Sneak Preview: Four Seasons Lion Hotel - St Petersburg
Welcome to our first blog. Find out what we thought of the Four Seasons Lion Palace hotel in St Petersburg.
Apart from legendary Four Seasons service, what are the four best things about the new Four Seasons (opening in the spring)St Petersburg? This is our opinion after our hard hat tour in July:
Location, Location, Location and Views
The location is perfect – adjacent to St Isaac’s cathedral
St Isaac’s & The Four Seasons
and facing the Admiralty Gardens the hotel is perfectly placed to explore the city on foot. Due to its proximity to St Isaac’s the views are stunning – even on lower floors you feel you can reach out and touch the dome. On the top floor where the 31 terrace rooms (complete with heated outdoor terrace so that snow cannot settle) the views will be spectacular.
Front Facade of Four Seasons St Petersburg
The Architect
Auguste de Montferrand has St Isaac’s cathedral, the Alexander column, the Kazan cathedral AND, my personal favourite statue of Nicholas the I in St Isaac’s square, so the Four Seasons St Petersburg is in excellent company.
Mock up Bedroom
The Rooms
Obvious you may think, but in a city where virtually all hotels have a significant number of rooms that overlook a courtyard the Four Seasons St Petersburg has only 7 such rooms out of 176. Cleverly the corridors have been constructed to look out to the courtyard, which will be rivalling the Plaza Athénée for prettiness. There are 47 rooms in the starting superior category, all very spacious. We think that the Terrace rooms (fourth category) will steal the show – especially in summer. With clever design your bed will face the floor to ceiling windows and the stunning views.
Alexander Column in Palace Square
The Restaurants
A casual winter garden style all day dining area where breakfast will be served leaves the Italian and (the now compulsory in Russia) Japanese restaurants to shine for lunch and dinner. We were very impressed with the design boards – both restaurants will be very modern and unique in their own right, with the target being the uber chic locals, which will add a buzz and atmosphere to the public areas.
Opening April 2012, we will update our website when official photography is available. Until then, call 020 89562756 for more information and a tailor made quote.