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Krestovsky Ostrov Hotel (earlier called Sportivnaya Hotel)  L h (no website)
Phone:  7 (812) 235 0236

e-mail: no email.                                                           

Street Address: 34 Deputatskaya str., St. Petersburg, Russia

Rates: From $20 to $40 per person depending on how many people are in the room.

Location Rating: Fair. Far from the city’s most popular sights. You’ll have to take the metro to reach the city center.

Proximity To Metro: Good. It's about a 10 minute walk to Krestovsky Ostrov metro station.

Lobby Appearance: Well, when I saw this old building with only one thing new from the outside - the new name of the hotel - I had the feeling that little has changed in there. I was right. Well, they actually started doing something and now the entryway looks nice with brand new steps and walls, but once you get into the lobby… Nothing has changed from years ago.

Room Appearance: I believe the lady who was showing me the rooms was ashamed of them, especially of the bathrooms. I was simply shocked by the broken tiles, wall-paper covered with molld and the extremely old furniture. I wonder if anybody would ever like to stay there?

Useful nearby businesses: Absolutely none.

Hotel restaurants: There is a small café on your way to the elevator (which I was afraid to use at first!).

Other amenities: Visa support and visa registration. The only telephone is at the reception desk. International phones are in the lobby.

Would I stay here? No.

Staff speaks English? Only the young woman at the reception desk.

Comments: They have one really nice bathroom near the lobby with modern Italian tiles of pinkish shade, huge mirrors, nice lamps…how come? Well, maybe someday the entire hotel will change? Who knows…

Here is the January 2002 review:

Hotel Sportivnaya   Lh  I almost couldn't believe the room quality.  
Phone 7 (812) 235-0236

Among hotels that accept foreigners, this is one of the worst.

They rarely have foreign visitors. Nobody speaks English. They've got a nice river view on a very quiet section of an island. But the facility is awful. You can get a room for only 1000 rubles though, which is like $33. But that's still a greedy sum for the quality of room you get. It's not worth it.

Location Rating: Fair. And very far from the excitement of the inner city.

Proximity to Metro: Good. Krestovsky Ostrov Metro Station. About a 10 minute walk.

Lobby Appearance: Quite unimpressive. Looks like it was last updated in 1970, maybe... with little to no maintenance work done since then.

Room Appearance: Wow, they showed us a regular room and an updated room. The regular room looked absolutely horrible. The bathroom facility was awful. The updated room? I didn't notice much of a difference... hmm, I think the paint wasn't peeling off the wall in the updated room. Everything else looked the same -- horrible!

Useful Nearby Businesses: I didn't see any businesses at all. It's all residential. Tanya says it is becoming a "money" neighborhood, but I wasn't impressed. It's very quiet here.

Hotel Restaurants: They have a cafe.

Amenities: None.

Would I Stay Here? No. If there was a game show that offered big money to stay in a place like this, then yes, I might do it. Otherwise, absolutely not. This is no place to stay during a vacation. A big thumbs down for this one.

Staff Speaks English? No.

Comments: They had the courtesy to show us a couple rooms, which we appreciate. They were cordial. But this place is absolutely third world in quality. You've got to be really, really desperate to spend a night here. They say it actually fills up to capacity in the summer. Another thing, the price they gave us was for foreigners. The foreigner price is 1000 rubles for 1 or 2 people. So if you're poor and you have a buddy, you can stay here really, really cheap. But I am telling you this place is the pits. Mark my words... this is rock bottom. And if you're prone to bouts of depression, don't go there because as soon as you see your room, you're not going to be happy. Tanya says the area has a lot of fitness facilities and parks. She was surprised and didn't think the Sportivnaya would be that bad. It's bad. If you are giving a trip to Saint Petersburg as a gift and you don't like the recipient, then this is the perfect place. Otherwise, I strongly advise against booking a room here. It's horrible!

The one positive thing I can say about it is the area looks like a great spot to launch a small sailboat. The river is small and calm here.

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