About how cheap hotel in former Soviet factory became image of Kazan on The Guardian pages
Not having spent a penny, the owners of two minihotels of Kazan get a good boost to their own surprise
Kazan was included in the top 10 touristic destinations of Russia by the famous British newspaper The Guardian. This fact is, undoubtedly, is pleasant, but the most surprising thing was the choice of the hotels in which the authoritative newspaper recommends the guests of the capital of Tatarstan to stay. We are speaking about practically unknown and recently opened Stereo Hostel and Stary Gorod Hotel. Their common advantages are compactness, location in the centre of the city and affordable prices. The owners of the hotels told Realnoe Vremya that they did not know about the choice of The Guardian but hope that there will be a growth in guests after the publication.
Söyembikä Tower and çäkçäk
British The Guardian is one of the oldest daily newspapers of the world published in Travel sectiona list of the best touristic destinations of Russia except Moscow and St. Petersburg. But Kazan was on the list. As it was stated on the site, a 27-year-old freelance journalist from St. Petersburg Sasha Raspopina is the author of the article. Apart from The Guardian, she writes for Тhe Calvert Journal, The Moscow Times и Vice.
The author of the note writes that, 'The city of Kazan, in Tatarstan, is over a thousand years old and has always been an eclectic place, balanced between the Russian Orthodox and Muslim cultures with churches and cathedrals neighbouring mosques. One of the city's landmarks is the Söyembikä Tower in the Kremlin fortress. It's named after the city's last queen, Söyembikä, who, according to legend threw herself off the tower, but actually was captured by the Muscovites led by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, when the city was conquered. The eclectic food of the region, a mix of Russian and Tatar, is one of the city's highlights: try the traditional tea with chuk-chuk, a sweet pastry dish'.
Minihotels overshadow five-star rivals
However, the hotels recommended by The Guardian became an especially surprising point.
So, Stereo Hostel (on poster) was mention in the article first. The hostel is situated in a building constructed in 1970 in the centre of the city (where MedFizPribor Pilot Production Plant was located in the old days)… and has a bar onsite. You would admit that it was an unpredictable choice for the city that has two five-star and a package of four-star hotels. They spend a lot of advertising budget, and the State Committee on Tourism continuously reminds about a solid hotel room stock on many international exhibitions, including London. Meanwhile, a reader opens the home page of The Guardian, clicks on the hotels offered and sees a photo of a three-floored Soviet industrial building.
The second hotel offered looks better but even doesn't have a signboard in English. The newspaper gives advice: the Stary Gorod Hotel is an affordable retreat in the city centre, with views of the historic Märcani Mosque. The author mentions that doubles are from £16 and dorms are from £4.
It is clear that in this situation, the State Committee of Tatarstan on Tourism refrains from commenting and just say that they did not know about the publication and did not prepare for such an international advertisement. Realnoe Vremya was told that there were no consultations with the State Committee of Tatarstan on Tourism.
The owners of the 'famed' hotels also did not know about the article. By the way, both opened recently and are practically unknown among ordinary Kazan people. Nevertheless, they are highly estimated on booking.com: Stereo Hostel has 9,1 points out of 10, and the Stary Gorod Hotel has – 9,2 points out of 10.
A correspondent of Realnoe Vremya managed to talk to the author of the article in The Guardian Sasha Raspopina and enquire about the selection principle of hotels for the article.
'My colleagues who visited Kazan recently recommended these hotels. Plus, in the editorial, we have limitations on the price per night, so some hotels were sifted out. We rely on recommendations and first-hand experience while choosing hotels and try to choose places with the most reasonable prices because the young is the target audience,' the journalist answered.
'We opened the hotel on the threshold of championships and hit the nail on the head'
It was Realnoe Vremya who informed the owner of Stary Gorod Hotel Liya Khairullina that her business was noted by The Guardian. According to her, they also did not notice the correspondent's visit to the hotel. 'I cannot say that I welcome guests all day long but did not hear anything about it,' he admitted. She doesn't know how the newspaper knew about the hotel. 'In principle, we have many guests, and the grapevine is functioning well. Many people come because their friends and acquaintances recommend us. It is the only thing that I can say,' she told.
The hotel is not actively promoted, especially abroad. It appeared only one year ago when the restoration of neighbouring Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda (Old-Tatar Settlement) finished. Khairullina told that the occupancy of the hotel is quite good, about 50%, but during the FINA World Championships, it was higher – there were many foreign guests among the hotel clients. 'I cannot say accurately. Sometimes we have only one visit in a month, sometimes these foreigners come on alternate days. Season plays a major role. People start coming from April-May, and a lull starts from October,' she says.
The very hotel accommodates 20 people at the same time. 'We have so many clients who say that we were recommended. We give discounts, but I think the location is the most important criteria: it turns out many people need a quiet place without any neighbouring restaurants and entertainments. Secondly, many people are satisfied that there is a pedestrian precinct near, and, in principle, it is possible to go to any part of the city,' Khairullina explains the success of her hotel. The interlocutor of Realnoe Vremya could not explain why she decided to open a hotel.
'We probably were on the threshold of different championships… And it seems that we decided and hit the nail on the head. We were thinking about a hostel first, but hostel and historical centre don't combine… This is why we opened a small hotel – we have few rooms but it is cosy, and we have everything. And the personnel is benevolent, for this reason, many people like it. Although there are different opinions, of course.'
Stereo Hostel, which is also situated in the centre of the city on Schapova Street, belongs to Andrey Nikonov, a businessman of Kazan. This hotel also did not know about the article, according to the deputy director Sergey Kocherov. 'Undoubtedly, we had foreigners but they did not say that they represented The Guardian… It is pleasant, but we did not know anything. And it is difficult to imagine how they know about us. But we are doing our best,' he said with surprise.
The hostel opened only in September last year, that is to say, the end of the autumn season. There was not any special advertisement but we actively registered on online booking sites. 'We were even surprised: people started to book rooms on the very first day. It is possible we attract them with our gimmicks: we have beds like berths,' he told. The medium occupancy of the hostel is 30% – 5-7 people. But sometimes we have groups that comprise of 20 people. 'Now, in the off-season, we have a low occupancy. As for the bookings for the spring, almost all rooms have been booked,' told Kocherov. Most tourists are Russians, but in the high season, we expect more foreign guests – especially now after being mentioned in The Guardian.
The British newspaper also recommends foreigners to visit Karelia, eastern Sayan mountains, Veliky Novgorod, Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky, Lake Baikal, Yessentuki, Kaliningrad, Vladivostok and Altay mountains.