Four Seasons Lion Palace Hotel

Eventually opened in 2013 after a drawn-out renovation process, the Four Seasons Lion Palace immediately laid claim, with some justification, to being St. Petersburg's finest five-star hotel. Housed in a beautiful and historic neoclassical building right next to St. Isaac's Cathedral, it certainly has one of the best hotel locations in the very centre of St. Petersburg.

As well as a prime central location, the Four Seasons Lion Palace offers exceptionally luxurious accommodations that match sumptuous period elegance with modern comfort and convenience, including Terrace Rooms with exceptional rooftop views, and ornate suites measuring up to over 150 square meters. The Four Seasons also boasts a full range of 5-star facilities, pride of place amongst which goes to the Luceo Spa and fitness centre, a four-level facility offering pampering luxury treatments and a 40-square-meter swimming pool. Also available are beautifully decorated meeting and event space, and stylish eateries offering Italian, Asian and Russian fine dining.

The building the Four Seasons now occupies was not in fact originally a palace, but rather a block of luxury apartments built for Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky, a close confidant of Tsar Alexander I, by Auguste de Montferrand, architect of the neighboring St. Isaac's Cathedral. Later, the building was taken over by the Ministry of War and various Soviet institutions. It took over four years to renovate the building to become the latest in the Four Seasons' extraordinary collection of historic properties. Just a few steps from St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Admiralty Building and Nevsky Prospekt, the Four Seasons Lion Palace is within comfortable walking distance of all St. Petersburg's major downtown attractions.