Azimut Hotel St. Petersburg

The Hotel Sovietskaya was well known to travelers to the USSR as the main Intourist hotel in St. Petersburg. The tallest building in the historic center, it towers above its surroundings on the banks of the Fontanka River, with superb views from the higher floors. Since being taken over by the Russian-owned Azimut chain in 2005, the Sovietskaya has undergone major renovation, and only the hotel's monolithic exterior offers a taste of its Soviet past. The rest of the hotel has been refitted to international 3-star standards, with sleek contemporary room designs and stylish modern furnishings.

With 910 rooms and suites in total, ranging from compact singles to spacious apartments, the Azimut is targeted mainly at business travelers on a limited budget, and has facilities including 9 conference halls with varying capacities up to 600 people and a fully equipped 24-hour business center. The hotel also has a selection of pleasant and reasonably priced restaurants. Although the Azimut Hotel is not within easy walking distance of most of St. Petersburg's major visitor attractions, it does have reasonably good public transport links, and is also only a few blocks from the world-famous Mariinsky Opera and Ballet Theatre. Some of the city's finest cathedrals are also nearby.