Very clean basic rooms, bathroom on the corridor but also very clean and with a good shower. Staff was incredibly friendly: when we arrived at 8am they gave us an extra breakfast and the room immediately (even though check-in time is 2pm).

fairly basic pension type hotel. hard to spot, because there is no sign that this is a hotel, other than a small plaque at the side of the door jam. (see photo). Entrance is steel door under canopy marked 'BacoB' . Its about 15 to 20 minutes walk from Nevsky. As previous reviewer stated the building, and the area have an authentic atmosphere of Russian City. A little bit 1950s. Area has: bank, restaurants, groceries, and bars. Try the Beer House, ( walk towards Nevsky, and on next street to the left, Excellent Russian Cider). My single room was small, but clean, as was the en suite. The staff were friendly and offered to serve breakfast a little later for me if I let them know. They all could speak English. Breakfast was a simple buffet. Adequate, The 1-2 person lift will amuse. Hotel is on the 2nd floor(G,1,2) . (3rd for Russians or Yanks). 3 in lift.

I was a bit let down with this place after reading the positive reviews here. The Nouvelle Europe was OK, but nothing to get excited about and I would definitely not stay there again. Its best feature was the authentic, urban atmosphere in the fairly old (50 years or so) St. Petersburg apartment building. It let us feel just a little bit less like tourists.

The rooms and beds were tiny, but for once in Russia, at least, it didn't feel like we were sleeping directly on the mattress springs. The hotel is quite small, and our room opened immediately into the reception area, which was a bit disconcerting. Everything seemed clean enough, but neither our bath- nor our hand-towels were changed during our 4 night stay. The location is decent and situated fairly centrally, although it's still a little bit of trudge (15 mins or so) to the metro or down to the main street, Nevsky Prospect. There are several restaurants and little markets within a few blocks. The neighborhood can be noisy at night (a party in an apartment across the street kept us up once), but nothing terrible for those who are already used to city life. Oh, and since it's in an apartment building, there's no sign or anything at all to mark the entrance (not even a street number)--it's just a locked metal door like every other building on the block. I'm really not sure how this is supposed to work--luckily another guest turned up and let us in after we'd been trying to figure it out for 5 minutes.

Breakfast left something to be desired--it was nothing more than packaged ham, cheese and bread with a toaster, as well as yogurt and coffee. The omnipresent French owner, who was nice enough despite constantly and nervously hovering about, would use his unwashed hands to remove the meat and cheese from the packages and arrange them on the small buffet platter.

For 3700 rubles a night it should have been a bit nicer. Still, I was ready to give the place 3 stars until they pulled one last trick, and waited until we were checking out to inform us that they only accept cash. (The receptionist should have mentioned this at check-in, someone mumbled sheepishly but unapologetically.) The resulting ATM-scavenger hunt around St. Petersburg to scrape together 15,000 rubles nearly caused us to miss our train. It was a pretty egregious oversight on their part, and the bad taste it left in my mouth means I wouldn't recommend this hotel to anyone I know. St. Petersburg is full of fun mini-hotels--find one that has its act together a little bit better.

Upon arrival at this hotel we were quite apprehensive as to what we might find inside....the entrance was unannounced.... just a steel door off the street into a gloomy looking building, and being 8.00am on a Sunday morning, the area was deserted. However the phrase 'don't judge a book by the cover' springs to mind as the inside of the hotel was quite the opposite!
Situated in a turn of the century St Petersburg apartment block, the Nouvelle Europe appears to have been an extremely large apartment which has recently been converted into a small hotel.
Our bedroom was very spacious with all new laminate floors, luxurious bedding and brand new furniture, the en-suite was also modern and fresh. There was a lovely big window with seats where you could sit and read or look out onto the street (which got much busier and more interesting later in the day!).
Breakfast was served in a litle dining area off the hall and was adequate for the price (bread, cheese/meat, yoghurt and fruit).
Staff were most helpful and could speak enough English in order to get by. The receptionist registered our visa with the police as soon as we arrived for no charge.
Overall, the hotel was great value for money by St P'burg standards, and the small scale hotel felt like staying in someone's private apartment (the staff even wear slippers!)
The hotel is just 5 minutes from the Metro station which will take you to all the major tourist areas in 5-10 minutes.
All in all, this hotel is ideal for travellers looking for clean, smart, value for money accomodation in St Petersburg.