I visited St. Petersburg for an Argentine Tango event, and the Alfavit was the most affordable hotel close by, so I booked a room. This is a nice little hotel, very basic, but comfortable and clean. The ladies who rotate at the front desk do not speak good English, but are eager to help. I used a translation app on my phone, and was able to get by, but felt it necessary to check important things such as taxi booking to get back to the airport, etc. One of them who knew more English than the others took the effort to explain to the breakfast lady that I was vegetarian, and get her to understand what I could and could not eat.

Breakfast is sumptuous and simple. The lady who prepares it does not speak any English, but is also very nice and eager to help, so I was able to get by with relative ease.

The room is spartan and the beds are small, but comfortable. There was no cupboard to put my clothes in, just a few small drawers. And no iron - fortunately I had anticipated this and taken mine along. This is very common in European hotels though, so not unexpected. The bathroom is very small, but clean and the hot water was really hot. You have to be careful though to not bump into things when opening the door or turning around in it. The room gets stuffy quickly, but the window opens slightly to let fresh air in.