Though there are a few hotels in the city, I decided to stay in a local apartment. I would highly suggest this as an alternative to large, soviet-style hotels. By staying in a local apartment, you are providing a source of income for locals (mostly pensioners), and get to see how the locals live!
I had initially booked a room in the soviet-style ‘cosmos hotel’. While I’m sure this would have been sufficient, I continued my research, determined to see what else was available. Thank goodness I did! My research led me to Marisha. Originally from Chisinau, she currently lives abroad, and her parents continue to live between their city apartment, and their farm outside of town. For a very small night rate (I paid 40 euros for the whole apartment – 2 bedrooms that could sleep at least 4 adults), you can help support the meagre income of pensioners, and have a ‘friend in Moldova’. (Check out her website here!)
One of two bedrooms at Katherine and Boris’ apartment.
Kitchen and breakfast nook.
Entry way.
Marisha’s mother was able to purchase my onward tickets for me (this can be very difficult outside of the country; however it will require you to send a copy of your passport, and a money transfer – what could go wrong, right?). Once I had my ticket from Odessa to Chisinau, she assured me that her dad would be able to find me at the train station. I was admitedly concerned, as I would be arriving late at night, and I wasn’t exactly sure where I was getting off.
When I was leaving, the train conductor was helping everyone down the steeper steps. I seemed to be getting more help than everyone else and someone was tapping me on the shoulder. I turned around, momentarily nervous about what a random stranger could want from me already. Before me was a fatherly-looking man, pointing to himself, saying ‘Boris’ and then waving hello. Somehow, Marisha’s dad had managed to not only get the right train compartment and exit door, but also recognized me in the dark, based on a 3-year old passport photo!
While they spoke very little English, Katherine (Marisha’s mother) was able to give me a tour of the apartment, and give me a few important details (like don’t flush the toilet paper, pick up tomorrow at 10am for wine tour, my train ticket to Kiev, etc). Between my extremely basic Russian, and her gestures, we got along just fine. It is important that all vital information is passed on to Marisha so she can pass this along to her parents, if you are not comfortable with gestures and guess-work. There is wifi in the apartment, so if you have read my post on my favourite travel apps, you’ll be able to translate between yourself and Katherine and Boris.
As mentioned earlier, the Cosmos hotel is ideally located about a 10-minute walk from the train station. Though Stalin-istic and imposing, the rooms looked perfectly acceptable, clean and reasonable priced. Booking was easy to do over the internet, and easy to cancel as well. If the flat on Negruzzi road (Marisha’s apartment) is fully booked, this would be a great alternative.
[…] Moldova is a tiny, land-locked country between Romania and Ukraine. While it has a long history of being passed between various stronger countries and powers, it finally gained its independence in 1991, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. While the country is probably one of the poorest ones in Eastern Europe, its people are genuine and friendly, the country is beautiful, and there is no shortage of things to do. I spent several days in and around the capital city of Chisinau. If you are interested in checking out this great country, keep reading for some helpful hints about getting into the country. If you have already arrived, check out my post on how to spend your time in the country here. If you would like some advice on where to stay, check out my post here. […]