5 cool hostels in St Petersburg, from boutique-style dorms to Twiggy-themed private rooms
A trip to St Petersburg doesn’t have to break the bank. As well as decently priced restaurants, bars and cultural sights – St Petersburg has long been regarded as Russia’s premier cultural hub – the city offers a growing array of hostels that have raised the bar in terms of service, facilities, and comfort, while maintaining commitment to friendliness and sociability. As well as well-equipped, funky dorms, guests can get pretty doubles, a swanky apartment, or even Pop Art themed rooms at hippy throwback hostels like Baby Lemonade. Here's our pick of the best hostels in St Petersburg.
Chao, Mama
St Petersburg, Russia
9Telegraph expert rating
Chao, Mama feels more like a boutique hotel than a hostel. Interiors are stylish and modern, featuring grey and white bare-brick walls decorated with black-and-white photographic prints. It's located just 15-20 minutes' walk west of Nevsky Prospekt, the city’s main artery, which means most main sights can be reached on foot, including the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood and the Hermitage Museum (one of the largest museums in the world). Spotless dorm rooms feature sturdy slate-grey bunk beds and lockers, beds have their own privacy curtain and power socket, and guests have access to a fully-equipped communal kitchen. Read expert review From £29 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• An insider guide to St Petersburg
Baby Lemonade
St Petersburg, Russia
8Telegraph expert rating
Set inside a 19th-century building that was once used as military barracks, Baby Lemonade has been converted into a homage to the swinging sixties. The colourful main common room has comfy chairs and sofas, books and a vinyl player, plus a well-equipped and spotlessly clean kitchen, and dining tables. As well as dorms, there are seven double and twin rooms, all arranged over three floors, with names like Astronomy, Twiggy, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and more. These come with either shared or en-suite showers, decent quality wooden or parquet floors and furnishings, and free towels and linen. Dorms range from 10-bed mixed (Yellow Submarine) to Patti Smith, a four-bed female-only dorm. Read expert review From £19 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• Where to stay in St Petersburg
Soul Kitchen Junior Hostel
St Petersburg, Russia
9Telegraph expert rating
This friendly, spotless and charming hostel is open to families and couples as well as independent single travellers. Set inside a Baroque Revival building that dates back to 1863, it has spacious lounge and kitchen areas with quirky, upbeat and charming interiors: exposed walls painted in blues and yellows and dotted with old and new pictures, good quality sofas and beanbags, and designer lamps. There are mixed four- and eight-bed dorms, a female dorm with eight beds, plus a few private rooms. They are all charmingly furnished, with upbeat colours (blues, yellows), exposed brick walls and stylish furnishings that include custom-made beds. Read expert review From £29 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best things to do in St Petersburg
Traveller's Palace Hostel
St Petersburg, Russia
7Telegraph expert rating
This dark, quiet and intimate hostel is set slightly apart from the main tourist maelstrom, but still close enough to dip in and out of it easily (Palace Square, the Hermitage Museum, St Isaac’s Cathedral are around a 30-minute walk). It's themed around the Golden Age of the Russian Empire – this means that the rooms, set along a dimly lit corridor with dark blue walls and a red carpet, are named after fictional figures of the 19th century such as Anna Karenina, Bolkonsky, as well as Russian leaders. The nine rooms are brighter on the street-facing side but a little quieter on the courtyard side. All are decorated with photographs, books and other knick-knacks pertaining to their fictional characters. Read expert review From £6 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best restaurants in St Petersburg
Simple Hostel Italy
St Petersburg, Russia
8Telegraph expert rating
Simple Hostel Italy is situated in the cultural Tsentralny district, within a block of the bustling Nevsky Prospekt boulevard. The rooms and public areas – which include a spacious kitchen and common seating area, and several shared bathrooms – are cosy and atmospheric, with exposed red-brick walls matched to stylish colourful furnishings. The reception staff are casual, friendly and attentive – happy to arrange tours, give sightseeing tips, order theatre tickets and help with laundry, city maps and visa support. The hostel offers a mix of private rooms and dorms (six, eight and 10-bed) that are all clean, comfortable and well-appointed. Read expert review From £15 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Contributions by Kiki Deere
