OK, firstly the positives - the location is superb and the view from the window was amazing, those that complain about the lack of amenities in the surrounding area clearly need to open their eyes a little has the area had plenty of bars/restaurants and a decent well-stocked supermarket within "throwing" distance! The main attractions and sights are within a basic walking distance IMHO, of course you can take a taxi but you will only get stuck in a traffic jam for hours, so why bother! The metro station is only 7/10 minutes away for those scared of walking for more the 10 minutes at a time!

Now, the negatives - Yes, its got a completely Soviet look to it and it provided quite a lot of amusement during our 5 day stay - however this is were the "soviet style" amusement ends, the staff are largely bored looking and unwilling to provide anything above their basic job description, don't bother asking them to go out of the way - its pointless! And personally I find the charge of 30 rubles to use the iron board as an insult, even an easy hotel wouldn't have the nerve (or maybe they would?)!

Breakfast was one of the highlights and I fail to understand any negative comments here - its huge with a massive variety!

Recommended for those with a good sense of humor and the ability to accept that you get what you pay for, what else do you expect for 1750 rubles? We got a super river view, warm bed and a decent breakfast in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, not too bad really! However, the staff really need to go on customer relation courses or at least pretend they care!

Sells by afforable price and great view. But procedures are pretty lame. Actually one day of a trip was screwed because of poor management.

I agree with all of the previous comments.
We arrived late in the evening to check in and were met by the most unhelpful staff who obviously had never been taught how to smile. When we eventually got our rooms we could hardly believe our eyes! It was the hottest St P had been for years and yet no AC. The room looked dirty and as we discovered as the week progressed that the reason for this was that it was never cleaned. I decided to clean the bath myself and was nearly sick with all the gunge that had been collecting in the plug hole! Ugh!!! Behind the toilet looked as if it had never been cleaned since the hotel opened! The beds were never made or changed. The only redeeming feature was that we got clean towels everyday.
We kept the window open because of the heat but the noise from the traffic and boats on the river was awful. Not much sleep.
Breakfasts were ok but nothing was refrigerated and everything to drink was luke warm.
It did have a nice outside bar area where it was cooler and we tended to sit there rather than in our stiffling rooms as the views over the river were lovely in the evening especially when the buildings were lit up.
I would certainly never recommend anyone to stay in this hotel. We were grateful to leave without being ill.

The view accross the river was spectacular, when we walked inside it went down hill, very 1970's hotel doesnt look to have been updated since then took 45 minutes to check in very slow staff,no air conditioning temp around 30 degrees, tried to order food told only sandwiches waited an hour for sandwich at bar then it came with a hair, 30 mins later some russian people got meals we had tried to order, they misplaced our passports on departure,very poor level of service