Saint Petersburg

[Lurking60]

**Question***


Staying at the Sovetskaya in St. Pete in April. Are there any good brothels (and inexspensive) near there? Names and locations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Lurking60]

Hey all....

Just have a quick question.

Is there a web guide that lists all Salons or Brothels in Moscow and St. Petersburg with addresses? With ratings or feedback reports possibly? I leave on April 2nd for Moscow and will be spending my time there and in St. Pete for about 10 days. Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks in Advance
Lurking60

[OttoGraham]

Jack,

Yes, and individual can do an invitation. However, it is a hassle for them, and takes time. The hostels in St. Pete do it in 24-48 hours by fax, and they do it as a business, so there is no problem with finding a person to invite. All in all I think this is a better method.

BTW in the past I have had a hotel reservation, gotten an invitation from them, got my visa, and then cancelled the reservation, and still had the visa registered by the hostel. But I wouldn't recommend it, not since I learned the hostels will do the invitations themselves.

I am also told the hotels will register/stamp your visa if you bribe somebody. However, I've not done this personally. Also, on one occasion I didn't even get my visa stamped at all, and had no problems exiting. On another occasion, there was a rip in the paper of my visa, and you would think from the reactions of the passport control that I was trying to smuggle out a neutron bomb (they still let me out without any broken bones or bribes, hee hee). Rule is, it depends on who you're dealing with.

Doing the hostel-invitation apartment route has caused me no problems, and should work for you all too.

-Uncle Otto

[ChicagoBoy23]

Thanks for hotel tips !

[JackDaniels]

As I understood it when I went there, the invitation can be issued by someone other than a hotel. It can even be issued by a travel agent or by Elena (whom I have mentioned in an earlier post). In other words, it is not accomodation linked, though of course when you apply for a visa, you will be asked where you are going to be staying. This need not be where the invitation has come from.

In my view, St Petes is not worth going to purely for mongering purposes. For crying out loud, what do you need to do to get a Russian girl to smile ? There are quite a few beauties but not as many as in many other places in the world. IMHO, this may be a way to round off a day that has been spent enjoying the other sights that St Petes has to offer.

Cheers.

[OttoGraham]

When visiting St. Petersburg on your own budget (which means you don't have $300 a night for a hotel), one of the better ideas is to rent an apartment. There are a number of apartment rental agencies advertising on the internet. Look through them carefully, and get some references before you commit.

One problem you will run into is the question of visas. Normally, to get a visa you need your hotel to fax you a confirmation. You then submit this confirmation with your visa application to the Russian embassy. When you get to St. Pete, your hotel normally stamps this visa, which must be done in order for you to exit from the country without problems. Unfortunately, most apartment rental people are unable to do this registration for you.

When I have visited St. Pete in the past, I have gotten a faxed invitation from the St. Petersburg International Hostel (I think the web addy is www.hostel.spb.ru). They will do the invitation for you for about $40-50. When you get to St. Pete, you can settle into your apartment, but you will also have to go to the hotel, which will take your passport from you for about 3 days, and have it stamped by the police (unlike the hotels, they can't stamp it for you).

All around, you should be able to have a good stay in St. Pete by using this advice, for no more than about $75 a night. As for the rest of your stay, you fellows are on your own, as I've never needed to pay anything except attention in order to spend the night with a nice and willing Russian girl. No bragging, just fact.

I hope this helps!

[Oetziboy]

HI Chicagoboy23
I've stayed several times (maybe some 10 all in all) at Radisson SAS, also I tried Renessaince, Marriot Tverskaya and Marco Polo, Radisson is Ok if you choose renovated rooms, breakfast is great, some different Restaurants (all good food) no hassle with girls, just go to first florr to get the elevator, there is a Night Club too, I've been asked for USD 500.-, later she joined (only for a drink) a long chat at the Bar, all for the taxi back home trip.....beside this Radisson is 3 min. from Metro station Slavjanskaya which is sure another plus if you're there for doing you job (as I did)
Marco Polo is terrible......I chekced in with my ex girlfirend and she has been treated -worst- than any pro could be, Marriot no problem at all

[ChicagoBoy23]

Ouch - they want $420/'night

How is SAS/Radisson?

Thanks in advance.

[ChicagoBoy23]

Has anybody stayed at Sheraton in St. Petersburg ?

[JackDaniels]

Hotels in St Petes are really expensive and can be a hassle to bring a girl back. I stayed at an old Soviet style hotel called Hotel St Petersburg. The renovated rooms were still of poor quality and cost USD100 per night ! I also had to tip the security man (I forget how much) to let the girl in. Also you need to be careful which part of town you stay in due to the bridges going up at night and you will need to stay up in the bars till about 4pm until the the bridges come down again. Yes, I had to do that as this hotel was on the other side. Nevertheless, I did pick up a girl at Marstalls having agreed on USD 60 and she provided OK service including a CBJ. This is a good bar but don't go too late - I got there at 2.00 in the morning.

I think the smart thing to do is to get an apartment near Nevsky Prospect.

I got an excellent guide, a very nice girl called Elena. She is NOT an escort - very pretty and very friendly. She has a web site http://www.russianhost.8m.com/. She can get you an apartment in the right place for much less than a hotel.

Have fun.

Cheers.

[Doctor_Skank]

Chicago Boy,

I've taken girls back to the Grand Hotel Europe Kempinski without incident... but this is THE most expensive hotel in town. From reading the posts below, it seems that most western hotels, such as the Sheraton Neysky Palace and the Astoria have the same policy.

If you are looking for a hotel or any accomadation in St.Pete, I suggest to book now, as the 300 year anniversary is being celebrated in St.Pete this year and the festivities really get rolling around May... so expect hotels to be full and $$$.

Good luck and happy hunting!

[ChicagoBoy23]

I am headed to St. Petersburg in May for a weekend.

Any suggestions on good hotel.

I would prefer to bar hop to hire some evening fun so preferably a nice hotel which is visitor friendly.

Thanks in advance.

Chicagoboy23

[Across69]

Joe,
Dusty is right.... The hotel girls are expensive and always in a hurry. I had a bad expierence at the Hotel Oktabryska (across from the train station to Moscow) with a girl who agreed to several things, called up the hotel pimp to take my $100 then gave me a crappy time for about 40 min. Its like the peanuts in the fridge in your room they are real convienient and pretty but expensive and not very good, usually.
Go to Marstal's or Tribunal bar. Pick up a pro for $50-150 FOR THE WHOLE NIGHT after you talked with her and found the best from a selection of 30-50 women rather than the 3-4 found at most hotels. Bring her back to your hotel and let her do all the talking and I have never had to pay more than $7 to get them in. One girl even paid this for me as a repeat customer. Otherwise, there is student hotel behind the Kazaan cathedral that all the Pros know about for $12 a night.
The next time I go to SPG I will rent an apartment for $40-60 a day that will avoid all the hassles of a hotel (I never made it to the damn free breakfasts anyway!). Just find a russian speaking travel agent to set this up for you as it is actually very commonly done.

Also, if you like a women you have had already and want her for another night the next night will be cheaper. They probably realize you might want to try as many different girls as possible during your stay. My girl Olga from Marstal's was so great we had 3 nights together. (night 1 $100, nights 2 and 3 $50 each)


One last thing.. I was stopped at 3am by 2 Cops on the Petrograd side of the Niva in July and had $300 taken from me. Russians are afraid of local cops and have no repect for them. The TV show "COPS" had some episodes in Russia a while back and almost all people arrested tried to escape from the cops even when it was for something stupid like and expired motorcyle registration. The police in Russia are NOT there to help you unless you have powerful friends backing you up.

[Dusty Bin]

The simple answer is: don't go for lobby girls. They are expensive and will only stay long enough for you to chuck your muck and then they will be gone.

IMOH you will better enjoy yourself if you get a girl from a club, you will have someone to share a drink with, maybe join you for a few hours in the evening and almost certainly stay overnight. All for the cost of an hour with one of the lobby girls.

If you have the opportunity (funds), make sure that you have a double room and that they know your companion will check in later. It will probably save you hassle from security. With a bit of luck they will just give you the second room card/key when you ask.

[Octatron]

Well it's been a few years since I've been to SPB.

If money is no problem. The Grand Europe Hotel definitely has some lobby girls if I recall. But I never tried them. Its one of the best hotels in Russia. However I presume they will ask for many $$$$.

I'm sure there others on this board that can provide more insight.