Review: Radisson Sonya St Petersburg, Russia 🇷🇺
- Konrad Tillman
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Intro
After a lovely time exploring Moscow and a flight on board the Russian Sukhoi Superjet, I spent two nights in the most beautiful city in the world: Saint Petersburg. Now, there are many choices when it comes to hotels, ranging from the Four Seasons (6-800 USD per night) to hostels (20 USD per night). However, I decided on a nice 4-star hotel: The Radisson Sonya.
Needless to say, this was the perfect hotel for my stay in SPB, and I highly recommend this place.
Location+Prices
The Radisson Sonya is in the perfect location for those seeking a little bit of everything. It's walkable to pretty much anywhere, with Savior of the Spilled Blood being 20 minutes away, the Hermitage being about 35 minutes away, and the Kazan Cathedral being about the same. However, it is also situated by a bridge to cross the river, so that is a pleasant surprise!
Now, when it comes to prices, this hotel is extremely well priced. During my visit in the summer, I paid about 150 USD per night, but during low season, prices can dip below 85 USD per night. For a hotel as nice as this? In such a good location? It's a pretty banging deal.
For reference: I booked this hotel through Wego, as they turned out to be the only company that worked in Russia with American cards using Apple Pay (I had lost all my cards at this point). ZenHotels works as well with a credit card.
Another small reference: there is a lovely coffee shop right outside with exceptional coffee, and the front desk speaks English. A rarity.
Lobby+Restaurants
Upon checking in, I was pleased to meet someone who spoke English. At most hotels in Russia, there were no English speakers at the front desk, minus the name-brand ones. So this was a pleasant surprise.
Anyways, the lobby featured a nice place to relax while waiting, along with a bar in the back, and a restaurant off to the side.
It's pretty hard to miss, but this is where breakfast is served. There is a large buffet available, but at 21 USD online, I opted against it as it was quite expensive.
Other than that, this is pretty much it. It's a relatively simple hotel with what they offer, but functional.
Rooms
Now we get to the rooms, as this is where the hotel shines. I had booked the most basic room, perks of being broke, and ended up on the second floor in room 203.
Each room came equipped with a very comfortable bed, albeit weirdly designed, a flatscreen television (Netflix works in Russia by the way lol), instant coffee, a kettle, and a luggage rack to place your luggage.
Naturally, the room was cleaned daily, although turndown service was not offered. To me, this isn't a huge deal; all that matters is a clean room.
Now for the bathroom. While there are nicer rooms with bigger bathrooms, my small room came with a small bathroom. Perfectly adequate for 1-2 people, as the room is designed for, but nothing over-the-top luxurious.
There were the small soap and shampoo bottles (and conditioner, which I found to be rare here), perfect for stashing as a travel kit.
Service
Finally, I just wanted to chat a little bit about service, as this was probably the standout point of the property. It also happened to fall right in line with everyone I met in SPB: extremely friendly.
Not only did the front desk speak English, but they were more than happy to provide recommendations on where to go, what to do, and which places to go out. In addition, all of the housekeeping staff always said hello or good morning. It's the small things that make a hotel pleasant to stay in, and the Radisson ticked the boxes here.
Final Thoughts
Look, you have a variety of different options when it comes to hotels in St Petersburg, but I would give the Radisson a chance if you are looking for something reasonably priced. It won't compete with the likes of a beautiful swimming pool like the Four Seasons, but at 90 USD per night in low season, there is not much to complain about. The location is good, the staff are nice, but most importantly, the beds feel like they are made from heaven.
Russia Series
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