Dear Gentlemen,
I would like to give you some friendly, yet very useful advice which would definitely be found of use for you while in Odessa, Ukraine.
Odessa is a very progressive and cosmopolitan city with population of over 1,000,000 people of inhabitants, though truly the formal inhabitants make not that great part of our real population. This means that Odessa is a multinational city with many Indian, Chinese, Ukr-American, Arab families residing and working here. You can meet quite a few people from your home country in Odessa streets as well!
My travel tips follow:
-Try to use either credit cards or traveler's cheques instead of bringing cash with you. This will keep your money safe and if something happens, you can easily suspend your bank account and settle things down. Traveler's cheques, though, is the only way of having no worries about. If something happens to them, at least you'll know nobody else can use them;

-It's highly recommended to arrive at the airport 2 hours in advance before your flight starts. Registration takes about 40 minutes' time;

-While in Odessa, it's not recommended to drink tap water, or, if you do drink tap water, it's better to get it boiled before drinking. The best drinkable water is bottled water which goes through tough control and has over 5 levels of cleaning. Standard price of 2-3 litre bottled water in Ukraine makes US$1 (6-8 gryvas);

-In regards with Odessa taxis, it's better to call for legal taxi which is more safe and will definitely save your money. Gypsy, Georgian and Armenian drivers can sometimes take advantage of a foreigner traveling alone in Odessa. Approximate fees for legal taxi in Odessa are:
Odessa taxi fees City center - Arkadia - US$8-10
Train station - Arkadia - US$7-8
Airport - Arkadia - US$12-15
Airport - City center - US$15-17
Local taxi service in Odessa:
+380482322322 (Joker Taxi)
+380487030101 (Taxi Plus)
+3804827281313 (Alpha Taxi)

-Odessa train/air tickets delivery service: #1583 (local number);

-Pizza delivery: # +38(048)777-0000 (Mario Pizza);

-Odessa Black Sea water becomes more polluted and radiated, therefore I'd recommend you to use Beach Clubs (Maristella Beach Club or Otrada Beach Club, which is located near Arkadia);

-When you travel over the world, you get used to more home designed accommodations. This is the #1 reason why the major part of travelers prefer to rent an apartment to expensive hotel room. My point is to explain why:
-Apartments are of more privacy;
-Private apartments have only 1 key and nobody would ever intrude your privacy unless you let them;
-Unlike hotel rooms, well equipped apartments have all needed cleaning utensils which saves your money on maid service;
-Private apartments are safe both with the location and have more personal touch with the facilities (for instance, either WiFi or cable Internet, etc.)

You can reach me directly at:

Phone number: +380632640518
I am available Monday through Friday 24/7. Ask for my weekend rates at +380632640518 or simply email me!