Zhemchuzhina Urala Sanatorium

Stayed here for 10 nights. The road leading up to the place is rediculously terrible...very bad even by Russian road standards. More holes than usable roadway. Room was very old and very outdated. Floors were dirty and weren’t adequately cleaned for the duration of the stay. The old Soviet rug on the floor had months and months of dust and dirt on it. Bathroom tiles were cracked with black mold growing all around the bottom half of the walls of the shower. Bathroom continuously smelled like sewage. Bugs were found crawling around the bathroom every day. Woke up multiple nights to the sound of a mouse/mice in the corner of the room squeaking. Moved the refrigerator to find mouse feces all over the floor in the corner of the room and between the wood flooring. Never found the mouse. Television sometimes wouldn’t turn on(all rooms apparently have 20+ year old tube televisions). Windows and door to the balcony were very old and not secure. No air conditioning so the windows must be open at all times so mosquitos are welcomed in during the evening/night. At night you can hear EVERYTHING...your neighbors, people talking outside, and people having loud sex somewhere on the property for 3 hours early in the morning(yes that really happened). The food was generally terrible. Occasionally we were served something decent but usually it was very basic cooked vegetables, buckwheat, bread. The dining room staff were fast and good but the food was below average. I repeatedly put up the “please clean room” sign on my door and after 5 days of nothing being cleaned they finally partially cleaned the room. Had to ask for clean towels and sheets(they only do them once every 5 days I guess...you have to pay extra for clean sheets otherwise). The resort lacks activities and things to do. There are tours offered by a 3rd party which are nice but of course come at an additional cost. There is a restaurant next to the resort that can be visited. The prices were relatively high but the food was all really good. The only redeeming quality of this resort is the lake...the water is crystal clear, the view is beautiful...it’s the nicest lake I’ve ever visited. There’s almost no beach-front area on the lake like what was portrayed in some photos. You’ll need to travel to the village next to the lake for a good beach area. The surrounding cities of Miass and Zlatoust are interesting old towns with not a lot to do but worthy of a visit and are intriguing. The only challenge was getting to them...taxi apps don’t work at the resort as it’s outside the service territory. So we had to walk 30 or so minutes to the main road and pace around for phone signal to get a taxi. Phone service at the resort is hit/miss and the only place there that had WiFi was the main lobby. Not a big problem since it’s a vacation but WiFi in all the rooms isn’t much to ask for in 2018. The resort building isn’t well-maintained...lots of loose or broken tiles on the floor and stairs. Elevators are old and crude. They would often go to the basement floor rather than the desired floor. The owner of this resort is clearly lining their pockets with the profits of the people staying here rather than putting any of it back into maintenance, updates, and improvements like any good businessperson would. But for some reason people continue to vacation here and strangely the place has a lot of positive reviews, but I can say after visiting another Russian resort at a comparable price point before, this place is an absolute joke and waste of time. I would highly recommend visiting Lake Turgoyak via a better resort or just on your own for a day, but don’t waste your hard-earned money and precious time staying at this pathetic place.