stormygirl

about 10 of us are planning on going to St Petersburg after christmas and staying thru new years eve. We'd love to try to get 2 apartments, they need to be able to work with us to get our visas. does anyone have any recommendations?

stormygirl

topping for me

katya_NY

I have experience with StPb apartments, and it was very positive- but the last company we worked with has gone out of business. ((&amp)

For the trip I am currently planning (Sept. 2005) my friend and I are renting an apartment from www.gotorussia.com . (We are chaperoning a group from school, and the teens are staying with Russian hosts).

So, as I said, we haven't stayed with this company yet, but thus far our interaction has been good! I will happily let you know how things go in October, when we get back!

Good luck, and enjoy StpB!!

katya_NY

oops... that is,

<b>www.gotorussia.net</b>

Sorry about that!

(PS- My feeling is that apartments are the way to go in StPb. Hotels are VERY expensive, and if they aren't expensive... they are bad. My friend works at the Astoria, but that said, I can't afford to stay there!!)

bardo1

I would also suggest you look at http://www.waytorussia.net/

Very similar name to katya's suggestion, I know. They are a very good company and have great apartment rentals. They also help with visas (as will most apt. agencies).

Aleksei

Another alternative to big hotels is B&amp;Bs and mini-hotels (there are quite a few of them now in St. Petersburg). Most of them are good and the prices are reasonable.

stormygirl

thank you!!

Would you suggest the Nevsky area or another? It will be COLD so we want to be as close as we can to things

KT

I'm not really an expert on the areas of St. Petersburg, but I do want to warn you that &quot;the Nevsky area&quot; covers a lot of ground, since Nevsky Prospekt is about 3 miles long! Most of what you'll want to see is within the Fontanka ring. I stayed in a mini-hotel very close to the Admiralty (west) end of Nevsky and found the area very convenient for sightseeing. However, the area a bit further east on Nevsky is somewhat livelier for restaurants, shopping, etc.

stormygirl

thanks so much!!!

stormygirl

so we've booked an apartment on Nevsky prospect, next to the SAS Radisson Hotel to the right and Sharaton Nevsky Palace to the left. Anyone familiar with the area? Recommendations for pubs/bars in the area would be appreciated. We are all in our early 30's

stormygirl

topping for me!

bardo1

stormygirl,

Looking for your &quot;Bars/Pubs in the Nevsky prospect area&quot; thread

Sailor79

Stormygirl - how was the apartment? Do you recommend using gotorussia.com?

Scarlett

Yes, I am looking forward to reading about your Christmas in St Petersburg!

stormygirl

Just back 2 days ago!

We used Windows on Nevsky for our rentals and things seemed to go smoothly for the most part. The apartments (we had 2) were on Italyanaskya which is just one block off Nevsky.

The apartments were large and well furnished but the courtyard area seemed a bit sketchy. After a few days of wandering around Peter we decided it was pretty normal and we never encountered any problems. The stairwells were a bit dark though.

We had a great new years eve on Nevsky, tons of stages set up with music and loads of fireworks going off, people dancing and drinking champagne.

Peter is very beautiful but the pollution was quite bad (air quality) we walked around a lot so that's why I noticed it.

The weather was only really cold on one day (-15C) but others were normal cold and really you just needed to worry about the wind.

Sama

You said things went well for the most part - what didin't go well? I'm think of an apartment rental and want to be prepared!

katya_NY

I have to tell you that the NICEST apartments in Piter still have... let's say &quot;less nice&quot; courtyards and stairwells. It is just the way things are there- communal areas like those are, for the most part, not cared for by anyone.

My friends in Piter actually have gotten together with the people in their building and hired a cleaning/ security crew, but this is rare.

Just something to be prepared for, I guess!

stormygirl

Sama,

on the day one of the apartments were to check out at noon, people just showed up ready to move in! Our friends weren't out yet and we were confused as there hadn't been a cleaning person or anything.

I'm sure it was a communication problem as we didn't speak Russian and this other family didn't seem to speak English.

katya I totally agree about the courtyards, it really did just seem to be the norm.

the address (12 Italyanskya) was the perfect location for walking around and seeing everything.

Sama

Hey - thanks for the info! Did you have to pay for the apartments all up front or just a deposit? Were the folks at Windows on Nevsky easy to get in touch with? We're going in May and are starting to pin down the accomodations.

stormygirl

Yes, they were quite easy to get in touch with both by email before we went and by phone once there.

My friend worked with them and we just paid a deposit. then once we were all settled we paid cash for the apartment.