Recommended Hotels

Hotel prices are usually listed in roubles, sometimes in currency ‘units’ (dollars or euros), which the hotel itself defines. Be sure to enquire about the hotel exchange rate so you know the cost in your currency, and clarify whether the quoted price includes the 18 percent VAT.

The hotels listed are located in the city centre and provide visa support, free Wi-fi, cable TV and breakfast, unless otherwise noted.

As a basic guide we have used the symbols below to indicate the price per night for a double room with bath. Note that prices rise about 20–30 percent during the peak season of White Nights.

$$$$ over US$300

$$$ US$200–300

$$ US$100–200

$ under US$100

Near the Admiralty and Hermitage

Angleterre Hotel $$$$ Ulitsa Malaya Morskaya 24, tel: 812-494 5666, www.angleterrehotel.com. Completely renovated, this elegant hotel is an oasis of luxury and comfort. Located across from St Isaac’s Cathedral, next to its sister hotel the Astoria, it has 192 rooms and suites, a well-equipped fitness centre with sauna and small pool and several celebrated restaurants. Breakfast not included.

Astoria $$$$ Ulitsa Bolshaya Morskaya 39, tel: 812-494 5757, www.roccofortehotels.com. The Astoria is one of the city’s grand old hotels, built in 1912 and now fully renovated. The hotel has 169 rooms and suites, and every service anyone could wish for, including a full spa and 24-hour fitness centre, parquet floors, linen curtains and marble bathrooms. A truly sumptuous hotel, right in the city centre.

Central Inn – Atmosphera $$ Ulitsa Yakubovicha 2, tel: 812-921 1540, http://a-hotel.spb.ru. This mini-hotel is right next to St Isaac’s Cathedral, with 15 modern rooms, gym, sauna and pleasant café. It is rather modest, but the staff are extremely helpful and friendly. Visa support arranged through an affiliate agency.

Comfort Hotel $$ Ulitsa Bolshaya Morskaya 25, tel: 812-570 6700, www.comfort-hotel.ru. Located in the same building as the Herzen House, Comfort Hotel is accessible by lift, with 18 modern rooms and all the amenities you might expect.

Fortecia Piter $$ Ulitsa Millionaya 29, tel: 812-315 0828. Literally steps from the Hermitage, this courtyard mini-hotel puts you right in the heart of the action. The eight rooms are on the cramped side but furnished with modern fabrics.

Herzen House $$ Ulitsa Bolshaya Morskaya 25, tel: 812-571 5098, www.herzen-hotel.com. This commendable mini-hotel is accessed by a lift and has 29 modern rooms with high ceilings and a full range of amenities. It is located a few blocks from the Hermitage in an area with plenty of restaurants and cafés.

Kempinski Hotel Moika 22 $$$$ Nab. reki Moiki 22, tel: 812-335 9111, www.kempinski.com. The Kempinski has refurbished several old mansions into a luxurious hotel, with a spacious atrium, cosy wood-lined bar (with fireplace), wine-cellar bar and tea-room (with fireplace and live classical music). There are nearly 200 rooms, a fitness centre and a terrific café, the Bellevue Brasserie on the top floor, with a fabulous 360-degree view of the city centre.

Moyka 5 $$ Nab. reki Moiki 5, tel: 812-601 0636, www.moyka5hotel.com. Moyka 5 is a bright little yellow house with 24 modern rooms of various classes (including split-level apartments with Jacuzzis and great views of the city). The public spaces have antique decor and there is a cheerful breakfast room.

Nevsky Inn 1 and 2 $ Kirpichny pereulok 2, Apt 19, tel: 812-972 6873 and Malaya Morskaya 9, Apt 3, tel: 812-312 2686, www.nevskyinn.ru. These small bed-and-breakfast inns (with seven and four rooms respectively) are extremely comfortable and cheap, with some of the most friendly and accommodating service in town. The Kirpichny pereulok address is a fourth-floor ‘walk-up’; the smaller Inn is on the second floor. Both are located within two blocks of the Hermitage.

Old Vienna $$ Ulitsa Malaya Morskaya 13 (entrance on Gorokhovaya ulitsa), tel: 812-312 9339. Part of the Bygone Petersburg mini-hotel chain, this boutique hotel was one of St Petersburg’s most famous bohemian cafés at the turn of the 20th century. The fawn-green halls and rotunda café-breakfast room (where photos show St Petersburg’s famous writers and artists dining just before the revolution) are decorated in Art Nouveau style. Each of the 14 rooms is dedicated to an artist or writer of the Silver Age. No visa support.

Petro Palace Hotel $$$$ Ulitsa Malaya Morskaya 14, tel: 812-571 3006, www.petropalacehotel.com. The Petro Palace was once the mansion of Baron von Stahl and is now a rather elegant medium-sized hotel, fully renovated in 2013, serving both business clients and tourists. The public spaces are filled with columns, marble and antiques, while the rooms boast standard classical decor. The hotel has a large fitness centre, including pool and sauna. Breakfast not included with most rates.

Pushka Inn $$ Nab. reki Moiki 14, tel: 812-644 7120, www.pushka-inn.com. Pushka Inn is located in a superbly refurbished 18th-century house, with public spaces that retain the building’s original features and rooms that are simple and modern. A very cosy and inviting boutique hotel with 33 rooms, overlooking the Moika river in the city centre.

Renaissance Baltic $$$$ Pochtamtskaya ulitsa 4, tel: 812-380 4000, http://renaissance-hotels.marriott.com. This top-class contemporary hotel is three blocks from Nevsky prospekt, with a great deal of charm, from the airy atrium to the comfortable rooms, fitness centre, bars and restaurants. This is an upmarket hotel with a more personal touch.

Residence on Gorokhovaya $ Gorokhovaya ulitsa 8, tel: 812-312 7377, www.residencehotels.ru. This tiny, four-room mini-hotel is a ‘walk-up’ through rather run-down hallways, but its friendly staff, central location, modern rooms and excellent prices make it a great deal.

W Hotel $$$$ Voznesensky prospekt 6, tel: 812-610 6161, www.wstpetersburg.com. From the retro-styled lobby to the 137 minimalist rooms that make guests feel as if they have stepped onto the set of a 1960s Bond movie, this 2011-built hotel is something special in a special city. Forget elegant palaces and Art Nouveau, this is the 21st century, with all the mod cons that go with it.

Mid-Nevsky prospekt

Antique Hotel Rachmaninov $$ Kazanskaya ulitsa 5, tel: 812-571 9778, www.hotelrachmaninov.com. Although this hotel is a third-floor ‘walk-up’, the stunning location (a few steps from Nevsky) and charming interior make the walk worthwhile. The halls are whitewashed brick, the rooms have pine furniture and wooden floors and there is a bright lounge filled with antique furniture. The Rachmaninov Suite, where the composer lived as a child, has a tiny balcony with a fabulous view of the Kazan Cathedral and Nevsky prospekt.

Hotel Baskof $$ pereulok Baskov 6, tel: 812-272 6493, www.baskof-hotel.com. This eight-room mini-hotel has updated Silver Age decor (including a white ceramic corner stove in one of the rooms) with comfortable rooms and a full range of modern facilities. It is tucked away on a quiet street not far from the Fontanka and Nevsky prospekt.

Corinthia Nevskij Palace Hotel $$$$ Nevsky prospekt 57, tel: 812-380 2001, www.corinthia.com. This old hotel provides traditional Western-standard comfort and services in a 19th-century palace right on Nevsky prospekt. It has a good-sized fitness centre and a fine choice of cafés and restaurants. Breakfast not included.

Dostoevsky $$$ Vladimirsky prospekt 19, tel: 812-331 3200, www.dostoevsky-hotel.com. The Dostoevsky occupies the top floors of the style moderne Vladimirsky Passazh arcade, with restaurants and shops nearby, as well as a fitness centre and sauna. The public spaces have old-world, elegant decor, but its 200-plus rooms are very modern.

Grand Hotel Europe $$$$ Mikhailovskaya ulitsa 1/7, tel: 812-329 6000, www.grandhoteleurope.com. Over 140 years old, this is one of the world’s best hotels with a guest list to prove it. In recent years the Grand Hotel Europe has welcomed a pantheon of stars, from Queen Elizabeth and Bill Clinton to Sting and Jane Fonda. In the old days it was the hotel of choice for Lord and Lady Astor, not to mention Pyotr Tchaikovsky, George Bernard Shaw and Grigory Rasputin. Beautiful rooms, impeccable service, five restaurants, fitness and business centres, but rather bizzarely breakfast is not included.

Helvetia Hotel & Suites $$$ Ulitsa Marata 11, tel: 812-326 5353, https://helvetiahotel.ru. The Helvetia seems more like a friendly apartment building than a hotel, with guest entrances accessed through an open courtyard filled with flowers in the summertime. This stylishly refurbished mansion has studio and family suites with kitchens, making it one of the best places in the city for families to bed down.

Radisson Royal $$$$ Nevsky prospekt 49/2, tel: 812-322 5000, www.radissonblu.com. The people at Radisson gutted a building dating from the 1730s, saving the facade but constructing a first-rate, up-to-the-minute hotel inside. As you would expect, it provides a high standard of service and amenities, including a fitness centre, slap bang in the midst of the city-centre action.

Hotel Vesta $$ Nevsky prospekt 90–92, tel: 812-272 0544, www.vesta-hotel.ru. Even though this hotel’s address is on roaring Nevsky prospekt, it is actually tucked away from the crowds in a pleasant courtyard. The rooms are all modern European style and standard, although a few period features from centuries past have survived in the public rooms. The hotel caters to both tourists and business travellers.

Near Ploshchad Vostaniya

Hotel Brothers Karamazov $$ Ulitsa Sotsialisticheskaya 11-A, tel: 812-335 1185, www.karamazovhotel.com. The Brothers Karamazov Hotel is located in the heart of Dostoevsky territory, about a 20-minute walk from Nevsky prospekt. The small hotel (28 rooms) has clean classical decor with some antiques in the public spaces and larger rooms. It caters to both tourists and business travellers, and has a restaurant that serves a well-selected range of traditional Russian and European dishes.

Grand Hotel Emerald $$$$ Suvorovsky prospekt 18, tel: 812-740 5000, www.grandhotelemerald.com. Although this five-star hotel is a bit off the beaten track, it makes up for it with a luxurious interior, the largest rooms of the city’s five-star hotels, a gym, full spa and lovely atrium lounge. The area (not far from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra) is a bit quieter than the bustle on Nevsky.

Oktyabrskaya Hotel $$ Ligovsky prospekt 10, tel: 812- 578-1515, www.oktober-hotel.spb.ru. This hotel dating from the mid-19th century has been transformed from a rather fusty Soviet hotel into a modern place to lay your hat, though some of the past still remains. There are 373 rooms and all the usual amenities, several restaurants, bars and cafés and a fitness club. A good bargain in the city centre, although it may be a bit noisy.

Pushkinskaya 10 $$ Ulitsa Pushinskaya 10, Apt 27, tel: 812-404 6148, http://hotelsteam.ru. This nine-room mini-hotel is a little hard to find, since the neighbours in this rather elegant building did not want any signposts to mar their entrance (look instead for the discreet sign on the doorbell). But this bed and breakfast (accessed by a lift) is a real bargain, with a cheery kitchen, sauna and rooms in different styles, from modern to antique.

Vasilevsky Island

NashOtel (Our Hotel) $$$$ 11-aya liniya 50, tel: 812-323 2231, www.nashotel.ru. If the Golden and Silver Ages of St Petersburg are not to your taste, you might enjoy NashOtel – a bright and modern anomaly among the city’s largely retro hotel offerings. The hotel has 58 good-sized rooms filled with bright floral art, comfortable modern furnishings and bright-coloured sheets and pillows. It is located about five minutes from the Vasileostrovskaya metro station, near the Spit. Breakfast not included.

Sokos Hotel Vasilevsky $$$ 8-aya liniya 11/13, tel: 812-335 2290, www.sokoshotels.com. A hop across the Blagovehchensky Bridge from the main sights, the Sokos Vasilevsky, belonging to the Finnish chain, has 255 well-designed rooms styled in sumptuous imperial fabrics, its own art gallery and the Repin Lounge Restaurant serving Russian favourites.