Once you've decided to visit St. Petersburg, where to stay will be among the most important questions you have to answer. Our aim in this guide to St. Petersburg accommodation is to help you find the right sort of accommodation for your stay, in the right area and at the right price for your budget.
Even if you are planning your very first trip to St. Petersburg, and have little or no prior knowledge of the city, we hope that the information below will be sufficient to help you work out how much you can expect to spend on accommodation, and what local factors you should take into account when choosing the type of St. Petersburg accommodation you require and the specific property you wish to stay at. If you require more assistance in choosing St. Petersburg accommodation, please consider using our concierge service to get personalized help from out local travel experts.
Types of accommodation
Find out more about what to expect from the different types of accommodation available in St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg is estimated to have over 650 hotels, although less than 100 are ranked as 3-star standard or higher. Nonetheless, the city can offer everything from internationally famous luxury hotels to clean and comfortable budget accommodation, provided you know where to look.
There is an enormous range of apartments available in St. Petersburg for short-term rent, both through agencies and direct from the owners. Quality can vary considerably and, for the uninitiated, there are various factors specific to the city to consider before you book a self-catering accommodation in St. Petersburg.
There has been a boom in the number of hostels in St. Petersburg over the last decade. Now the city can offer not only basic backpacker accommodation, but also hostels with real character and style, many of which have private rooms that offer a worthy alternative to more inexpensive hotels.
As a rule, the term "bed and breakfast" is used in St. Petersburg as a way of marketing mini-hotels that are somewhat lacking in facilities. Nonetheless, there are a few properties in the city that offer the sort of personalized service and homely atmosphere that visitors normally hope for in a B&B.
Accommodation by area
There is probably no more important factor than location when choosing your accommodation, so find out what St. Petersburg's different districts have to offer.
Areas of St. Petersburg's historic centre
The tourist heart of St. Petersburg, the area around the western end of Nevsky Prospekt boasts many of the city's most popular visitor attractions, including a wealth of palaces built for the Romanov family and the highest echelons of Tsarist society. Intersected by rivers and canals, it offers countless stunning views, and also boasts some of St. Petersburg's most popular hotels.
The southern part of St. Petersburg's main tourist area, this neighborhood has become home to the greater number of the city's top luxury hotels. Beautiful architecture from throughout the city's history, as well proximity to many of St. Petersburg's top visitor attractions, make this area among the most popular (and expensive) for visitors.
Conceived as the centre of the city by Peter the Great, this large island to the west of the Peter and Paul Fortress has many of St. Petersburg's oldest buildings, including the main campus of St. Petersburg State University and the Menshikov Palace (the first in the city), as well as a grid of picturesque streets lined with 19th century apartment buildings.
The area to the north of the Peter and Paul Fortress was where the first houses in St. Petersburg were built, but was then left largely undeveloped until the late 19th century. It then became the city's most fashionable residential quarter, and remains notable for its beautiful Art Nouveau apartment buildings and high real estate prices.
This historic area around the Mariinsky Theater and further south-west suffers a little from a lack of metro access, but has a quiet and distinctive charm, as well as beautiful waterside vistas, some landmark buildings like the baroque St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral and a handful of very good hotels, including some excellent budget options.
Well known to readers of Crime and Punishment, this neighborhood lying south of Nevsky Prospekt and the Gostiny Dvor shopping arcade has been associated with all types of trade since the early years of the city. While it's only a short walk from many top visitor attractions, the area is still somewhat rundown in parts. It also has some of St. Petersburg's best nightlife.
This neighborhood in the northern part of St. Petersburg's historic centre is one of the city's most attractive residential districts, with several leafy boulevards and the beautiful Tauride Garden, the largest park in the downtown. Although it's a little way from the main sights and attractions, it's well worth considering, particularly for longer stays in St. Petersburg.
This area comprises the stretch of Nevsky Prospekt between the Fontanka River and Ploshchad Vosstaniya, plus the side streets a couple of blocks north and south of Nevsky. While there is not much in the area to interest tourists, this is really St. Petersburg's commercial heart, with much of the city's best shopping and dining, too.
South of Nevsky Prospekt, this area is indelibly connected with Fyodor Dostoevsky, a fact reflected in much of the neighborhood's toponymy, as well in the names of several hotels here. Close to St. Petersburg's main central transport hubs, it's a busy historic area with a number of good accommodation options to choose from.
The stretch of Nevsky Prospekt to the east of Ploshchad Vosstaniya has undergone considerable renovation in the past decade and is now lined with up-market boutiques. The surrounding area remains a little shabby, however, but it is home to some very good-value accommodation options, and is still reasonably convenient for sightseeing.
The north-east corner of the historic centre, Smolny is the home of St. Petersburg's municipal administration and also the site of one of the city's most beautiful cathedrals. Otherwise, however, there's not much here to interest visitors or much in the way of accommodation on offer, although it is an attractive neighborhood.
The southern borders of St. Petersburg's historic centre, this area is for the most part (the exception is the area immediately adjacent to St. Petersburg's Institute of Technology) a decaying industrial wasteland in desperate need of gentrification. There are a few reasonable budget hotels in the area, but otherwise there really is no reason to venture here unless you have to for work.
Other areas of St. Petersburg
This area on the north bank of the Neva River has been one of the main industrial areas of St. Petersburg since the 18th century. There are some fine examples of 19th and 20th century industrial architecture on the Vyborg Side, but most visitors will only venture here to the Finland Station when taking the train to or from Helsinki.
St. Petersburg's city centre was left largely untouched throughout the Soviet period, which is why it now has UNESCO World Heritage status. If you want to see grand Stalin-era architecture, as well as several monuments connected with the Second World War, you'll need to head south to this long avenue leading out towards Pulkovo Airport.
