11 hotels fit for 647 people were introduced in Yekaterinburg in 2005 within the framework of Hotels of Yekaterinburg project and 10 more are to start operating in 2006, reports the Yekaterinburg Public Administration Commodities Market Committee.

According to Deputy Mayor Viktor Konteev, the city is currently facing a real hotel boom. Yekaterinburg was the fourth city to be given the international Park Inn hotel chain in 2005. 7 hotels, including Bolshoy Ural, Iset, Zelenaya Rosha and Uktus Hotels were renovated and some of them (Grand Avenue Hotel, to name only one) are going to welcome their visitors as early as this week.

Some of the hotels went through facultative certification, which resulted in Ural Hotel getting the four stars, Oktyabrskaya and Hermitage Hotels getting three stars and Taganskya Hotel receiving two stars.

The quality of the service appears to be gradually improving. ‘We are hoping for a stimulating and fair rivalry which would give the players the incentive to provide value for the money. However, the public catering service sphere is not looking as comforting as the hotel business. That’s why we’ve been trying to set up joint ventures involving trading companies,’ Mr Konteev said.