I understand that St Petersburg hotels are expensive, but at 590€/night I expected a whole lot more.

I'm still at the hotel bar writing this, so the complete experience will be over after reaching the airport.

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Airport transfer (extra charge 3000 rub / ~100€ each way)

Starting with the positives. The hotel cars are very nice S-class Mercedes. The driver spoke no English, but the ride was comfortable.

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Check-in:

The older lady at the counter didn't speak good English, but check-in was quite smooth. (Most of the people at the reception had acceptable English skills).

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Room:

On the 2nd floor. Nice view of St Isaacs cathedral.
A bright streetlight just outside my window flooded my room with light during the night.

The wooden floor in the room was worn down and had stains on it. The bathroom had a tub and the bathroom utensils were of standard quality. The bathroom floor had not been cleaned properly.

The housekeeping was spotty at best. My half full glasses and beer bottle had not been taken away during the day. Maybe the ladies thought I'd like to enjoy a warm bottle of a day's old beer after a hard day of work.

The bed was good. The pillows were too high/big for my liking, i.e. no chance to select something more suitable for your own preference.

No wifi-connection in the room. Only a LAN-cable (very short retractable cord). The connection speed was acceptable, price was 800 rub/~25 eur day.

TV was a small Samsung LCD tv with the standard selection of Russian and international channels (CNN, etc.)

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Breakfast (extra 1250 rub, ~40€):

Pretty much what you expect from a hotel breakfast.
Ok selection of fresh fruit. Bonus points for the strawberries.
Warm food would have had to be ordered separately, I didn't bother.

Coffee selection was good. You could order cappucino, espresso or americano among others.

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Lobby/Business center
800 rub/25 eur 24hwifi access in the lobby. Luckily it's iPass enabled, so at least my company will b ebilled automatically.

NO WIFI ACCESS IN THE BUSINESS CENTER. This is unacceptable.

I could not get a late check-out and ended up sitting 4 hours at the lobby bar to have wifi access to be able to work (and write this :) ).The cigarette smoke in the bar is very annoing, coming from a country where bar smoking is now banned.

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Concierge:

Oh my god. The young chicks on the concierge desk hardly give a reassuring feeling of being able to cater the needs of travelers.

I asked the concierge to book airport transfer for me today at 4pm and the girl happily replied, yes, a car will be waiting and the cost is 3000 rub.

When checking out today, I asked about my transportation, just to make sure that it's confirmed; the concierge's list for today's transportation needs didn't have my name on it. Unacceptably bad service.

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Summary:

I have stayed at the SAS Royal on my previous St Petersburg trips. At roughly half the price of the Astoria, the SAS Royal offers a far better experience.

I sincerely recommend staying somewhere else.

This hotel is very heavily overpriced

Like good hotels in Moscow this hotel isn’t cheap, (with Russia it seems everything is either very expensive and good, or very cheap and poor, there’s nothing in the middle!) but this is one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in – I loved it. The service was second to none and my (standard) room was airy, bright, large and very clean. It’s in one of the best locations in St Petersburg, opposite St Isaac’s Cathedral which is huge and impressive – pictures just don’t do the cathedral justice. The hotel is in easy walking distance from all the other major sights in the centre.

It’s hard to find a fault with this hotel, nearly all of the staff spoke English, were very attentive, helpful and polite, great food (albeit expensive). I used the hotel car to go to the ballet – absolutely wonderful service. I would highly recommend this hotel.

We spent the Easter weekend (4 nights) here and had a great time. Pay extra for a room which overlooks St Isaacs square as it was well worth the money. The hotel is very stylish and grand. Breakfast is included and served in a wonderful restaurant. Tea is served in the afternoon - not to be missed.
There is a spa area on the 7th floor which can be used for free by the hotel guests.
I also recommend the hotel limousine service for transfers to/from the airport as these are the only clean cars in St Petersburg!
Overall, an excellent hotel and would recommend to anyone.

Great location and within walking distance is the major tourist attractions. Althought, there are a few streets you want to stay away from on the way but overall, it was very good.

The food and rooms were excellent. The linen was first class and the rooms (with view) were absolutely fabulous and very very clean. Everything was white and fresh, almost as if it were just built but certainly not stark.

Most of the staff spoke English and really went out of their way to help you, which was not the case in Moscow.

If I went back I would stay here again. Please learn how to say thank you in Russian .... it really goes a long way.