Art-Hotel Rachmaninov

“Perfect St Petersburg location”

We spent four nights at this hotel in mid August. It was a great find. Very comfortable room, extremely friendly and helpful staff and one of the best hotel breakfasts we’ve ever had. The location was perfect. We walked to every major sight from this central location.

“Central location, full of character and ambience”

This lovely old hotel is in a fantastic, central location, very close to the main shopping street of Nevsky Prospekt and a stone’s throw from Kazan Cathedral. It is an easy walk to The Hermitage as well as close to the Metro and is a great spot to base oneself. The front door is a discreet entran… more

This lovely old hotel is in a fantastic, central location, very close to the main shopping street of Nevsky Prospekt and a stone’s throw from Kazan Cathedral. It is an easy walk to The Hermitage as well as close to the Metro and is a great spot to base oneself. The front door is a discreet entrance, which is easy to miss. Press the buzzer to be allowed in. We actually stayed in two different rooms during our stay. With three of us travelling, (husband, myself and teenage daughter), it was great to find that my daughter actually had her own ‘room’ in both of the rooms we stayed in. On our first night, we stayed in Room 29, which apparently is historic in that it was the room that Rachmaninov used to sleep in. While the décor is incredibly ornate (Russian style) and there is a very small balcony, it faces the main street so at night can be a bit noisy. During the warmer months, there are no blackout curtains and therefore the room remains fairly light throughout the night. There was a large bathroom with bath, however no shower screen so water splashed over the floor when having showers. The bed was very firm (uncomfortable) and the parquet floor creaked a lot when trying to creep to the toilet in the middle of the night. The second room we stayed in was located at the rear of the hotel, Room 22, and was very quiet and peaceful. Less ornate than our first room, it was still very comfortable and actually had a small kitchenette (albeit lacking a lot of basic equipment). It should be noted that this hotel has no lift and requires going up about 3 flights of stairs. The stairs are wide and not steep so just take your time with luggage. Both rooms had good wifi and amenities included bathrobes, slippers and a good selection of toiletries for all three of us. Breakfast was in a lovely sunfilled room. It was a simple continental breakfast with breads, ham, cheese, eggs, basic cereal selection, fruit, pastries, coffee, juice, poached eggs and sausage – very delicious. The reception staff are friendly and helpful with good English. One particular delight was to return to the hotel each afternoon around 5pm to the sound of someone playing on the grand piano situated in the dining room. It was a lovely to sit in the reception and rest our weary feet while listening to beautiful music. In addition, the walls are adorned with fabulous artwork and it is worthwhile spending some time wandering the corridors to take a look at a wide variety of work, many of which are for sale. We loved this hotel and would happily recommend to anyone staying in St Petersburg. While it had a few foibles, it was very quirky and full of character, which we found added to our whole experience of St Petersburg.

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“Nice boutique hotel in St. Petersburg”

I love cute, interesting hotels that aren't the standard antiseptic standard hotel rooms you see in every city. I loved the decor of the hotel and my room. The location is near many sites, mostly a walking distance of 10-15 minutes. My room was small and clean, but suited my needs fine. There is n… more

I love cute, interesting hotels that aren't the standard antiseptic standard hotel rooms you see in every city. I loved the decor of the hotel and my room. The location is near many sites, mostly a walking distance of 10-15 minutes. My room was small and clean, but suited my needs fine. There is no air conditioning and as I was there during a heat wave, it got a little uncomfortable at night with just an open window. The hotel staff is very nice and spoke excellent English. There are a lot of stairs up to the hotel lobby and then there is a spiral staircase down to my room which can be hard to navigate with luggage. There was confusion over a taxi to the train station in which the hotel charged me (I have the receipt) and then the driver charged me again. I would have appreciate it if a hotel staff had helped me sort out the payment when the taxi arrived. Otherwise, I had a nice stay. The breakfast has a small, tasty selection of foods.

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“A Piece of History”

This is a review of Pluses and Minuses... Plus: An historic hotel historically linked with Rachmaninov, the celebrated composer. The Place oozes history related to the great man and it has an understated old fashioned charm. The owners are resolutely attempting to retain the place as close to as i… more

This is a review of Pluses and Minuses... Plus: An historic hotel historically linked with Rachmaninov, the celebrated composer. The Place oozes history related to the great man and it has an understated old fashioned charm. The owners are resolutely attempting to retain the place as close to as it was when Rachmaninov lived there. As a consequence there are some Minuses - see further on. Plus: Fantastic position not far from the iconic Nevsky Prospect street. Plus: Fantastic staff - absolutely charming and helpful front of desk ladies. Couldn’t fault their professionalism. Plus: comfortable spacious room, though the mattress needed replacing - lumpy! Plus: pretty good breakfast. Sounds great so far... Minuses: If you have a problem with stairs, this place is not for you. It’s up 3 flights lugging suitcases - no lift and no help. Heating seems to be on permanently. It was pleasantly warm when we were in St P and there was no need for heating. Our bedroom faced the street. No a/c or fan - we needed something as we couldn’t have the window open because the road beneath was very noisy with traffic. The St Petersburgians have a penchant for noisy cars at speed. Also, smokers gathered below, so cig fumes could come into the room. Everyone smokes there and to Australians it is unpleasant. Would I stay there again? Yes...if there was a fan or a/c. I dread to think what it must be like in summer. A pity as it is in such a fabulous position.

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