Right on the quayside, with its own private harbour, the Golden Symbol is the only modern hotel in Balaklava's tiny port. Its bedrooms all open onto a wide first floor veranda overlooking moored boats and the bay leading out to the open sea.

A good range of food and drink is available in the hotel's restaurant and bar, and you can eat outside on the covered pier, or upstairs on the first floor veranda, which also has recliners for a snooze in the sun.

Bedrooms have cable TV, air conditioning for those really hot days in summer, and heating for winter visitors. Bedrooms sleep 2 or 3 people, and there is one bathroom for every two bedrooms.

Prices are very simple:

Prices are per room, irrespective of the number of occupants, and do not include breakfast. All bookings are subject to a single advance booking charge of 15 Euros.

It's possible to use the internet from the hotel office and there are international telephone facilities at the UkrTelekom Centre just across the square.

Secure car parking is available at the hotel and, for those arriving by sea, boats can be moored at the hotel quayside.

Around Balaklava

Although Balaklava is a working port, for small commercial ships as well as for private yachts, it is remarkably quiet - even the gravel quarry on one of the hills seems to blend into the peaceful atmosphere. From another hill the medieval ruins of the Genoese fortress still appear to guard the entrance to the S-shaped inlet which makes the town invisible from the sea.
A walk up there at sunset is a must.

Cliff-top walks around Balaklava offer spectacular views along the coast, and it's easy to find your way around.

Across the bay from the hotel is one of the entrances to the underground submarine base tunnelled James Bond-style into the hillside during the Soviet era, now open for guided tours.

Balaklava is well known as the British and French base during the Crimean War, and you can walk through the vineyards to the north of the town to the wide valley where the famous battle took place. It's only15 minutes by car to historic Sevastopol and the Sapoun Heights, where Lord Raglan gave the order that led to the Charge of the Light Brigade.

Other places within easy reach include Greek and Byzantine Khersoness, further up the coast, and inland - Mangup-Kaleh, the ruins of one of Crimea's medieval cave cities in the mountains.