Fontan 

Originally, we were due to depart at 21:00 from Chornomorsk (south west of Odessa) as foot passengers on the freight ferry to Istanbul but the departure was delayed. Having stayed the previous night in Odessa itself, we decided to find a room to stay closer to the port as departure times were likely to move. A last minute booking on line found us at Chornomorsk and a 45 min journey by bus from the central bus station in Odessa. We grabbed a taxi (with the help and translation services of a very helpful pharmacist) to the hotel. What an extraordinary place. We were greeted by our very friendly and helpful host who showed us to our room, through a very imaginatively Italianate inspired designed building. We were not surprised to learn the name of the owner was ‘Roman’. The hosts were extremely helpful in recommending somewhere close by to eat (we needed an early night) as well as assisting us with booking a taxi to the port for 04:00 that morning. This was not as easy as it might seem – our point of departure was from a freight terminal. Throughout, we were treated with utmost courtesy and care and genuinely have nothing but praise for our experience here (this in spite of a power cut shortly after we arrived - not uncommon in the area, and the hotel generator was pressed into action so no issues anyway) The decor in the spacious bedroom was quirky and we had a comfortable (if short) sleep due to our early departure, which also meant we were unable to sample the breakfast. We arrived in the evening and didn't sample Chornomorsk so cannot comment on proximi