St Petersburg Hotels

Culture Central

If you can’t find these hotels in your guidebook… it’s because our partners, Russia Experience are destination specialists with their own staff on site in Russia… and they sign-up the best new hotels as soon as they open, years before the guidebooks find them! They don’t call St Petersburg “the Northern Venice” for nothing – it’s built on a network of canals and re-routed rivers planned by Tsar Peter the Great in person. You don’t need to be an engineer to understand that you can’t put a metro tunnel through a canal! So some parts of the city don’t have nearby metro-stations… even Palace Square and the Hermitage are over 25 minutes walk from the nearest metro!

HOTEL VESTA 3*
92 NEVSKY PROSPEKT; METRO PLOSCHAD’ VOSSTANIYA

“Step onto Nevsky Prospekt” wrote Russian C19th author Gogol, “and you instantly step into the atmosphere of a fairground. All of smart society life is here!”. And that’s exactly where you step out of this hotel, because it’s on the “highstreet of the Russian Empire” itself, the poshest address in town! They’ve upgraded the rooms too – as well as tv, en-suite bathrooms and telephone, they’ve now got air-conditioning too. Still family-run, with charming service and an elegant breakfast on offer – one of the few hotels where you may still find the owners serving breakfast on occasion. Oh, and did we mention it has the best location in town? Book now, before the guidebooks all find it. All located in a carefully converted C19th apartment-house in a quiet courtyard 50m off Nevsky Prospekt – so you get the fab position, but you’re isolated from the traffic’s din – it’s so quiet and safe there’s a playground for tiny tots in the courtyard. Nearby: Nevsky Prospekt is lined with cafes, bars and eateries for every pocket and palate, the entire old city is at your feet, and the belle-epoque building of Stakhenschneider’s “Moscow Station” is just five convenient minutes walk away for your train to Moscow.

Prices on application

HOTEL DYNASTY 3*
:26-28 UL RUBINSTEINA; METRO NEVSKY PROSPEKT or DOSTOEVSKAYA

Location, location, location! And in this case the location is Rubinstein Street, named after the legendary C19th pianist and composer, which leads from fashionable Nevsky Prospekt to the area where intellectuals and authors like Dostoevsky lived (his house-museum is around the corner)… so you really are at the centre of the Imperial city here. Again, we’ve stolen a march on the guidebooks – we knew about this hotel long before the doors opened in June 2007, and we’ve offered it since they opened… It’s a delicious new property with a flavour of the old (old wrought-iron rails on the staircases) – the rooms are light, modern and airy, with soft colours and gleaming bathrooms. If you’re waiting for the downside – there isn’t one! Nearby: the Zazerkale Theatre is just a few doors down the street, where you might find The Magic Flute, or Porgy & Bess, for pocket-money prices, the eateries of Nevsky Prospekt is just five minutes walk, and if even that’s too far there’s a great Colombian coffee-shop just steps from your hotel.

Prices on application

HOTEL ENGECON 1-2*
SOTOTSIALISTICHESKAYA 16; METRO VLADIMIRSKAYA: A super new (opened 2006) hotel with a “young” feel to it, located in the very heart of the “Dostoyevsky” part of the old centre – 6 mins walk from metro Vladimirskaya/ Dostoevskaya. With Universities and Colleges all around it’s a lively and trendy student and theatreland neighbourhood, with metro-chic but affordable bars and restaurants (like “Imbir”) on every corner. One metro stop takes you to Nevsky Prospekt – but frankly you can walk it in 10 minutes since you’re already in the heart of the city-centre anyhow. Hotel Engecon has rooms in two categories: 1* rooms with modern furniture and super modern wc/shower facilities on the corridor; or 2*+ rooms with the same modern furniture, tv & telephone plus en-suite spacious scandi-style bathrooms. Internet facilities on site. Breakfast served until 11am! (no lunch or evening meals served, though). If you want top-value, bright, modern rooms in the centre, then look no further!

Prices on application.

SPICING IT UP!
Linking St Petersburg and Moscow together could not be simpler, with frequent, high quality sleeper trains between the two. Please see spicing it up , which lists a full range of additional services: which includes train tickets, transfers, and local city experts.