Questions about a VPS

I'm considering buying a VPS for my botting. I have a few questions I'd like answered before I do though.. some are pretty noobish, just to warn you.

1) Can your IP be seen while using the VPS? Essentially can this be used as a super proxy if need be lol

2) Where are some good hosting sites?

3) How reliable are they on an average basis? On my desktop computer, my bots mess up quite often and I don't feel like it's worth it to purchase this unless it is going to be at least as reliable, if not more.