bacon. The 3rd morning I passed on breakfast.

Address: vul Kalicha 13

Comparison: about average

Directions: within walking distance of the cove, restaurants, naval museum and Genoese ruins

Price: US$80-120

Theme: Hotel