stevens397

Can anyone (like the Lurker) provide an email address for the hotel concierge?

schley

Agreed with the Brazilian visa. PITA!

Starwood Lurker

This is the only published email address that I could find:

[email protected]

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

ajnaro

I used Saint-Petersburg.Com for USD $59 from the airport to the hotel. The transfer went smoothly. However, on the return to the airport I used an ordinary taxi called by the W for very much less and the this transfer was also fine.

uxb

The E-mail for the concierge at this property is:

[email protected]

I wouldn't bother pre-booking any activities or tickets w/ them because they charge a 30% fee for concierge services.

Information obtained 22 May 2012:

TRAVELSIG

That is quite the fee- may be a record as far as I have seen.

I don't have a lot of reference- however I have booked a few plane/train tickets with Starwood concierge in countries where it is difficult to book in advance- and the only charges I have ever paid are for the taxi to/from the ticket pickup point for an employee or a courier delivery charge (at invoice face value) from the travel agent to the hotel.

uxb

Most places charge 1250 RUB, which is more reasonable (I suppose). Then, I also found that the travel agencies used by hotels often charge a fee for using your card (around 500 RUB). Despite being nickelled and dimed to death, the final price is still much more reasonable than going through an online service, which also charged the 30% premium. Of course, I could've waited until I got to Moscow to buy the ticket, but I didn't want to risk the cabin being sold out.

dbuckho

I will be staying at the W St. Petersburg in a few weeks. Just wanted to add that the reservations folks were very helpful answering a few initial questions and then assisting with the invitation letters. The concierge has also been very responsive to a few advance questions. Looking forward to my stay.

For tours, have made my own arrangements directly with different guides/companies. Was able to add airport pickup with the first guide we are using for $50. I usually figure out how to safely use taxis when arriving in a new place. But there are 4 adults + 1 toddler on this trip and lots of luggage - so very happy to have a van and person waiting for us.

I booked my own tickets on the Sapsan to Moscow following directions I found in the tripadvisor.com Russian thread and using google translate via Chrome. You can only make reservations 45 days in advance.

On the Visas, I had actually filled out the Russian consulate's online application before I realized you had to submit your applications in person. Ended up using VisaHQ and it was a very smooth process with emailed updates at each phase of the process. You cannot apply more than 45 business days in advance.

highflier1979

That's obscene. Very poor customer service.

uxb

They charge over $500,-/night for a wonderful room, so I think they think they can get away w/ it. Besides, what schmuck would spend $500/night to stay at a W??? (I'm only spending $90/nt + 4800 pts)

genoval

What is the price of the breakfast buffet here?

stevens397

Getting ready to check-out after a two night stay - then off to our cruise ship to begin that portion of the trip. We were booked Cash and Points which made it a very reasonable stay.

I guess I just don't get it. I like cool but not to the exclusion of function and good sense. Even tho the hotel and city are full for the European Economic Conference, as a Platinum, I got upgraded to a lovely suite. Our friends, also with a reward stay but with no status, were in an entry level room. I know I have been spoiled but their room was more like a closet! And neither room had any drawers - it's a hotel for crying out loud! Do they think it would spolt the image? Hard to fathom a hotel that costs so much and living out of ones suitcase!

The staff was sweet but minimally professional. So many little things - try to find a comfortable chair in the Living Room. Go to the front desk and ask them to provide change of a large Ruble note and they can't. The location, right next to St Isaac's Church, is excellent.

As Platinum, we were proactively given breakfast certificates. Host at the restaurant was really not sure what that got us so we told her it was Continental breakfast. The breakfast was OK but most certainly not something special.

In the end, it worked for us tho I can't imagine our friends could possibly enjoy that room. Confirms the value of status to me and the hoops I go thru to maintain it. And confirms that I'm just not a W guy!

uxb

Thanks for this info. My stay is coming up in a few days. Hope it is good.

Life_Platinum

We just returned from a 7 night stay at the W St. Petersburg where we were wowed by this hotel. I will try to answer some of the questions that have been posted by colleagues on this board.

We began by trying to obtain a Visa to Russia. After investigating what was available on the web, we concluded that the Russian government had recently (May 1, 2012) turned the Visa processing over to a private (Russian) company, and as we were told, it is no longer required that one needed to go to upper west side to the consulate by 7 AM to be one of the 15-20 that would be processed during that day. We filled out the on-line application and printed it up, choosing NYC from a pull down menu of where we would be applying for the Visa. We showed up at 80 Maiden Lane in the Financial area of NYC close to where we live with our applications, and photos in hand. One of the requirements is that one needs a sponsor, and we chose to have the W sponsor us. We emailed the W on Thursday, found what they needed, and then emailed the materials on to the W. On Monday, we received the very authentic-looking sponsor forms which we included in our Visa application package. After waiting for about 45 minutes, we talked to one of the agents who told us we had filled out the wrong application, as we had chosen NYC as the application site on the pull down menu. Easy mistake, as there are no directions, and a common mistake as we saw a number of others who made the same mistake. We went back to work and later pulled down under the Visa Office, "ILS NEW YORK", and the next day succeeded in having the Russian agent take our application and promise to return it in exactly 2 weeks between 3 and 4:30 PM. Upon returning, our applications were ready and the agent told us that he lives in St. Petersburg and we had chosen the easiest way to get to St. Petersburg, flying to Helsinki and then taking the Allegro fast train to St. Petersburg. I emailed the SPG property in Helsinki and they recommended buying the ticket in Helsinki which we did.

About two weeks before we were to arrive in St. Petersburg, we received an email from the W Insider, Gaia Khachikyan, who offered to provide any help for us. We asked that the W pick us up at the train station, and were offered a choice of 2 cars, a Porsche Cayene @ 2500 rubles or a Porsche Panamera @ 2700 rubles. Upon arrival we were greeted by the W driver holding an IPad with our names filling the screen. Upon arrival at the hotel, we were efficiently treated and lead to room 316, a wonderful junior suite which we found very quiet because of its location opening on an interior courtyard/parking lot.

Some have asked about the best location in St. Petersburg, and we rated the neighborhood as just that--if not it soon will be when the Four Seasons finally opens next year in the Lion's Palace across the street. The hotel is about a two minute walk to St. Isaacs and the Admiralty, and a five minute walk to the Hermitage, Nevsky Prospect, and the canal for a boat tour. We ate dinner at the W twice, and lunch on the rooftop restaurant overlooking St. Isaac's cathedral.

We visited and ate at six of the other fine hotels in St. Petersburg, and rated the W far superior to these properties in terms of service. For example, when we had lunch at the hotel that many formerly rate as the top hotel, and wanted a cab, we were told by the doorman that we need to cross the street and hire one of the parked cabs. We also asked how much the ride would be back to the W, and were told we needed to negotiate this with the drivers. In contrast, the W must have a deal with one of the large cab companies as there always was at least one yellow cab parked in front of the W, and the W doorman would call the cab forward and then negotiate the rate for us. From the W, the rate was always 500 roubles, whereas when we tried to negotiate with the driver at the hotel noted above it was twice what we thought the rate was. (Cabs can be a problem in St. Petersburg and are not always readily available). On another occasion at another hotel, I asked the doorman who was on horseback at the large statue in the square in front of another hotel, and was told he did not know!

We had decided to vacation in St. Petersburg because the White Nights celebration (longest nights of the year) would be ongoing while we were there, and my wife made arrangements for tickets for two ballets, an opera, and a folk celebration with an agency that delivered superb service and excellent followup. I do not know what the booking fees were, but my wife believes that the fees were well worth what the agency delivered. Following lunch on the roof on the third day we were in St. Petersburg, we went to the lobby to go out and were spotted by the W Insider, Gaia Khachikyan, who approached us with two tickets in hand, asking if we wanted to be the W guests at the Bobby McFarrin concert that evening as a reward for our SPG loyalty. Since it was one of the few evening that we did not have plans, we took Gaia up on her offer for a "W Moments" for us. The seats were in the third row, center.

Gaia provided superb recommendations for dinner on a number of occasions, including Tzar, and a restaurant across from the Ren run by the Ginza group which was located on the top floor of a new office building. We returned to this restaurant for lunch on another occasion.

The W has a superb swimming pool that my wife enjoyed, and also enjoyed the sauna and steam room on a couple of occasions. Despite these rave reviews of the service and the facility, the W does have two issues that need to be fixed. One is that the ATM located in the basement did not work on three different occasions, and I was forced to go to another hotel (The Astoria) just up the street to use their Citibank ATM--no big deal. The second is that our most favorite TV channel, SPG, was not available at this hotel.

Others have asked about the how breakfast is handled. I chose the breakfast as my Platinum amenity, and when we went to breakfast, the greeter told us that our breakfast was include. Upon checking out, I found that 1200 roubles had been added for breakfast and was told that this represented the difference between the continental and the hot breakfast (600 roubles difference per breakfast). We discussed that the hotel could have better informed us on what was included as the Continental and what was included in the Hot Breakfast.

This was our first trip to Russia and we had heard many stories from friends, and some of our Russian Colleagues who work with us about being robbed in Russia, or being cheated. After leaving we concluded that we felt very secure in St. Petersburg, and other than problems with taxi drivers attempting to charge too much, were not ripped off. Upon leaving the city, we decided to take the yellow taxi in front of the W to the train station for 500 roubles instead of the W Porsche. We also noted that there were a number of idle taxis in front of the train station, and knowing the going rate to the W of 500-600 roubles would make these taxis a likely choice.

After 7 nights in St. Petersburg, we cannot wait to return, as there still is so much more for us to see. We agreed that this W was the finest W we had stayed at, and the service was superb. It was hard to imagine that the St. Petersburg W provided service that was far superior to what is commonly found in the U.S.

If any of you would like additional information about the St. Petersburg W or the town, feel free to email me.

Merlion

Very nice property. Good restaurant downstairs. Currently occupancy at the hotel is 97%, which limited upgrades, but team here is surprisingly nice. Night shift is a bit moody with limited knowledge of night spots in town, not being able to direct me to top-notch high-end lounge at 3am, claiming it is closed, while it was open and well alive on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

Day shift is truly great and capable of listing all modern night lounges in town.

Good stay, a place to return.