Feedback on
Masha and her babushka friends
(Note that Maria and Masha refer to the same person)

In counter-chronological order

Addresses rendered unrecognizable to spamming robots by replacing @ with [at] etc. but you may contact most of those who left their feedback here or on other feedback pages.

Received September 28, 2005

rom: Kevin Duddy [mailto:kduddy   at  naims  dot co dot uk]
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 9:23 PM
To: maraia@mail.ru
Cc: Bob Work; Bob Home
Subject: Back in England

Hi Masha

Just a short mail to let you know that Bob and I got back to England OK.
We did not have any trouble at the Estonian-Russian border and did not
need to pay any fines or bribes. After I had explained that we entered
Russia through Belarus, the border guards were satisfied and let us
through.

As promised, I attach some pictures of Bob and myself with your mother
(and Susie, of course). I am the tall one with hair.

Thanks once again for all the help we received from you and your mother.
We were very happy with our stay, and would happily stay again on
Nalitchnaya Ulitsa on any return visit - we might get to meet each other
then!

All the best,

Kevin (& Bob)

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09/09/2005

 

Received July 2005

....
we stayed in the infamous Masha's apartment on Vasilievsky island... as you
put it "overdesigned"... well she wasn't there at all and we were left at
the hands of her mother... who despite the sweet intentions, couldn't
communicate with us in english.... or even a broken version thereof at
all... also as some other people had experienced, despite advertising the
use of the entire apartment, we were confined to our rooms and the lavish
bathroom... complete with underfloor heating... but a trickle of a shower
and no hot water... the large spa bath was not functional either... we
weren't allowed keys... so we had to come and go as masha's mother wanted...
had to pay for use of the washine machine... etc etc... the list
continues...

a bit of an institutional experience for us....

as i said i'll spell it all out later... just thought i'd give you a
preview....

david

"david louis" <gumboot_dave [ at ] hotmail [dot ] com>
 

Received May 7, 2005

Hello Paul

I hope you have some space. It is my last hope in Moscow.

About Maria Vasilieva's mom and her place. It is not bad but the
prices need to be updated...Maria told me by e-mail that she asked 25
USD per night, but her mom charged me 35 USD per night when I arrived.
Of course Maria was not there and her mom does not speak english.

It is a place just for sleeping and having breakfast, that's all. For
all those ones who seek for interaction with russians and to make
friends, it is definitely not the right place.

Of course for those ones who want to see Maria, it seems she does not
live there  and her image is maybe used in your website just for
atracting customers, just like the good looking girls which you can
see in the beer or cigarettes advertisements.

Anyway it is not bad place but a little expenssive. Too late I have
found that for less money you can find good places in St Petersburg.

thanks

Boris CC

 

November 30, 2004

I would suggest that people avoid staying at Maria's place unless they like feeling isolated and uncomfortable.

I spent 13 nights there - hoping things would improve. In that time I probably saw Maria at most 5 times. The flat is nice & the room is adequate - but that's it - you just get a room & use of the bathroom. No interaction with a Russian family & certainly no opportunity to be shown around.

I was left to fend for myself right from the word go having newly arrived in Russia.

I got extremely fed up with having to avoid the dog shit - and dog wee in the hall every day.

After about a week the mother did say it was OK to use the kettle & kitchen facilities - but the kitchen was not very clean.

The homestay is just a business for them. When she was around, Maria was not interested in holding any kind of conversation and I felt like I was in the way all the time.

I'm sure there are other homestays which are more suitable. Even a hostel would be preferable because you would get more interaction.

Ruth Cawston
ruthcawston1 AT hotmail DOT com
England

 

Maria and others,

Please don't take this one too seriously.

She went to my dacha right after she left you, with similar results.  In addition to a substantial discount (from $25/night rate that includes food and unlimited horse riding, which is already a charity) she wanted to be met and taken back to the city (25 km each way, thus 100km travel distance, part of which over terrain that required tire chains - and she got half of it). One of the reasons for a discount she demanded was that she "cooked twice herself". Also blathered something to the effect that receiving guests, feeding them, and providing them with well-equipped horses to ride just can't possibly cost $25/day.

Write off this complaint as being from one of these perpetually unhappy British characters. When you have a choice think twice about the Brits, 1/3 of which will not be happy no matter how hard you try. I've also noticed that discount-seekers are likely to complain or to generate problems. Give discounts if you can and if you feel that your guests deserve it, and you can do that without hurting your interests but I advise you against giving discount to those who seek it aggressively. The irony is that I often find myself offering better deals to people with money - simply because they are less of a pain in the neck.

Low season now so I am sort of forced to take just about everyone who wants my services, and suffer the consequences. Just got rid of a group of Spanish musicians - also discount seekers - that were so loud that neighbours complained. And they pocketed the mobile phone I kept as a courtesy to my Moscow guests.

I need a real job away from people. Any offers will be gladly considered. House/farm sitting will probably be ideal for me.

Pasha

 

 

I just returned from a two week excursion through St.Petersburg and Russia. I stayed in a well located part of the city called Vasiliyevsky island with Maria and her mother. The apartment was well kept and had an easy landmark to use to identify it from anywhere in the city (LenExpo). I would recommend their apartment to anyone over a hotel. Maria was well informative about the city and things to do. I will be more than happy to answer any questions future guest have of the my stay or the apartment through email. My stay was a memorable one due to my stay with her and her mother.
 

David
newyorkartist4 AT
hotmail DOT com

 

homestay St Petersburg
Posted on July 1, 2004 at 10:03:11 AM by roblaird AT bigpond DOT com

Had planned to stay at Maria's homestay for 5 nights, stayed just one. Modern decor apartment, but its a business, not a homestay. You rent a room and use of bathroom. No connection with russian culture - its not what we expected from homestay, we didn't feel welcomed into the house and therefore comfortable. We moved to Nord Hostel in center and would highly recommend there.

Replies:
 

feed back

----- Original Message -----
From: <markkujarvenpaa AT suomi24 DOT fi>
To: "Maria Vassilieva " <maraia AT mail DOT ru>
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 2:06 PM
Subject: Greetings for Finland !


 Hi Maria,

 Thank for YOU and Luba is very good hostess. Keep good care
 of me. So You can said a greetings for me and I am now in home !

 But are You still interested in future to rent your own room
 because there one very good advantage Internet !

 

 Best regards, Markku

[A REAL BAD PIECE OF FEEDBACK FROM AARON & ???  SEEMS TO BE LOST, TO BE ADDED WHEN FOUND, BUT I THINK IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH ACCOMMODATION WITH ONE OF MASHA'S BABUSHKA NEIGHBOURS    - PASHA]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ute Spoehrer" <spoehrer AT hotmail DOT com>
To: <maraia AT mail DOT ru>
Sent: Sunday, June 20, 2004 3:37 PM
Subject: Thank you very much!


> Dear Maria,
>
> I am back to Germany for some days and I had already to work a lot in my
> hospital.
>
> But I don´t want to forget to thank you and your Mum so much for your
> support. I was so happy that there was no need for registration in the end
> because of my short stay in St. Petersburg.
> Your mother was so kind! She recommended me a very good connection to the
> airport by minibus. I reached the airport in time although not much time
was
> left (I arrived there only 15 min. before closing time of the check in).
> The city of St. Petersburg is precious. I appreciated it very much.
>
> Thank you so much for everything! I hope we will meet again one day. I
will
> save your address.
>
>
> With kind regards,
> Ute
>
>
> P.S. Give also my best regards to Tanya please.
>

 

----- Original Message -----
From:  demirltd AT yahoo COM com
To: <maraia AT mail DOT ru>
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2004 12:52 AM
Subject: Thanks a lot honey

 
Hi Maria,
Thank you so much for everything ,you are so wonderful!
Warm regards,
Hakan

 

> Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 12:05:35 +0200
> From: MarÌa JosÈ TamÈs <m.tames.000 AT  recol DOT es>
> Reply-To: MarÌa JosÈ TamÈs <m.tames.000 AT recol DOT es>
> Subject: RV: Safe trip back. Thanks
> To: maraia AT mail DOT ru
>
>
> Dear Maria:
> I am back again with a lot of work after one week of holidays (This is
> usually the problem when one is off of work, nobody does your work).
> First of all I would like to say thank you to you for my nice stay because
> we could not say good bye each other personally. Tell your mother that the
> trip to the airport was perfect and I got there by 16,15 h. so with plenty
> of time. the problem came later because this flight to Francfurt was
delayed
> for almost 1 hour and I could not connect with my flight to Spain. I had
to
> stay overnight in a hotel near the airport and flight on sunday morning.
But
> finally I arrived safely at home for sunday lunch.
> I hope you will have also nice holidays and hoping to seeing you in a
future
> Kind regards to you, Tatiana and "suzie"?
> Maria Jose

 

From: "Mechele Leon" <mleon AT ku DOT edu>
To: <maraia AT mail DOT ru>
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2004 10:28 PM
Subject: Greetings from Mechele


> Hi Tamara and Masha,
>
> I arrived safely back in the USA.  Thank you for a wonderful homestay!
> Here are two pictures I thought you would enjoy.
>
> Regards,
> Mechele