Roughing it in Russia
England’s players won’t be wowed by their hotel
When england’s pampered millionaire footballers stayed in France for euro 2016 two years ago, their base was a five-star £500-anight hotel.
But when they arrive in the Russian village of Repino tomorrow they will learn how the ‘other half’ live.
For home for Gareth Southgate’s 23-man squad and FA entourage will be the £ 104- a- night ForRestMix Club hotel.
The facility is a far cry from the five-star Auberge du Jeu de Paume chateau hotel where they stayed for their disastrous european Championship campaign.
The stunning French escape close to Chantilly racecourse was 25 miles from Paris and set in a 20,000-acre estate.
But for Russia 2018 the england footballers will have to put up with the far more basic backwater of Repino for the next few weeks.
A selection of images emerged yesterday showing england’s Russian World Cup hotel, which is oddly ranked as having four and a half stars. And while it may have a nine-hole golf course nearby, some of the players may not think it is up to par.
The 117-room hotel boasts a gym, swimming pool and games room with snooker tables. however the property looks tired, with a wooden decked terraced restaurant area and basic communal area with dated leather chairs and sofas.
It is customary for the FA to provide computer games and table tennis tables for the players. When they took over the Chantilly hotel two years ago, the FA hired two five-ton lorries to take everything imaginable to the facility to make the players more comfortable.
They even provided them with individual TVs to allow the squad to play computer games in their rooms.
Yesterday the ForRestMix was closed to potential visitors, its large wooden gates guarded by stern security guards 48 hours before the england squad was due to arrive.
For entertainment outside the complex, the players will have to rely on a wine shop, supermarket and tiny disco. The village — population 2,500 — is hardly teeming with tourist attractions, though there are re- enactments of the Red Army fighting off the nazis in World War Two forest trenches for those of a historical bent.
If the squad want to travel to the city of St Petersburg — dubbed the ‘Venice of the north’ because of its numerous rivers and canals — they will have to endure a tedious 19- mile train journey lasting 45 minutes.
One reviewer recently criticised the swimming pool for having too many chemicals in the water, while others moaned about the size of the bedroom TVs.
A reviewer from Germany wrote on TripAdvisor: ‘ Maintenance is below standard. Breakfast is simply tasteless.’
A guest from Russia said: ‘ The spa is dirty. The swimming pool is poor with lots of chemicals.’ One British expat from St Petersburg wrote: ‘Breakfast seemed to have been cooked an hour before as it was tepid.’ however, the news for the england team is that they will have their own chef at the hotel to cook for them.
The players’ wives and girlfriends, and invited families, will be based in St Petersburg.