Oktiabrskaya Hotel  K   Excellent location. No website. Email: hotel@spb.cityline.ru   
Phone: 7 (812) 315-7501

Rates: Single 1798.50 rubles ($59.93); double 2946 rubles ($98.20); three room apartment for 2 people 6730.50 rubles ($224.35); luxury suite 4168.50 rubles ($138.95). Prices include breakfast.

Location Rating: Excellent.

Proximity to Metro: Excellent. Just walk right across the street to Ploshchad Vosstaniya Metro Station. The train to Moscow is also right across the street.

Lobby Appearance: It's not spectacular, but it's okay. Big. Clean. But the lobby furniture is old.

Room Appearance: The double room we saw was clean and basic. The carpets needed shampooing or replacement. But overall it was okay.

Useful Nearby Businesses: Being located in the heart of the city, everything is here. One of Tanya's favorite cafes is a short stroll away: Koshkin Dom. I had a delicious grilled fish dish there. On this afternoon our meal (for two) cost 270 rubles ($9).

Hotel Restaurants: They have a couple restaurants and bars. None of them struck me as fancy.

Other Amenities: The currency exchange rate at this hotel was competitive. They have billiards, and internet access in their business center. The business center is in a newer section of the building and unfortunately they were closed because of the holiday (Orthodox Christmas).

Would I stay here? Yes, because of the location.

Staff Speaks English? Yes.

Comments: The location in combination with the room pricing and general cleanliness makes this hotel among the best values among the large "heart of the city" hotels. It is a big and old hotel that has recently undergone some renovation work. It is not on the same level with the elite hotels or the Best Western, but it is acceptable and the location is excellent. A better deal is a room in their branch... see the next review. Read another opinion on the Oktiabrskaya Hotel.

Oktiabrskaya Hotel Branch   J& Much better than the main hotel.

Rates: Single 1491 rubles ($49.70); double 2320 rubles $77.33): three people 2390 rubles ($79.66); suite 3307 rubles ($110.23). Price includes breakfast.

Location Rating: Excellent. And any street view is highly desirable.

Proximity To Metro: Excellent. Ploshchad Vosstaniya Metro Station is right across the street and so is the train station to Moscow.

Lobby Appearance: Small. Outside the signage is subtle. Inside it appears new.

Room Appearance: A pleasant surprise. This 200 year old hotel building is in the process of undergoing a complete renovation. (It was last updated after World War 2.) The corridors are new. The rooms are fresh. The suite in 118 had a lot of space and a huge, brand new bathroom. Tanya and I saw four rooms here and they were all of nice quality. I did notice that room 106 did have a slight smell, but no odors in the other rooms or any place else.

Useful Nearby Businesses: Lots of everything in this neighborhood. We like the Koshkin Dom Cafe across the street. Always good food there in a nice atmosphere.

Hotel Restaurants: They have a cafe on the fourth floor which the staff is completely embarrassed about. It is old and unattractive. Eventually they will build a new cafe in the building. They have a restaurant which is opened only for breakfast. You have to walk through a reconstruction zone inside the hotel to get there right now.

Other Amenities: Not many extras here right now.

Would I Stay Here? Absolutely. And the pricing makes it a very good value.

Staff Speaks English? Yes, a little.

Comments: This branch of the Oktiabrskaya Hotel is a separate complex located south of the main hotel across Nevsky Prospekt. My opinion is the location is better and more scenic and the rooms are of better quality, yet the room pricing is less. Insist on a room with a street view. The courtyard view is ugly and dull while the street views are much more fascinating. Those rooms are great for taking photographs from. It absolutely is one of the most well positioned hotels in the city. The reconstruction project on this hotel will continue for an unknown amount of time. Only renovated rooms are available to guests. We noticed two security guards dressed in suits at the front. That's a lot of security for such a small lobby.

Hotel Olgino   J P  http://www.hotel-olgino.spb.ru/    Phone: 7 (812) 238-3763

Rates: Single $36; double $39 to $41; suite $53 to $60.

Location Rating: If you want to be close to nature, this location is very good. If you want access to the city center, it's poor.

Proximity To Metro: Extremely Poor. Not as far out as the Retour Motel. It is actually fairly close to the city, yet in a forest location. You can take the 425 or 417 bus to Chernaya Rechka Metro Station and get there in 10 or 15 minutes, or the 400 bus will take you to Ploshchad Lenina Metro Station (further).

Lobby Appearance: Large, clean lobby with a nice, small bar off to the side. They say this facility was updated in 1999.

Room Appearance: The rooms are fine. The suite bathrooms are spacious and comfortable.

Useful Nearby Businesses: You can't walk to any stores from here. There is just forest and dachas. This is not the city.

Hotel Restaurants: They have a small, nice looking restaurant that serves Uzbekistan cuisine and a larger restaurant that can serve European and American style food for up to 240 people. There is a nice bar by the lobby and another bar by the bowling alley.

Other Amenities: A modern 6 alley bowling lane with pool tables, darts and ping pong in the same area; two nice sauna rooms in a separate building with a small, cozy eating/hangout spot that has a fireplace; a striptease nightclub; tennis; horse riding school; camping facilities; parking for recreational vehicles with electrical hook-up; 3 conference halls for 40, 80 and 100 people; cross country skiing in the winter; satellite phone in the lobby; surrounded by forest.

Would I Stay Here? Yes.

Staff Speaks English? No.

Comments: They have outdoor cabins you can stay in, but they are not comfortable. They are merely triangular boxes with a door. The sauna building has a small pool. I liked the sauna rooms. The Retour is much further away from the highway, so it is very quiet there. But the Olgino is closer to the highway, so you can hear some highway noise, but it's not that bad. There are 124 rooms with 12 suites and 9 singles. It's a nice place.

Home      Go To Moscow Hotel Reviews      Next Page