The Sochi Olympic Games have already begun with great fanfare, but according to those behind the scenes covering the global event, the conditions of the Olympic Village have been deplorable.
Reporters and photographers from around the world began to arrive last week and found shoddy workmanship in the hastily constructed hotel rooms, many of which were nearly uninhabitable.
The day before Friday's Opening Ceremonies, only six of the nine hotels reserved for the media were ready to accept guests. Even those that were completed had running water in only some of the rooms; those that did have water were warned not to drink it. Here are a few of the tweets that were sent last week by shocked journalists upon arrival in Sochi.
From Harry Reekie of CNN:
"This is the one hotel room @Sochi2014 have given us so far. Shambles."
"CNN booked 11 rooms in one @Sochi2014 media hotel five months ago. We have been here for a day and only one room is available."
From Shaun Walker, a Moscow correspondent for the British newspaper The Guardian:
"Still waiting for 'preparations' on hotel room to finish. Hoping they're origami-folding toilet roll, rather than, say, putting the roof on."
"I have a room! No heating or internet, but it has a (single) bed at least..."
"Got back to hotel. Lift broken after half day in use. Trekked up stairs. Door to my floor (that'd be the fire door) locked. Utter farce."
From Rosa Hwang of CTV:
"Water main break means no water at our hotel in #Sochi. Could take awhile to fix."