The Podol is an elegant, old-school hotel, very nice refurbished. It's in the Podol neighborhood, just north of the center of Kiev (Maiden Nezalezhnosti), Gentrifying, but still some grit. Very nice staff. Excellent breakfast, as long as you get there early. One day we slept in, and got there just before 11, and the pickings were a little slim. So get up early!
The last night was not so great -- the couple in the neighboring room were talking and having sex all night, and we didn't get any sleep. The walls are apparently very thin.
I was also negatively surprised by one thing: I ordered a taxi from the hotel to the airport. They said the charge would be 500 hryvnia (about $19). We had heard from our guidebooks that the maximum you should pay was either 300 or 400 ($11 / $15). So, I do hope that they are putting their customers' interest first.