My Trip To Russia
rom the http://travelhog.net/mytriptorussia/Sochi/sochi.htm

We recommend you to contact us and make some reservations in advance to avoid this kind of experience. Of course there are many expensive apartments and hotels in Sochi but you can always find accommodation for $15-$30. And there are many places where you can have a good meal for a reasonable price. Look at our guide to places to eat in Sochi.
Sochi Club

Indeed, Sochi seemed a little bit more 'Western' than many of the towns I had visited so far. Not only were the buildings in better shape, hotels where lining almost the whole way from the airport to the city center. The town being so close to the Caucasus also left its mark. Even before entering the airport terminal after leaving the plane, already twice where my papers checked by militia keeping an eye on all passengers. Apparently, to them I looked more like a terrorist then a tourist.

Fair damsels
I expected it to be easy to get a place to stay for one or two nights. I hadn't yet made reservations anywhere since I had started my trip. At the entrance of the terminal, fair damsels where holding up signs, shouting to get the attention of the wary travelers, trying to sell rooms in upper-class hotels. Deciding that wasn't for me, I waited for my luggage to appear. I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask for prices.

Some discussion with a very nice looking lady got me a bottom price for a room. One night, wait for it, 250 dollars. Yes, two hundred and fifty dollars. Bargaining, after a while, got it down to 160. I figured I was going to try in town. After all, the Planet mentioned a booking office at the main train station.

There, I wasn't even worth looking at. After pressing on for quite a while, a youth volunteered to translate for me, talking mainly to me and occasionally to the lady at the counter, her almost covering herself in papers. The only thing I could get was a cottage for 10 days, at $35 a day and regular hotels where booked until as late as October! I gave up, stood in line for over an hour to get a train ticket, leaving Sochi the same day for Rostov which would make it possible for me to sleep on the train, and went for a stroll around town.

What's so strange about getting a train ticket in Russia is that, although your time at the counter is limited to one to five minutes, even with as little as 5 people waiting in front of you, you could still have to wait for up to an hour. Just what are these people doing that makes the wait so long?

Sochi isn't any different from your average beach resort. Accept for the bunkers, on the beach, being half covered by the water. Busy beaches, tanned and beautiful girls, closed beaches, reserved for hotel guests and expensive, expensive drinks and snacks.

The temperature was good though, some 30 degrees Centigrade in the shade. The whole climate is reflected in the way people live and work in this part of the country. Much more like Mediterranean people, life is more relaxed and people are more passionate. Strangely enough, the city was also very clean, and well kept.