At the Romanian border, a luxury hotel serving displaced Ukrainians

Leslie Carretero, special correspondent in Siret, Romania.

Away from downtown Suceava, about forty kilometers from the Romanian-Ukrainian border, the imposing facade of the Mandachi hotel can be spotted from afar. Built along a boulevard, the five-storey building exudes modernity and luxury. Built in 2020, the place which sports 4 stars denotes with the Soviet architecture of the buildings of the city.

Below the site, where the village hall is located, the agitation is at its height on March 3. Behind the door with gold-coloured handles, a hubbub escapes from the hall. Since February 24 and the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the famous Romanian businessman Stefan Mandachi has transformed this huge room into a dormitory for displaced Ukrainians.

Around 1,500 exiles welcomed at the Mandachi Hotel

Day and night, dozens of people push the door of this hotel to benefit from a roof. The announcement of its opening to exiles was published on the manager’s Facebook page and is relayed at the Siret border post, in western Romania, by citizens and humanitarian workers.

>> To (re)read: Report: in Romania, the small border town of Siret is mobilizing in the face of arrivals from Ukraine

In just 10 days, approximately 1,500 men and women passed through the structure. This Thursday, they were nearly 300 but the number varies according to arrivals and departures. “We had up to 600 people at the same time,” says Stefan Mandachi. The young millionaire does not take his eyes off his phone, the ringing of which continues to ring.

The place, which is usually used for wedding receptions, has taken on the appearance of an emergency accommodation center. On the ground floor, the counters of the two receptions are covered with food and hygiene products, available to exiles. At the top of the stairs, under the chandeliers and the gilding, hundreds of mattresses are strewn on the floor. Sheets annotated with the inscription “Free” (available, in French) are placed on the unoccupied beds. On the platform overhung by a disco ball, tons of clothes are piled up. Ukrainians just have to help themselves.

In the improvised play area for the youngest, children have fun with hoops, Lego or cards. Their mothers watch them from afar, their features drawn. Other toddlers dozed off despite the ruckus. Teenagers do not take their eyes off their smartphones, connected to social networks.

Place of transit

Maria, she talks with her grandmother. This young woman in her twenties with green hair had landed a few hours earlier at the Mandachi hotel, with a backpack as her only luggage. “I just took what was necessary, I didn’t have a lot of time”, explains this student from Zaporijjia, in the south-east of Ukraine. Maria hopes to get on a bus as soon as possible for Germany, where her brother lives. “I don’t know how long the trip will take, I prefer not to think about it,” she said, wrapped up in a duvet.

Like her, the displaced people do not stay more than a few days in the building. Some stop only for an hour or two to rest, then resume their journey. The vast majority of those who arrived in Romania – around 140,000 since February 24, including more than 70,000 in Siret – do not settle in the country and join relatives in Italy, Germany, Spain or France.

About forty volunteers take turns 24 hours a day to inform them about the means of transport to take for the rest of their trip. They carry the suitcases, change the sheets or distribute food.

Stefan Mandachi assures him, his luxury hotel will remain open as long as it takes. “It all depends on the war. If the fighting continues, we will continue to welcome people. It is important to show solidarity with the Ukrainians at this time”, he believes, before leaving at full speed to lend a hand. to humanitarians.

More than 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, according to the latest UN counts published on Sunday March 6.