Took the family (teenage boys) to St Petersburg by train from Helsinki and stayed at the Northern Lights Hotel for 4 nights, which we booked through Hostels.com via the Ryanair website. I thought it was really good value for a city centre hotel in the "Venice of the North" at 35 Euros pppn.

There are only a dozen or so rooms in the hotel and our rooms were nicely decorated and sparkling clean and beds were comfortable. We had a clean and modern shower/wc room to share, between our 2 rooms, across the corridor, but some rooms are en suite. Breakfast was continental, but filling, better than expected and served in our room.

The air conditioning advertised turned out to be an electric fan and the 300 satellite channels had little worth watching - but we weren't there for the tv! Many of the major sights of St Petersburg were within easy walking distance and the personal tour guide booked for us by Northern Lights was absolutely outstanding - she really brought the city and its history alive. Yusapov Palace is a gem but Peterhof, though good on a sunny day, was an expensive day out. Winter Palace outstanding; Peter & Paul Fortress a slight disappointment but still worth a visit.

As mentioned in a previous review, the access to Northern Lights is by un-renovated 3-story concrete staircase through a seemingly empty building. Dimly lit and no elevator. However, security was good with an intercom entry system and the 24 hour reception staff were always friendly and helpful. Its worth saying that we never felt our security or safety to be at risk in the city.

In summary, we really enjoyed our stay and thought it was good value. I'd recommend it and would definitely stay there again.