Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

The inside of a room at a tent city that will be situated in Kyiv. (Courtesy) Since Ukraine was awarded the Euro 2012 soccer championship five years ago, one question has concerned organizers more than most others: accommodation.

Ukraine’s builders and planners have worked overtime to complete hotels and prepare alternatives, such as student dorms and campsites.

But now organizers say there is another problem: Fans don’t know where to look to find reasonably priced accommodation.

The cheapest apartment in Kyiv is on offer for 300 euros per night at one travel website. Another offers a two-person room in a hostel for two nights in the middle of the tournament for 1,200 euros.

Those kinds of prices could put off foreign visitors, 80 percent of whom are looking for budget accommodation, according to Markiyan Lubkivsky, director of Euro 2012 in Ukraine.

But organizers say there is plenty of reasonably priced accommodation available through the tournament’s two official travel organizations – Germany’s TUI and Ukraine’s Hamaliya.

These organizations offer places in hostels, dorms, hotels and fan camps via the Union of European Football Associations’ website, uefa.com.

Here you can choose your dates, number of rooms and beds needed, and the results are sorted in terms of price. TUi and Hamalia say they have checked all of the accommodation on offer.

TUI’s website is located at www.accom2012.com. You can book two nights or more, and your payment is refundable under certain conditions, for example, if you are sick or find the accommodation doesn’t match the description on the website.

You can already book a place in a hotel, dormitory or apartment. Fan camps – available in Kyiv and Donetsk – will be available from mid-February. These camps will be small tent cities located in wooded areas or on beaches with varying levels of services, costing from 25 euros to 50 euros per person.

There are large family tents with queen-sized beds and bathroom facilities, or smaller rooms for four people in bunks.

More details can be found on the website, which also provides pictures, maps and room descriptions.

Hamalia’s website can be accessed at www.hotelsukraine.com.ua/en. This portal requires a minimum three-night stay, and payments are not refundable. The minimum hotel price in Kyiv is around 30 euros per room per night and 15 euros at a campsite.

Using the right website can help you find the cheapest beds available

Euro 2012 officials say these two companies offer enough rooms for the expected several hundred thousand visitors.

Currently only 20 percent of the places offered by the firms have been booked. There are more than 32,500 places available in Kyiv, 11,800 places in Donetsk, 9,900 in Kharkiv and 6,690 in Lviv.

Lubkivsky said accommodation prices will rise closer to the tournament, so it’s better to book now.

Fans can also look for accommodation on their own, but officials warn of high prices and potential scams.

International websites such as booking.com as well as local accommodation providers offer private apartments, often with a greater range than the official companies.

These apartments, however, are often not subject to checks by the provider, which simply acts as an intermediary between the owner and the person renting.

“Far too often owners who didn’t want to lower prices to reasonable levels and those who didn’t want to go through a check on their conditions place their ads on such portals. We don’t even know for sure are there real flats behind those ads,” said Ihor Golubakha, president of Hamalia.

“Unfortunately we can’t influence them and can only recommend football fans to start with the official UEFA page.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliya Raskevich can be reached at raskevich@kyivpost.com