We stayed in Hanna's apartment for 4 weeks. Originally we wanted to stay for 2 months but due to difficulties we had to leave earlier and might have even left after two weeks but couldn't due to general housing market situation in Kyiv (had to find a new long-term apartment first). Read to the end.

(+) Hanna is a friendly and warm-hearted person, in general. If there wouldn't have been problems with the apartment, we would have visited her in her atelier for sure. Also, she agreed on our cancellation without hesitation in the end and allowed us to check out later in the evening after work. Thanks for that.

(+) The apartment has a nice atmosphere, in general: Bright, warm colours, a lot of wood, artistic artefacts, nice lightening.

(+) The boiler and the washing machine are new and work excellent. Always hot water, also in the kitchen. Gas stove works properly.

(-) 20-25 minutes walk to the metro. Bus/Marshrutka is not really faster due to many stops and traffic. Take that into account if you're dependent on going somewhere regularly.

(-) The apartment was not really clean when we arrived. During the first night I suffered from heavy allergic reactions because of cat fur that was left behind from prior inhabitants and was – obviously – not cleaned away. Blankets have not been washed, too. During the second day, we cleaned the apartment ourselves: Washing everything and cleaning all floors and furniture. Coming back from work late in the evening we simply wanted to get it done and not call for somebody.

(-) The bed sofa and the pillows are quite old - Lots of stains and not washable. The same holds true for furniture and equipment in the bathroom and the kitchen – everything is quite used (except for boiler and washing machine).

(-) There are cockroaches in the kitchen and sometimes in the bathroom. During our first day we discovered a single individual and thought nothing about it (we don't have experiences with that).We kept an eye on the rubbish and brought it down every day. However, slowly they became more. After 2 weeks we told Hanna about the problem and requested to leave. She knew about the problem (we also discovered poison against cockroaches under the furniture in the kitchen), as it turned out. First she answered "Ukraine is not Europe, you know", as if we wouldn't knew that in terms of standards. But cockroaches are inacceptable. Then she told us, that they would come from the neighbours – we don't care where they're coming from. They're there. And therefore I cannot recommend to stay in that apartment. In the end she was sorry.

If Hanna manages to solve the cockroach problem and maybe changes the bed sofa, I would recommend the apartment to all of those, who want to stay in Kyiv for a short-trip vacation and are mainly interested in sightseeing and roaming around in Podil, which is 25 minutes away by walk or even closer by public transport.