Time is money, tea isn’t.
That could be the motto for Kyiv’s pay-for-time establishments. They are like anti-cafes. They offer comfortable seats, hot beverages, sweets and board games for free. The only thing you pay for is time. The trend started when Moscow’s Tsyferblat came to Kyiv this spring. It was followed with other creative places downtown, free of alcohol and tobacco and providing wireless Internet connections.
Chasopys
3 Lva Tolstoho St. Hr 30 for the first hour, Hr 15 after that. Personal cards are used to count time. Working hours: 8 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. Tel: 384-0710. A list of events and sign-up forms can be found at www.chasopys.kiev.ua.
First opened in early September, it only took a couple of weeks to become one of most popular establishments in downtown Kyiv. Now Chasopys hosts lectures and presentations almost every day. In evenings it is often full, but its several halls mean there should always be a seat somewhere around.
When I entered Chasopys with a friend on a Monday night, its two largest halls were hosting lectures, one free and one with an entrance fee. We found seats in the coziest part of the British-style hall with classic beige armchairs and coffee tables, where a dozen office workers were participating in some kind of team-building event.
Another hall has books, magazines and cafe-style tables. There is a cinema hall, a room with board games and bean bag chairs, a room with benches imitating a park, a bathroom-styled hall and a conference room.
Hot beverages and some food are available at Chasopys’ coffee points. Here one can find a coffee machine, tea bags, a toaster, bread, jam and cookies.
In general, Chasopys seems the most suitable for meetings, including business ones. Even though there is some entertainment to be found, the atmosphere seems a bit on the serious side for hanging out with friends.
Bibliotech
120 Saksahanskoho St. Hr 36 for the first hour, Hr 18 after that. Bracelets are used to count time. Working hours: 10 a.m. – 11 p.m. Tel: 351-1990. www.bibliotech.com.ua.
This is Kyiv’s geek haven. It bears the slogan “Being smart is back in style,” and has portraits of prominent geek-culture figures – like Albert Einstein, Woody Allen and the characters of The Big Bang Theory TV series – on its walls. Located on the second floor of a modern business center at Saksahanskoho Street, near Kyiv’s main railway station, it remains quite isolated.
Bibliotech offers more entertainment than its rivals. It has two foosball tables, two Xboxes, a ping pong table and some classic board games. Their book collection is quite nice, too.
Treats are also more generous. Besides the usual coffee, tea, bread and jam, there are candies and oranges to make juice. It’s a good weekend hangout and even on crowded evenings there is some place to sit and a game to play.
Bibliotech is the most expensive of Kyiv’s pay-for-time establishments, but it offers some discounts. Workdays before 4 p.m. are half-price, with the whole day going for Hr 72. Also, a Foursquare check-in will give you 10 percent discount.
For me, Bibliotech was a strange mix of friendliness and hostility. Almost all clients are extremely relaxed, friendly and always willing to help when you don’t know how to beat someone to death in an Xbox game. By contrast, the receptionist’s rudeness reminds of Soviet-style shops and doesn’t suit the otherwise modern venue.
Besednizza
7/1 Tarasa Shevchenko Alley (near Maidan Nezalezhnosti). Hr 16 per hour. Personal cards are used to count time. Working hours: 10 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. Tel: 270-6005. www.besednizza.com.
Besednizza is perhaps the least known of Kyiv’s pay-for-time spaces, which is weird since it is just 100 meters from Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square and is the cheapest. Besednizza is rather small. Its two rooms are designed with much less effort than those of Chasopys and Bibliotech. This gives it a homely feel, which is reinforced by its location in the basement of an old building.
Treats are modest and include coffee, tea and tasteless cookies, so those with a sweet tooth should bring something with them. The choice of board games is pretty much the same as everywhere, and table football is replaced with a small billiard table. Mafia is also a popular game, and there’s always a chance to join in. Also, one can buy an hour in Besednizza and leave it for a stranger to use later.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Rudenko can be reached at [email protected]
