Sonata Невский 5 Дворцовая площадь — Hotel in округ № 78

We stayed 2 nights at the Sonata on Nevsky 5 while on a short trip to St Petersburg with a main objective of spending most of the time at The Hermitage. The hotel was chosen based on its proximity to the museum and indeed it is very close so that did not disappoint. Fortunately, a message was sent in advance of our arrival explaining how to find it because there is no sign out the front and the door looks like an apartment building entrance - which it actually is. The hotel is on the 4th and 5th floor of a building that also contains private apartments and another hotel. Reception is on the 4th floor and going to the 5th where our room was situated requires that you go outside of the locked 4th floor hotel door onto a bare, chipped, communal concrete stairway to get up or down. It is an odd arrangement but not a real problem. ||||The elevator has been mentioned by other reviewers but still requires some comment. We found it hysterically funny to look at and to use. It is smaller than any other that I have ever seen and further compromised by a door that opens inwards in 2 sections. It is also very dilapidated looking. We not large but struggled to get one person and one suitcase inside. With 2 of us and no suitcases some contortions were required just to close the door which we did while trying not to laugh too loudly. Any ascent or descent was accompanied by creaks and groans and a bit crash as the selected floor was reached. Not for the faint hearted, the big bottomed or those with bulky luggage!||||Our room was fairly standard with 2 single beds. The foam mattresses were more uncomfortable than those at the other hotels that we used during this trip but I have had worse. There was a kettle (but no cups, tea bags etc), glasses and in room safe. The bathroom seemed newly renovated with shiny tiles, a good size shower box and ample hot water. Everything was clean and in reasonable repair. The wifi was stable and of good speed. Our room was at the back of the building and pretty quiet with the windows closed. It was also warm - perhaps a little too warm but there was an air conditioner as well as a radiator and we were able to use the former to cool it down a bit. ||||Reception was open 24 hours a day and the staff that we interacted with spoke good English. Breakfast was available but we chose to eat outside. The hotel stored our bags on the last day and allowed us to change clothes before heading to the train station.||||How you feel about the Sonata will likely depend on your tolerance for that somewhat scary lift and the shared building but the location can't be beaten and the helpful, English-speaking staff are a real bonus. I consider staying...

Excellent location, average hotel, terrible building. The hotel is situated on 5th floor and serviced by an elevator which only works every 2-3 days for a couple of uses, and it is only big enough to fit 1 person and a suitcase. The entry foyer and lower stairwell stink of stagnant water and house a cloud of enormous mosquitoes, even in winter. If you can get past the stench, run up and down 5 floors (10 flights) of stairs, the hotel is ok. It's secure, clean and tidy, rooms and bathroom are comfortable size, staff are friendly and speak enough english to get by which is helpful. Don't bother with hotel breakfast, it is minimal at best and mostly gone by 9am. They do not top up empty dishes, there was no coffee in any form and staff do not even ensure there are plates to eat from. There IS a fantastic bakery & cafe just downstairs with delightful staff, which is open for breakfast lunch and dinner. If you want a safe, clean, budget room near the Hermitage Museum and within easy walk to restaurants along Nevsky Prospect, this is ok for a couple of nights. But you can probably find better if you...

Unfortunately this facility is split over the 4th and 5th floors, 5th floor basically being attic/loft space. I stayed in the small standard room - 15sq meters but only able to stand in around 5 sq meters of the room due to restricted ceiling height. The rooms were also not very well maintained, having to ask for room servicing and wet stains on the carpet below A/C unit

The guest house has access through the common stair which is not clean with cigarette butts and garbage left on landings. The access either by very small elevator or stairs be aware only two people can fit inside the elevator without luggage also the elevator sometimes doesn’t work when other occupants of the common stair leave the door incorrectly closed

The breakfast I would recommend avoiding as this consists of microwave pancakes and other poor quality food.

I found it difficult to raise these concerns with staff at the hotel due to restrictions in language barriers and lack of management available at the hotel.

I have tried to help show the issue above in the photos and would not...