COLD COMFORT
England’s World Cup 2018 hotel in Russia slated by reviewers as ‘dirty’ with bad food
Guests slam ForRestMix Club Hotel in backwater village outside St Petersburg - where England team will arrive on Tuesday
ENGLAND’S World Cup hotel is dirty with bad food and a "chemical" swimming pool, guests say.
Gareth Southgate’s squad arrive on Tuesday at the isolated ForRestMix Club Hotel in a pine forest 45 minutes’ drive north of St Petersburg, Russia.
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Photos show the £104-a-night hotel bordered by prison-like gates, while the rooms are filled with garish red decor.
ForRestMix is in the dilapidated village of Repino — with nothing to entertain visitors apart from a wine shop, supermarket and disco.
Locals said “no-one” visits the area in June as it is still too cold.
Highs of only 18C in coming days mean its nearby beach and the icy sea of the Gulf of Finland are too chilly.
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Past guests also blasted ForRestMix hotel for its appalling food – which England’s private chefs will improve - and tiny bedroom TVs too small to watch.
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.”
A British expat from St Petersburg wrote: “Breakfast seemed to have been cooked an hour before as it was tepid.
“TVs in the rooms were the size of a computer monitor, making them completely unwatchable from bed.”
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A Russian reviewer from St Petersburg said: “The swimming pool’s chemicals spoiled our positive impression of the pool. Take upper floor rooms, they are more private.”
Meanwhile, players' WAGS including Rebekah Vardy, 36, are expected to stay in vibrant St Petersburg.
Olga Mordvina, of St Petersburg newspaper Delovoy Peterburg, said: “No-one goes to Repino unless it’s hot – and it’s not hot yet in June.
“It’s a quiet village full of trees but not people.
“There are not any activities to do there - and it’s 45 minutes away from St Petersburg.
“England's players would have been better off staying in St Petersburg, which has lots of activities and sightseeing.”
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Players’ boredom in England’s isolated South Africa 2010 World Cup hotel was partially blamed for rifts in the team and the woeful 4-1 second-round thrashing by Germany.
Wayne Rooney complained of the team hotel: “Lying in bed at two in the afternoon, that's quite boring. Breakfast, train, lunch, bed, dinner, bed.”
John Terry said at the time: “We finish training and have lunch. It's six or seven hours until we meet up for dinner again. A bit of boredom kicks in.”
Jermain Defoe recently said: "In South Africa, one night I was bored, me and Wayne Rooney watched his whole wedding on DVD. You do get bored, but all the teams get bored.”
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A manager at the ForRestMix Club Hotel said: “We try to fix issues which guests complain about. But we’re not allowed to say anything more due to Football Association rules.”
The Football Association did not return a request for comment.
Southgate tried to play down boredom fears last week, saying: “My old physio at Aston Villa said to me ‘only boring people get bored.’ It’s a bit of a flippant remark - but it can’t always be entertainment.”
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