Hotel Vera was a very practical place for the price, and stood out in several regards:
1. The linens were nice and abundant. This is a very big plus in Russia. In addition to the clean, fresh duvet cover and pillows on my bed, I could get more pillows when I wanted them. I took the bedspread off and asked the housekeeper not to put it back on my bed.
2. The staff was very helpful and friendly, again, a very nice plus in Russia
3. The hotel seemed safe

The area is not dangerous, but not happening either. It is a 10 minute walk to a major subway station and it is about 12 minutes to Nevsky Prospekt. It takes an addt'l 10 minutes to reach the most tourist relevant part of the street. It is certainly an "inner city" hotel and a cab ride is easy to arrange.

We rented a suite and in terms of comparitive value, this was a very good deal. It had a microwave, fridge, sink, tv and sofa bed.
There was a safe in our room. My mother joined us for 2 days and she had a very small room without a safe. It was fit for purpose.

I have never been in a dirty Russian bathroom. They are generally much cleaner than those in the States, so the review that I saw about the bathrooms suprised me. Ours was simple and clean. The only thing that really annoyed me about the hotel was the carpet. It did make an otherwise immaculate room look dirty. Carpet in St. Petersburg shouldn't exist. The streets are too wet and muddy. I doubt that it was unhygenic, but it certainly wasn't pretty.

It isn't a bad place at all and it will continue to get better, I am confident. If you prefer spending your cash on nestling dolls instead of hotels, this may be a good choice. On the whole, this hotel reminded me of many of the value hotels that I stayed at when traveling with my church choir. It would be perfect for that sort of thing!