See our 2018 Four Seasons St. Petersburg Review.
This Four Seasons Lion Palace St. Petersburg Review is part of a trip report including Vienna and luxury hotels and dining in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. I was thrilled to finally be able to visit this former royal palace, designed by the same architect of St. Isaac's Cathedral, Auguste de Montferrand, and painstakingly restored. For photos of the restoration, see Preview: Four Seasons St. Petersburg Opening 2013
Visiting Russia? See all our posts tagged Russia. For the previous posts please see:
Review: Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom
Labstelle Wien Vienna Restaurant Review
Review: Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow
Moscow Metro Tour with Happy Moscow Tours
Review: Peterhof Fountains and Gardens Near St. Petersburg, Russia
Review: L'Europe Restaurant and Dining at Grand Hotel Europe, St. Petersburg, Russia
TravelSort Clients enjoy Four Seasons Preferred Partner benefits at the Four Seasons Lion Palace St. Petersburg:
- Daily full American breakfast for two people per bedroom, served through In-Room Dining or in the hotel restaurant (including buffets)
- Spa credit of USD100 once during stay (not applicable to products)
- Upgrade of one category, based on availability at time of check-in (excluding signature suites and villas); FSPP guests receive top priority for upgrades (see Four Seasons Preferred Partner)
- Complimentary basic Internet in all guest rooms, complimentary premium Internet in all suites.
Four Seasons St. Petersburg Location and Check-In
The Four Seasons Lion Palace in St. Petersburg is in a prime location at 1 Voznesensky Prospekt, right next to St. Isaac's Cathedral and a short walk to the State Hermitage Museum, the largest art museum in the world, with one of the finest Western European art collections.
We were warmly welcomed as soon as we stepped out of the car and escorted to reception, where we were quickly checked in. To our pleasant surprise, we'd been upgraded to one of the hotel's wonderful Terrace Rooms on the 5th floor, with a balcony directly facing St. Isaac's Cathedral–magnificent!
Four Seasons St. Petersburg Terrace Room
Terrace Rooms are perfect for couples on a romantic getaway to St. Petersburg, as they all have one king bed and their size, ranging from 377-474 square feet, accommodates a maximum of two adults. Even from the bed, St. Isaac's Cathedral is visible:
And here's the balcony, with the reflection of the cathedral:
My son loved the balcony–every time we got back to the room, he asked to go outside to sit and admire the view. And he's 7 years old, so he's not usually sitting around for long or waxing lyrical about the view…well, hence the pose here:
As at Four Seasons Moscow, Four Seasons St. Petersburg is a very new Four Seasons, so all rooms offer the new customizable Four Seasons bed and we both slept very well. It's a good thing that the drapes work well to keep the room dark, since our stay was just a month or so after the White Nights and it got dark only briefly at night.
There was a lovely welcome amenity of fresh fruit and bottled water, and the fruit was immaculate, with the cherries especially delicious.
Meanwhile my son enjoyed his own kids' welcome amenity: a whimsical bear cookie, candies and juice:
The marble bathroom offers double sinks, as well as an embedded LCD TV in the mirror, rain shower, and separate soaking tub:
Bath products were by Italian perfurmer Lorenzo Villoresi, just as at the Four Seasons Firenze in Florence, which seemed fitting, given that the marble lions that flank the entrance and symbolize strength and nobility echo the lion motif used in the 16th century Villa Medici in Rome.
There was both an Illy espresso machine with capsules and a kettle for hot water for tea.
Four Seasons St. Petersburg Spa Vitality Pool and Fitness Center
The hotel's spa isn't as extensive as the Four Seasons Moscow, but it does offer a lovely triangular Vitality Pool under a glass atrium roof. You can turn on powerful jets for a hydrotherapy circuit. The only downside for my son is that the pool is adults-only (16 and older) so he couldn't enjoy it.
There are lounge chairs in this area as well, and fresh fruit as well as fruit-infused water for refreshment.
The fitness center was completely empty the two times I visited it, so if you're somehow not getting enough exercise walking around St. Petersburg a workout is just an elevator ride away.
Four Seasons St. Petersburg Dining
I'll cover the sumptuous breakfast buffet and other Four Seasons St. Petersburg dining in a future post.
The Verdict
In my view the Four Seasons St. Petersburg is far and away the best luxury hotel choice in St. Petersburg. Not only are the rooms, suites and public areas beautiful, service was superb, similar to Four Seasons Moscow. We were warmly helped by reception, the Concierge, and restaurant staff in Russian and in flawless English on the occasions we spoke in English. I highly recommend a Terrace Room if traveling as a couple, and a Four Seasons Room or Admiralty One Bedroom Suite if traveling as a family of 2 adults and 1 child.
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Disclosure: We received a complimentary stay and daily breakfast at Four Seasons St. Petersburg. The views expressed in this post are mine.
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