Soul Kitchen Hostel

The Soul Kitchen Hostel is located along the Moika river and just a few blocks away from St. Issac’s Cathedral, but that is the least of its charms. It is within walking distance of most anything you will want to visit in St. Petersburg. There are cafes, ATMs and even the Metro station close by.

Soul Kitchen has probably forever spoiled the notion of a hostel for us. The first thing you see as you arrive is a small balcony overlooking the river, you enter thru a thick metal door into a run down corridor, so far nothing too fancy. Then you open the door and are blown away by the awesomeness of the place.

The common room has such comfortable sofas, we even want them for our house!

They’ve got a big pull-down screen with a projector for movies and Apple TV. We didn’t use any of those but it might be nice to have if you’re staying for more than a few days. There are cubbies on the wall where shoes are kept so as not to track dirt inside: they had me right there. St. Petersburg is notorious for cold wet weather so they have shoe warmers available free of cost in case your shoes get wet, how nice is that?

There is a second common room with three public computers and several bean-bag chairs and comfy sofas.

There are about 20 rooms, ranging from privates to dorms and they are all so cute and spacious you won’t even want to leave your room. We had a room with a view of the river

right from our bed

and a loft for the boys.

The bathrooms are shared but again they are so very pretty and kept spotless.

The kitchen though is where they really won me over.

It is spacious, sunny and so well stocked you can cook up anything you might have a desire for. They have coffee and cacao, sugar, tea and all spices for your use; plus big pasta and rice containers which are replenished daily. Not to mention every kind of cooking utensil you might need. We saw a guest make a wild blueberry pie from scratch, a Chinese family make an entire meal, and a mom puree food for her baby. We, of course, took advantage of the opportunity to cook some peppers as we have been missing our food. There are free daily waffles in the morning and not the frozen kind either. With two long common tables and plenty of chairs, it never feels crowded; but if you’d like even more privacy you can always sip your morning tea in the balcony while enjoying the view.

The attendants are so nice and helpful, they really make you feel like you’re part of the family. They go out of their way to answer any of your questions and then seem truly interested in hearing how your day went when you walk back in afterward.

Soul Kitchen Hostel is what a dream stay should be and I’m afraid has become the measure for all our subsequent stays.

http://www.soulkitchenhostel.com/