You're reading: City Life: Comfort and time for rent at Kyiv club

Do you know that awkward feeling when you have just finished your cup of tea in a cafe but still need to kill the next 40 minutes before your next meeting?

And the annoying waiter looks like he’s about to bring you the bill or ask for the next order, even though you didn’t particularly want that tea in the first place.

Well, it doesn’t need to happen any longer. Kyiv now boasts a place that offers you to pay for time spent in a comfortable setting, and nothing else. It’s 25 kopecks per minute.

The concept was created by a Moscow businessman called Ivan Mitin, and seven months on he has seven of these clubs in Russia, and one in Ukraine.

The place is called Tsyferblat, or clock dial, and its doors opened in Kyiv on March 23
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Tucked away on Volodymyrska, between Prorizna and Bohdana Khmelnytskoho streets, it has a handy location. There are no signs, so you won’t find it unless you know it’s there.

But on the evening of March 26, just three days after the opening, the place was packed and a Kyiv Post reporter took the last table. It was touching to see additional tables and chairs brought out from the back room to squeeze newly arriving people.

The place can fit up to 200 people, and the only advertising the place got so far was through social networks.

The interior can disappoint people used to classical Kyiv cafes, because Tsyferblat has a somewhat chaotic furniture arrangement. Tables and seats of all shapes and styles are set tightly. Mitin says that most of the furniture comes from flea markets and Ikea. It makes for an atmospheric combination, though.

Tsyferblat is a new place in Kyiv where you pay by the minute. Comfort and central location are a part of the bargain. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

Paying is easy here. On arrival, your name and time are written down on a white board. You can choose a vintage clock from a special shelf to keep track of time. All clocks have human names, and the name goes on the board next to yours. You pay as you check out, Hr 15 per hour.

“The price of the first hour might double, as in other Tsyferblat [clubs]. We’ll see after few days,” says Mitin, who looks very young, thin and exhausted. “But even with Hr 30 per hour, it’s cheaper than any cafe – you can drink three lattes in an hour, and each one of those would cost you Hr 30 in a cafe.”

Coffee, tea and cocoa are free for anyone to take, and the number of drinks is only limited by the volume of your stomach. Simple candies and biscuits are also on offer. You can bring your own food and drink to the place, but alcohol and cigarettes are not allowed. Tsyferblat has some books available, as well as chessboards and free Wi-Fi to use.

The nicest thing about Tsyferblat is its service. Coincidentally, this happens to be the weakest point in many cafes. You’re only helped with seating and drinks (except tea, which you make on your own).

The woman asking whether I wanted cinnamon in my cocoa sounded like giving me the spice was her life’s dream. This is the touch that makes me want to come back to this place.

Tsyferblat
49A Volodymyrska St., 063-745-4434
Open 11 a.m. till 11 p.m.
Price: Hr 15 per hour

Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Rudenko can be reached at [email protected]