Usually it goes like this: you own a certain business, instruct your secretary, they call your competitors and offer them to buy the second and third prize places for a certain amount. Of course, you keep the first place for yourself.
This is just one of the few ways our 'have-nots' manage to get by. There are many: bribing judges, paid bloggers, inside people among voters, buying likes and SMS votes, etc.
And that is precisely why I would not trust any local top list or rating. And perhaps the same thing happens abroad, but I still want to believe that the thoroughly rotten system exists exclusively in the 'post-Soviet' space, while abroad things are much better.
Top hotels in Lviv. Lviv hotels Ukraine
That is why, when I was tasked with finding accommodation for expensive guests from abroad (business partners, to be precise), I did not rely on our ratings. Instead, I looked at a foreign top list (fortunately, I have sufficient command of English).
So, according to English-speaking tourists who have visited Lviv (who shared that they searched for hotels using queries 'lviv hotels ukraine', 'booking hotel lviv'), the 'Vintage boutique hotel' won in three categories at once. The categories: 'Coziest', 'Best atmosphere', and 'Right in the center of tourist life'.
In the categories 'Who wants to get to know Ukraine' and 'Best nature', the hotel 'Drevny Grad' won, which is not even in Lviv. Apparently, tourists think that this is how most average Ukrainians live. They are certainly mistaken, but we have no right to forbid them from being mistaken.
In the category 'Most luxurious', the hotel 'Leopolis' won. 'I thought at first, they have golden toilets in there' – that is perhaps the best comment about this hotel.
In the category 'Price-acceptable quality', the hotel 'Atlas Deluxe' won, which satisfies tourists in everything except one: 'It’s too popular with Russians. And do not think that Russians and Ukrainians are the same. They are not'.
Finally, in popularity, the hotel 'Leopolis' won. 'It isn’t that good. But there is nothing bad to tell about'.
Afterword
In the end, we housed our guests at Vintage – not the most popular, but almost nothing bad was written about it (almost, because haters, as we know, will hate).
The reviews of our guests were quite adequate. Although the transport interchange was not quite suitable – our guests came in their own vehicles and complained about the parking.