Domodedovo airport, Moscow, Russia

The boarding gate for my flight TP 593 scheduled to depart at 18:30 of 2011/10/15 has been changed 2 times already, and the plane is announced as delayed ...

The zone A (international flights) is overcrowded, you need to wait for at least 10 minutes for a vacant seat in the waiting halls, both male and female toilets and shops have queues.

The last drop was that the boarding gate 13 where we finally boarded from had October 14 indicated on its announcement board as the date of today, instead of October 15.

Though they do have free Wifi from one of the Russian providers in the airport ...

Getting a shower at the Irkutsk airport

Boarding today on October 15th, 2011 for the S7 #777 flight to Moscow at the Irkutsk International Airport, we the passengers were let out of the bus in front of the A320 plane, under rain, and had to stay there for some 5 minutes, exposed to the elements. Our clothing got quite wet, while we were waiting for the ground crew to leave the plane and our colleagues walk up the staircase, in small groups, probably to avoid the staircase collapsing. Some of the ground crew staff also got pretty wet, probably to keep us company.

The airport has no boarding bridges, while the boarding staircases offer no protection from elements either.

Thus, be prepared for a free shower when it rains in Irkutsk ... 

Incompetence and disrespect at Hotel Irkutsk

Nights spent at this hotel: October 13-14 and 14-15, 2011.

Being a non-smoker, I have been assigned a smoking room, without my knowledge or consent, where I had difficulties sleeping during my first night in the city of Irkutsk. Upon my inquiry at the administrator's desk next morning, I was informed that such room category as a non-smoking room does not exist in this hotel, at all.

However, when later the same day one of my Russian friends talked to them, they apparently managed to find a non-smoking room for me - there was a card on the table promising a fine of 5000 roubles for smoking there ...

Therefore, it is a case of disrespect to the client, aggravated by incompetence of the personnel ...

Their ID: Irkutsk (former Intourist) Hotel, 44 Gagarina Boulevard, 664055 Irkutsk, Russia

Smokers' only lobby | Siberia / Azimut hotel | Novosibirsk Russia

These guys have never heard of special smokers' areas, therefore be prepared to achieve the state of a smoked herring in the common areas of this hotel. The wide-open windows letting in cold air from the outside into the lobby and corridors equally contribute to deleterious effects on your health.

Their ID: Azimut hotel Siberia, 21 Lenin Street, Novosibirsk, 630004, Russia, siberia@azimuthotels.com