Hotel Rechnaya   J   No website.   Phone: 7 (812) 267-3196

Rates For Foreigners: Single 1600 rubles ($53.33); double 2400 rubles ($80). We were informed the rates will be going higher.

Location Rating: Fair. Far from the heart of the city. In winter, the neighborhood looks ugly. It probably looks better in the summer. The Neva River is in front of the hotel, along with a passenger river port for small or mid-sized cruise ships. There is a stack in the distance that looks like a cooling tower for a nuclear power plant. But it might be related to the generation of hot water - which is distributed to homes and businesses.

Proximity To Metro: Good. It is about a 12 minute walk to Proletarskaya Metro Station. And it's simple to get to.

Lobby Appearance: Old. Clean. The glass barrier between the customers and the front desk staff seems odd and inappropriate.

Room Appearance: A big surprise. The rooms were nice.

Useful Nearby Businesses: There's really not much here.

Hotel Restaurants: They have a nice little bar with a river view. They also have a restaurant, but it is only intended to serve groups of people and not individuals.

Other Amenities: None.

Would I Stay Here? It's far from the action. The staff does not speak English. But the rooms we saw on the 9th floor were nice. If I couldn't get a room closer to the city center, then yes, I would stay here.

Staff Speaks English? No.

Comments: The front desk person initially refused our request to see some rooms, but thanks to Tanya's persuasive abilities, we got to do a room inspection. And I'm glad we did, because I was prepared to write a more negative review. The outside of the building is ugly. The neighborhood is sleepy and not that interesting (except for the view of the Neva), and the lobby gave me the impression this was an old hotel still operating with a soviet mentality. But the 9th floor was great. Nice corridor. Clean, neat, attractive rooms with okay bathrooms. The bad part is a construction company has reserved most of the rooms for their employees for perhaps the next year and a half, and only 20 or 30 rooms are available to the public right now. We were told the hotel was originally built to provide captains of visiting ships a comfortable place to stay. A passenger river port is right in front of the hotel. Because the Neva tends to freeze in winter, the cruise ships were not around during our visit. But this port probably is busy in summer.

Repinskaya  L hP   Phone: 7 (812) 231-6530

Rates: 650 or 900 rubles ($21.67 or $30) depending upon if you want a single or double. Breakfast is included.

Location Rating: This hotel is far from the city and about a mile from the Baltiets Hotel. It is situated along the Gulf Of Finland, which is its best feature.

Proximity To Metro: Nowhere near it! This is the northern suburbs.

Lobby Appearance: Not good. Maybe 20 years ago it looked nice, but now it needs renovation.

Room Appearance: Also not good. Very basic accommodations and not nice at all.

Useful Nearby Businesses: A snack store and a Japanese restaurant are an easy 5 minute stroll down the road.

Hotel Restaurants: They have a fairly large restaurant with nice views and a very dark bar room with a pool table. Downstairs is another bar that is not affiliated with the hotel and it is nice, dark, and also fairly large.

Other Amenities: None.

Would I Stay Here? No. The shock of staying in one of these rooms would throw me into depression.

Staff Speaks English? No.

Comments: This hotel is nowhere near a nice as the nearby Baltiets Hotel.  

Motel Retour   J P Phone: 7 (812) 437-7533

Rates: Double 1620 rubles; suite 3280; cabin unit 3360; extra bed

Location Rating: It's excellent if you want to be near nature; it's extremely poor if you want quick access to the city center.

Proximity To Metro: Extremely Poor. You need to walk "300 meters" down a quiet side road to a 2 lane highway. A bus stop is to the left. Then you just have to wait for a bus to take you to Chernaya Rechka Metro Station. The drive takes 20 or 30 minutes. We paid 25 rubles each to travel to this location (less than a buck).

Lobby Appearance: Nice. Live plants are in the lobby and a nice stairwell.

Room Appearance: The rooms are fine and some have great views of the Gulf Of Finland... very scenic. The cabins are fine too with two bedroom areas and bathrooms, plus one TV. They have heat also for winter time stays.

Useful Nearby Businesses: A cafe is at the corner by the highway.

To the left, one of 5 cabins for rent. To the right, the iced over Gulf Of Finland in the background.

Hotel Restaurants: They have a 50 seat restaurant that is currently undergoing renovation as of February 2002. There is also a snack bar by the outdoor swimming pool (small) which is open during the warmer months.

Other Amenities: Indoor and outdoor pool, sauna, tennis (100 to 200 rubles per hour depending upon the day of the week), ping pong, billiards, horses!

Would I Stay Here? Yes, certainly.

Staff Speaks English? No.

Comments: The name of the dog that lives there is "Foontick." Watch your step when you enter or leave the main building. A board in the doorway could trip you. This 3 story building was constructed around the turn of the 20th century for the commander of a nearby island fortress. The property has fantastic, expansive views of the Gulf and is surrounded by forest. They have 28 rooms and 4 suites, plus 5 cabins. The regular rooms have bathrooms with a drain in the floor for the shower runoff. No tub. The suites have more normal showers. They say there are a lot of flowers in the summer. They have an outdoor fountain, and guarded parking. It's a nice place to stay and breathe fresh air. A sign on the highway (next to a small train station) will point you to the side road you need to find this place. The location is suburban and quiet. It's very pleasant there. And the views of the Gulf are the best of any hotel in the Saint Petersburg area. They say the place is full in the summer.

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