George

I was very excited at the prospect of staying in Hotel George because of the decor that I had saw on the hotel's web page but I left feeling a little dissapointed because the building is in major need of a re-vamp.
I booked into a junior suite which consisted of a lovely large white bed, white table and hair set, TV but with a hideous blue carpet which ruined the entire room. The bathroom nicely decorated however the bath had no plug and no overhead shower which was also dissapointing. As we booked into the hotel as a large family there was other Junior suites booked which were a lot nicer than the one that I was given.
The staff were very friendly and the reception staff spoke good English, one of our party fell quite ill and the receptionist rang for the paramedics and came up to the room every 20 minutes or so to check that our family member was ok, we appreciated this very much.
The breakfast area was clean and well presented but there wasn't very much choice. I also stayed in the Eurohotel whilst in L'viv and although it was slightly further away from the centre as the Hotel George, The Eurohotel was cheaper and was alot better maintained and overall I had a better experience at the Eurohotel.

Unique Quality: Very grand hallway and staircase.
The hotel is across the road from the Opera house and lots of small restaurants.

for some reason i just saw my tip has gone
anyway, i went to this hotel because my parents stayed here when my mam went to see her family after 35 years after WWII
when they arrived at the station they were not allowed to embrase the family, they had to wait until they arrived in hotel George
Ukraine was then part of former USSR .
I think it was inhuman by the security police to keep them apart for such a long time!
i know the staff was very friendly then and still are

Hotel George has become something of a legend with travellers to Lviv and I'd read and heard many personal accounts of it before finally ending up here myself at Euromeet 2010. I'd expected faded beauty and dramatic architectural features mixed with a certain amount of Soviet grimness and that was exactly what Igot.

For the first two nights I shared a room with Abby, on one of the long, curving, second-floor corridoors. This was in the area of the hotel that hasn't yet been refurbished and where tourist class rooms awaited behind solid, double doors. Considering how little these rooms cost, I was surprised at their level of comfort and apart from the fact that they weren't ensuite, they were absolutely fine. There was a washbasin in the room but to go to the toilet you had to traverse the corridoors in the dead of night. Not much fun and I would not book a room without WC again.

Because Diana and I were leaving for Sibiu on the same crack-of-dawn flight, I shared her room on the third night and got to see the refurbished side of the hotel These rooms were comfortable in the extreme and at a price that was reasonable by any standards.

Hotel George serves an excellent breakfast, included in the price of your room and its central situation is perfect for sightseeing.

Definitely part of the Lviv experience. Stay here !

During my stay here, in the hotel"George" I was impressed by the service I recieved. The rooms are clean, nice and not expensive. The location is really perfect. The hotel staff offer you all the necessary service, is always kind and ready to give as much information as possible. If you want to have a safe a pleasant stay in Lviv I would strongly recommend this hotel!

Directions: City Center+38 0

Thanks to Matt for suggesting this place, and doing the homework, and thanks to poons for booking this place for us-where the majority of the post Krakow Euromeet 2010 gang ended up staying.....

to be continued....

“Lviv in your pocket” lists the George under its budget heading, but a recent refurbishment (still on-going when we were there) means that only their so-called “tourist class” rooms really fit into that category. I had a “standard” room, the next price category, and was very impressed with its size and comfort. A wide dark wood door opened into a large, high-ceilinged room with white walls, soft carpet and furniture in the same dark wood. I had a large double bed, wide-screen TV (which I didn’t put on so can’t say which channels it got), complimentary bottled water (still and sparkling) and in the wardrobe were soft towelling robes and slippers. The modern bathroom had plenty of towels, stylish fittings and a walk-in shower, though I would have liked hotter water – it was only lukewarm whenever I tried it, both morning and evening.

The hotel was built in 1901 in the Neo-Renaissance style by Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer, and subsequent restorations have thankfully retained much of that style. The Soviet years may have seen its glories fade but at least they were not removed, so you can still ascend the wonderful staircase and walk its wide corridors. The lobby and entrance were being refurbished during our stay, so expect these other public spaces to start to live up to the style of that staircase in future.

A buffet breakfast is included in the room rates and is served in a long room with attractive wall paintings at the back of the ground floor. The choice is wide, with eggs, pancakes, sausages and other hot dishes, rolls, cold meats, yoghurt and more. Coffee is “make it yourself” instant, but at least that way you can make it to your preferred strength, and there are a variety of tea-bags and fruit juice too.

Staff are friendly and helpful, and speak good English. They were happy to book taxis, answer questions etc, and kindly didn’t insist on immediate payment when we arrived late in the evening. On check-out day many of us were leaving before breakfast, and we were able to order “breakfast bags” with ham and cheese rolls, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, water and juice; these saw many of us right through the day!

Booking a room here can be a little confusing. One page of the website lists five types of room: Suite, Junior Suite, Superior, Standard and Tourist class. Another page refers to 72 rooms and describes them as De Luxe, Semi de Luxe, First Class and Second Class – but the descriptions and numbers of these only cover a total of 55 rooms, leaving 17 unaccounted for. In the end I emailed simply asking for any en suite room, and ended up paying 510 UAH (44€) for what was described as a Standard room – very reasonable for the quality but not budget by any means.

Unique Quality: I loved the “faded grandeur” style, which has cleverly not been lost in the restoration. And I appreciated the free Wi-Fi, which was pretty reliable (only let me down on one occasion). The location too can’t be beaten, only a stone’s throw from all the main sights. If as I hope I return to Lviv one day I will almost certainly return too to the George.

Directions: South of Prospekt Svobody and the main market square

Tuesday June 1 and Wednesday June 2, 2010
Hans and I booked the GEORGE HOTEL in Lviv, long before the VT Meet. The Hotel was highly recommended by Matt and it turned out to be VT Central with many rooms booked by Virtual Tourist Members.
Our Standard Room was reserved for us at the price of 510 UAH.
The George boasts 72 Rooms:
Four Deluxe rooms
Six Semi Deluxe rooms
7 Single & 3 twin First Class Guest rooms
35 inexpensive second-class guest rooms with washstands and shared shower and toilet.
Their current website prices are:
Suite 850 UAH
Junior Suite 750 UAH
Superior 650 UAH
Standard 600 UAH
Tourist Class 350 UAH

The 2**Star Hotel is in an excellent location and walking distance to Main Square and the Opera House.
The Hotel staff at the George are mostly young, were very helpful and well able to communicate in English.

Breakfast Buffet was included in the Price - bread, rolls, jams, cheeses, real butter, cereal, Hot Items like sausages and scrambled eggs and my favourite - a crepe filled with cabbage, just like a chinese egg roll only better. coffee, tea and juices. Fruits - apples and bananas.
As most of us had an early train ride back to Krakow, the Hotel packed us all a bagged lunch which included two ham and cheese sandwiches, a tomato, a boiled egg, a bottle of water and juice. I thought that was very considerate of them.

Unique Quality: Founded in 1901 and constructed in a style of Neo-Renaissance. This lovely Hotel features a dramatic marble staircase.The Hotel does have a lift, though it was usually sooooo slooooow.

Hotel George shows the graceful lines of a former beauty, years after the spotlight has faded. Unlike a beauty queen of decades past, this former glory is being lovingly restored. I am sure that this hotel is going to be a grand old lady indeed when the work is completed. I look forward to a day when I can return and see what has been done to her!

Unique Quality: This hotel has a beautiful entrance which was being restored while we were there for Euromeet 2010. The marble floors and grand sweeping staircase with its beautiful stained glass windows will greet visitors upon entering the hotel. There are currently a few problems however with how the hotel was during my stay.

I booked a "tourist" class room which had a shared bathroom and toilet. Expecting several showers and toilets per floor, I was greatly disappointed with having a mens toilet on floor 3 and a womens toilet on floor 4. Just one single toilet on each floor. There was also only a single shower on each of those floors. Hopefully as the renovations proceed, they will convert to totally ensuite or add additional facilities.

The included breakfast each morning was a very nice buffet with a variety of fruits, meats, cereals, breads and crepes. It was a very pretty dining area with, again, faded reminders of her former glory. Smoking is very common in Ukraine and smoking was allowed in one of the dining areas. Fortunately they had a separate, non-smoking room for diners who chose not to smoke. There was wifi available in the lobby and the dining areas. I also could connect in my room on the third floor but I did not explore further to determine if I was fortunate or if the hotel made an effort to ensure that wifi was available in all rooms.

I will certainly stay at George again should I return to L'viv but I will upgrade to a room with ensuite facilities.

Directions: Near the old town district

By the time we decided to book for Euromeet, most everyone else had already booked accomodations at the Hotel George so we decided to go with the flow and stay there. We were pleasantly surprised that our room was ready at 6am when we got in from the night train, they didn't tell us on checkin that there was a 1/2 day charge for it but the others VTers from the night train seemed to know and certainly I was happy to pay for the convenience of having a few more hours sleep and a hot shower. We opted for one of the superior rooms that was ensuite for 510hr, it was a very nice room and we thought the location was just fine. There are also cheaper rooms with shared facilities. I was very pleased with our stay and would definitely stay here again should we return.

Unique Quality: We thought this might have been a former Soviet diplomat hotel because of the ornate public spaces and the extremely large rooms and high ceilings but a Ukrainian VTer told us it was exclusively for foreign visitors during communist times. The lobby is currently under renovation so the current registration area is a little small but once it's finished it looks like it will be quite impressive.

Our room was comfortable and clean with no street noise, not a lot of extra amenities-no room safe, no tea service. The bathroom had a shower but no bathtub, toiletries were only shampoo and soap. Plenty of hot water.

Breakfast is included in the rate and there's a buffet with a few hot items, cereal, rolls, meat, juice, tea, coffee. Chris (balfor) tells me that the dining room was separated into smoking and non smoking sections but I still think it's was a separate room for the Ukrainian mafia.

I took the 2nd class single room for UAH250, about US$30 (Aug 09) for a private room with shared facilites. I found it is a very good value as the room is serviced everyday and the facilites are clean. More notably, it includes breakfast.

It has excellent location that I coulkd do sightseeing during the day and when back to the hotel for lunch break rest and then went out again to continue sightseeing.

If you can afford better room, why not. I highly recommend this hotel and I forward to stay there again. See thier wensite and more pics. I love this hotel.