Hotel Review - Austrian Yard Hotel, St. Petersburg, Russia

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ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

Saint Petersburg, Russia
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Austrian Yard Hotel J ...also known as "Avstreeskee Dvoreek" St. Petersburg, Russia
Phone: 7 (812) 279-8235 www.austrianyard.com/

Rates: $65 to $90. And breakfast is included.

Location Rating: Very good. Next to the Austrian Consulate. The German Consulate is just a couple buildings down the block. A marriage palace is there. A nice park. The metro is very close. Lots of cafes and shops. (Check out the Barracuda Bistro. The food is good.) And the US Consulate is the next block down. This is a good neighborhood. Photo: Austrian Yard Hotel, St. Petersburg, Russia

Proximity To Metro: Excellent. Down the block and around the corner is Chernyshevskaya Metro Station. It is a 5 to 7 minute walk.

Lobby Appearance: Go to the gate to the courtyard. There is a hidden door bell to the left of this big gate. Look carefully and you'll find it. Press the bell and wait. Somebody will come out to greet you and unlock the gate. There is no real lobby, just a small basement office. Watch your head on the ceiling as you sit down by the director's desk.

Room Appearance: Everything was renovated one year ago (2001). What a dynamite place. These are apartments and they are great. There are only 4 apartments and each is unique. The first one I saw had a nice skylight, a great kitchen, beautiful new bathroom with heated floor, and everything was of very nice quality. The next apartment I saw was also excellent. These are very cozy, private, quiet apartments which face the courtyard.

Useful Nearby Businesses: The street is quiet, but you can find all kinds of shops just down the block.

Hotel Restaurants: None. There are only 4 apartments available here.

Other Amenities: Nice gardens in the courtyard.

Would I Stay Here? Yes.

Staff Speaks English? The director, a classy lady, prefers to speak Russian. But she seems to understand English a little. And I think she said she understood French.

Comments: There are a number of great little places in Saint Petersburg that barely anyone knows about. This is one of them.

Submitted by an Austrian Yard guest:

Mon, 14 Jun 2004 15:35:49 +0200
Feed back on one hotel in St Petersbourg

As I use the info on your site to prepare my recent trip to St Petersburg I
just want to confirm what you said in 2002 on Austrian Yard.
It's still a wonderful place to stay when visiting the city.

Present price : 140 USD/night for the largest apartment

Submitted by another Austrian Yard guest: October 15, 2004

When we were on our way home, I asked my husband what the highlight of the Russia trip was for him, and he said, "I think it was our hotel!" We completely loved The Austrian Yard. We would come home after sightseeing and there was always someone there to greet us, and they even worried about us if we were out late! There are guard shacks on either side of the hotel and security cameras because of the nearby consulates. We felt as safe there as we do in our own home!

We stayed in Room #9, the "penthouse." It had a skylight over the king-size bed that was just delightful. The views out the windows were lovely too - gold and red ivy crawling up the building across the way. There's a brick courtyard with a picnic table where we sat and planned our day or had a beer at the end of the day. While we were out sightseeing, the landlady would put a tray containing our breakfast for the next day into our little fridge (cheese, meat, bread, yogurt, pastry, tea, coffee and jam.) A grocery store is a few doors down from the hotel and on the nights we were too tired to go out to dinner, we'd buy something there and fix it in our kitchenette. There are also at least five cafes on the same block, plus a major metro station at the end of the block. At the other end of the block is one of St. Petersburg's most beautiful parks. Across the street from the hotel is the wedding registry. When we left the hotel in the mornings, we'd see the brides all lined up on the sidewalk in their beautiful dresses. It's a bustling place during the day but the quietest hotel we've ever stayed in at night. And our room was just immaculate. I can't say enough about The Austrian Yard! I'm recommending it to everyone, and we'll definitely stay there when we return to St. Petersburg!

Submitted May 11, 2005:

Hi there

we have just spent a wonderful week at the Austrian Yard. Thank you for your great website, which allowed us to find it in the first place! This was our first trip to St Petersburg, so all your info was well read before we made a choice.

Natalia, the director of the Austrian Yard, speaks good English and the booking was all done via e-mail, so really easy.She offered to have someone meet us at the airport (and take us back at the end of our trip) for a small charge and her husband, Igor, came to collect us in a lovely new car (beware of the state of many of the taxis in St Petersburg!!)

Although the day to day administrators (managers) don't speak a lot of English, they are all really helpful and the place is fantastic.

The rooms are spotlessly clean and there is a large breakfast left in the fridge every evening for the next day - there's even a hairdryer and a sewing kit provided - how thoughtful is that? There are 24 hour shops nearby, a fantastic chinese restuarant (with menu also in English if you have trouble translating into Russian Chinese - as we did on the first visit!) about 50m away. Lots of cafes on the street and the metro is only a couple of minutes walk - or you can easily walk into the city by going along the river if you have 20 minutes to spare.

The street is in a really safe area, it is busy during the day, but quietens down after the consulates close (German/Austrian and USA all here). As the hotel is in the yard, it is the perfect place to get a good night's sleep.

I just can't find enough good things to say about this hotel - but please don't all book it because we'll have trouble getting in next time we go to St Pete's!

If you don't give this hotel a try, then you are doing yourself a real disservice!

Enjoy

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