10 of the Best Hostels in St. Petersburg
The choice of hostels in St. Petersburg increases every year. While many hostels only survive a year or two, others manage not only to survive but to thrive, winning rave reviews for their comfort, design and care of guests. Below, you'll find what we think are the ten top hostels in St. Petersburg, both in terms of absolute quality and for specific types of traveler.
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Nearest metro: Gorkovskaya
This tiny, family-run hostel is more like a bed and breakfast in atmosphere, with very friendly, helpful hosts and accommodation for only 12 guests in total. Rooms are clean and simply decorated, with a few attractive vintage details, and the range of extra services is more than adequate. The main attraction, however, is definitely the cozy, homely atmosphere. It is also one of the few accommodation options on St. Petersburg's Petrograd Side, close to the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Cruiser Aurora.
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STANDARD
Nearest metro: Gostiny Dvor
If you enjoy slightly less raucous socializing, but still want to be in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere in the heart of St. Petersburg, Apple Hostel is another property that consistently wins praise for the attention its staff pay to guests. It can also offer a great range of extra services, including purified drinking water and bike hire. The location, a few minutes' walk from the State Russian Museum and Nevsky Prospekt, is also excellent.
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Nearest metro: Gostiny Dvor
Another highly rated design hostel with a great location a few steps from the State Russian Museum and Nevsky Prospekt, Baby Lemonade is named after a Syd Barrett song and has vibrant but tasteful psychedelic interiors. There's a good range of facilities, and both dorm rooms and private rooms are beautifully designed for comfort as well as style. The staff are very friendly and helpful, and also arrange activities such as communal meals in the large kitchen.
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SUPERIOR
Nearest metro: Nevsky Prospekt / Gostiny Dvor
A hostel that gives guests a free shot of vodka on arrival and that employs staff happy to arrange regular pub crawls, CubaHostel has proved surprisingly enduring, and is easy to recommend for young travelers out to have fun. Facilities and fittings may not be the newest, but the hostel is consistently praised for its exceptionally friendly and helpful staff, and also boasts a prime location behind the Kazan Cathedral, just off Nevsky Prospekt and close to much of St. Petersburg's best nightlife.
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Nearest metro: Ploshchad Vosstaniya
The biggest single advantage of this hostel is its size. With 130 beds, it's the largest hostel we list, and a good bet for finding last-minute accommodation, as well as a convenient option for groups on a budget. While it can't boast the intimate atmosphere of the best smaller hostels, it is comfortable and well designed, with bright modern interiors and extensive extra services. The location, just across the road from Moscow Railway Station, is also very convenient.
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Nearest metro: Dostoevskaya/Vladimirskaya
Open since 2008, Pilau Hostel has been left some way behind by new arrivals in terms of design. However, with a great location on Ulitsa Rubinshteina, a historical side-street off Nevsky Prospekt that is home to many of St. Petersburg's best restaurants and bars, Pilau Hostel can offer very low-cost hostel accommodation and a full complement of extra services including group tours and excursions. If you're on a tight budget and want to be in the heart of St. Petersburg, Pilau is well worth considering.
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STANDARD
Nearest metro: Sennaya Ploshchad/Spasskaya/Sadovaya
If you're ready to use the bus or a bike to get around, Red Stars could be St. Petersburg's best value hostel. With fun, mural-covered interiors and good-quality modern furnishings, Red Stars also has a great range of extra amenities (it's part of a full-service hotel). Prices, however, are at the lower end of the scale, mainly because of the location, far from the metro and really convenient only for the Mariinsky Theatre. It's a pretty, historic area, however, and bus links are very good.
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Nearest metro: Mayakovskaya, Dostoevskaya/Vladimirskaya
The original Simple Hostel, still operating just opposite the Admiralty, was one of the first and most successful designer hostels in St. Petersburg, notable for having as many young Russians as foreigners among the guests. Their second property, at the crossroads of Nevsky Prospekt and Liteyny Prospekt in the very heart of St. Petersburg, offers more of the same, but with fresher, industrial loft-style interiors. Simple Hostel is regularly praised for its cleanliness and peacefulness, as well as excellent staff.
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SUPERIOR
Nearest metro: Admiralteyskaya
Regularly rated among the best hotels anywhere in Europe, not just in St. Petersburg, Soul Kitchen owed its initial success to its dedicated staff and exceptional attention to detail, ensuring guests a warm welcome and an extremely comfortable, entertaining stay. Since 2012, a superb location has been added, as the hostel is now situated on the Moyka River Embankment, just a few minutes' walk from the Hermitage, Nevsky Prospekt, and St. Isaac's Cathedral.
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Nearest metro: Zvenigorodskaya/Pushkinskaya
While the location of Taiga, near Vitebsk Station, is not the very best for sightseeing, everything else at this beautifully designed little hostel puts it among the best in St. Petersburg. Associated with an experimental theatre and arts centre, the hostel has beautiful private rooms and an equally elegant dorm for ten. Accommodation is excellent value, and the level of service and personal attention to guests is very high. Public transport links are also good.
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