Back to St. Petersburg Page <<
 Small towns and villages between Moscow & St. Petersburg >>
Horse riding at my dacha between Moscow & St. Petersburg >>

Uncle Pasha's Pick in St. Petersburg
An apartment on Bolshaya Konushennaya ("Big Stables")
from Andreas & Marina

Also see my description their other offer on Millionnaya, a few steps from The Hermitage

A small hotel room -like apartment. Ideal for a pair. The rate is 40-50Euro per night (about 2006-2007) depending on length of stay. Equipped for light cooking. Secure - you need to unlock FOUR doors to get in. The highest number I've seen so far. Quiet except for prole neighbours next door who have their screaming sessions in the morning to get the kids out of bed and at night to do the opposite. Some street sounds too, especially if you keep the window open. Make ear plugs your constant companion! Those into "real life" will get a kick out of the surroundings, the sense of which I tried to convey through some of the photos on this page. Please make a correction for my liking of back alley aesthetics. In reality this is a prime location and the facades are "western standard". Attractions within 5 min. walk: The Royal Stables after which the street was named, the Stables Museum, the Saviour-on-Blood Cathedral in memory of Alexander-the-Second, with stone tablets on its walls describing his acts and deeds to make Russia a livable place, such overhauling the legal system, freeing the peasants slaves... one of the buildings of the Russian Museum, three Lutheran churches (St. Mary for the Finns, St. Catherine for the Swiss, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria where English language worships are held every Sunday at 10am), the Folk Arts School, etc. etc.  Please pardon my fascination with food and drink at the expense of higher manifestations of human soul but my favourite place in the neighbourhood  is a doughnut shop that has not changed much from the 70s. [photos coming up]

The rate is from 45Euro/night or 39Euro if you stay 8 nights or longer for 1-3 persons. Slight variations are possible. Check with the owners.

Contact Marina & Andrea at spbmarina@yahoo.com in English or Italian. The response is usually near-instant.

Speaking of Italians, these are their preferred clients. They also know how to please the French and the Spanish, and don't mind the British, which is good because representatives of these nations are considered a pain... I mean a challenge by most operators in this part of the world.

Feedback on this or other offers on this site is welcomed. You can leave it in my Guestbook or send me a note.

 

 

 

Remember that information on this and other apartments is given "as is", with all the usual disclaimers. 

 

 

 


Konushennaya ploshad ("Stables Square"). A view onto the former Royal Stables after which several streets, including Bolshaya Konushennaya, were named.


The view to the left from the apartment window..


...and to the right..

The street is I suppose as quiet as one can reasonably expect in the center of St. Petersburg. This photo was taken in the middle of a working day. Noise is not much of a problem in the winter, with windows closed but be equipped with ear plugs in the summer!
 


That's the entire street, looking from Konushennaya Ploshad (Stables Square) towards Nevsky

Other places to stay on Bolshaya Konushennaya:

Hotels on Nevsky 150 yards from this apartment towards Nevsky, same side
Around 100 Euros for 1 person, 130 Euros for 2, almost 200 for a renovated double.
+7-812-703-3860   +7-812-703-3861 (tel./fax)
Astor, opposite side of Konushenny, 100 yards towards Nevsky   +7-812-336-6585
Here you can check in at night, move out in the morning, and pay half of the rate, i.e. about 40Euros for 1 and 50 Euros for two persons!

Both hotels belong to one chain. See their site www.hon.ru  or write to info@hon.ru

Bed&Breakfast
Bolshaya Konushennaya 1
30Euro for one bed in a room shared by ...... [to be checked]

The coffee shop right across the street is open 24 hours. Lots of other eating establishments including a doughnut place ("Pyshechnaya") that has not changed much since 70s. [ add photos]

 


St. Isaac's Cathedral built to commemorate Kutuzov, an 1812 war general.


Now we are entering the apartment. A couch for an extra guest. The washroom with a music shower is to the right. Next to it is a kitchenette good enough to heat soup or make a sandwich.


The room itself is dominated by the fold-out couch. The passage between the couch and the wall is quite narrow. My comment on the ergonomics of this place has been voiced to Marina.


All standard stuff. A bit crowded, eg. when making a characteristic move during the toilet procedure you tend to hit the washing machine. All rental apartments, even expensive ones, will have warped ergonomics. The only exception is my apartment in Moscow and that only because of my great housekeeper and all around assistant Valentina and because I stay there myself when overcome with the urge to leave my country abode for a few days.


 I counted well over a dozen knobs and buttons and controls in this shower. For someone who regularly finds himself in a "wash from a bucket or die" situation this was a culture shock.


The shower has a stereo system!

I will not bother reproducing the photo of the kitchenette but the place is equipped to do light cooking for two. You'll save a bundle by not having to eat out.


The dignity of age has not yet been covered up with plastic as it has been done everywhere but in the most neglected parts of Moscow. 


 Some handrail bars have been noticed to be missing. Watch out if you have little children. 


St. Petersburg has always been famous for the contrast between the front and the back. No better place in Russia I know of than St. Petersburg for urban adventure seekers.


Part of the Royal Stables building is a museum, part of it is a church. This serves to form the cultural layer for future generations to explore.  Note the bullet mark on the right, probably from the 1941-44 siege.


A surreal corridor leads to the apartment. You need to unlock four (sic) doors to get there.


Safe door, Russian style. Please remember that a real threat to your safety is not going to try knocking down even the lightest of doors. The danger comes from your carelessness and indiscretion: chance acquaintances, being drunk, sleepwalking...


"Savious-on-Blood" in memory of Alexander the Second, the liberator of serfs, the ruler who imposed reforms on the nation and hesitated to send revolutionaries to the gallows, for which he paid with his life.


Mikhailovsky Garden seen through a cast-iron fence. A place where local residents take their children for a stroll. Recommended to for people watching.