Where to Stay in St. Petersburg - Moscow and St. Petersburg - page 229

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There's often only one person on duty, but service is attentive and individual. Breakfast
is included, and the cafe-bar is open 24 hours.
9 Zagorodny Prospekt. & 812/571-6643. Fax [phone] units. From 3,900 rubles double; extra
bed 1,000 rubles. AE, DC, MC, V. Metro: Dostoyevskaya or Vladimirskaya. Amenities: Restaurant; smoke-
free rooms. In room: A/C, TV w/satellite, fridge, free Wi-Fi.

Rossiya The Rossiya soars over a square set back from the Stalin-era pomp of Mos-
kovsky Prospekt. Its architecture and generous scale reflect the bland modernism of the
1960s, but inside it's gradually updating to a fresher style. A favorite with tour groups,
the hotel is offering more and more services expected by Western tourists, such as non-
smoking rooms and babysitting. If you're on a higher floor (sixth or above), ask for a
room with a view of downtown or of Victory Park across the street, since they cost the
same as the courtyard-facing rooms. The unrenovated rooms are compact and mattresses
are thin; the newer rooms are spacious, with firm mattresses and equipped, roomy bath-
rooms. The park across the street serves as a monument to the Soviet victory in World
War II, and is great for a morning walk. The hotel is far from Nevsky but near Park
Pobedy metro station and several buses that run to the center of town.
11 Ploshchad Chernyshevskogo. & 812/329-3932. Fax [phone]. www.rossiya-hotel.ru. 413 units.
From 3,900 rubles double; from 5,700 rubles suite. AE, MC, V. Metro: Park Pobedy. Amenities: Restaurant;
bar and dance club; cafes on most floors; concierge; health club; room service; sauna; smoke-free rooms;
free Wi-Fi in lobby. In room: A/C, TV w/cable, fridge, minibar.

5 VASILEVSKY ISLAND &
THE PETROGRAD SIDE

12

EXPENSIVE
Marco Polo One of many appealing, reasonably priced mini-hotels opening on
Vasilevsky Island, this hotel—until recently called the Litorn—stands out for its careful
juxtaposition of modern art and 19th-century fireplaces. The hotel opened in 2003 and is
still expanding. The staff pays individual attention to guests and to detail, which makes up
for some of the standard hotel services it doesn't provide, such as laundry facilities. Not
neglecting technology, it offers Wi-Fi and in-room Internet connections. Guest room fur-
niture is unadventurous, but the art is intriguing. The bathrooms are large and fully outfit-
ted. Two of the rooms have balconies, and one has a king-size bed (unheard of in Russia).
All rooms are quiet because the hotel faces an unremarkable side street between the island's
two main avenues. It's a long walk to the nearest metro, though compensation is the less-
frequented sights nearby, such as the cathedral on the embankment; the icebreaker Krasin
docked nearby; and the Mining Institute, one of Russia's first universities.
12 Liniya 27 (Vasilevsky Island). & 812/449-8877. Fax [phone]. www.mpolo-spb.ru. 47 units. From
4,800 rubles double; from 6,900 rubles suite; extra bed 1,200 rubles. AE, DC, MC, V. Metro: Vasileostrovs-
kaya. Amenities: Restaurant; room service; sauna. In room: A/C, TV w/satellite, free Wi-Fi.
Pribaltiyskaya A fine, full-service choice if you are with a tour group or have
a car, this three-paneled tower of steel and chrome is far from the center of town and is
buffeted by winds from the Baltic Sea year-round, making it feel a bit like a pioneer
outpost. Built in the 1970s as a joint Swedish-Soviet venture, it's a favorite of Scandina-
vian tourists and business travelers not intimidated by its distance from the center of