Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace St. Petersburg

The problem with Four Lions’ service despite it’s over promise.

Shocking and alarming “customer service”
Very bad staff attitude, pompous and undignified.Reported duly in a daily basis with no improvement so we cut our long stay and went to a better hotel.

The hotel manager, Signor Livio Faverio, an Italian with whom I exchanged numerous WhatsApp messages.
Livio Faverio is very adept at over promise; the problem is he under delivered despite his “promises” . I am confident you reading this review know what I’m alluding to.
The question is do you want a 5 star customer service? We did not receive it.

In our example Faverio would act genuinely interested to learn from customer dissatisfaction ; yet he never fixed the problem which he took personal responsibility for.

Examples :

1. The swimming pool and sauna was closed for 4 weeks. Four Lions expected customers to use “W” hotel swimming pool and sauna which is 5 minutes away from Four Lions.

The state of swimming pool was very dirty, unhygienic with bacterial mould clearly evident.

No hot water in our en-suite shower. Faverio joked that we were making this up. I did not find his humour appealing. We had to use cold water for 4 nights before
We were asked to change rooms after a disruptive midnight reception phone call.
We were asleep; the hotel disrupted our busy business time schedule for the next day. If Faverio had investigated the cold water problem from my first alert this would have been professional.

Can you imagine cold ice shower each day? This was troubling especially because the gym showers were closed and not for use.

The toilet roll is very inferior quality in the en-suite thin and paper feel.

Problem :

The hotel has no bidets. Bidets are important for hygiene. In Four Seasons the toilet plumbing is weak and old. There is no air ventilation in the en-suite toilet. Can you imagine the unpleasant smell after toilet use? Faverio blamed his low budget on bathroom and room improvements.

In the hotel there are no bidets in any rest room. This is so different to other 5 star hotel in Saint Petersburg whom all have bidets. Can you imagine no water to cleanse yourself properly after toilet visit o. Four Seasons?

Customer Service:

The waitresses are constantly annoying in their unfriendly approach.
For breakfast I was late for business meeting because it took over 16 minutes to serve me a boiled egg.Faverio blamed the waitress for not communicating the order to the head chef. My question. ; do you need a head chef to boil an egg?

More Complications :

I’m trying to do business on my phone especially during breakfast and waitresses every 5 minutes would keep me waiting for 10 - 15 minute for a hot coffee.

We also found this hotel has very poor breakfast policy which means we were going to be over charged for certain foods despite the hotel promise “ breakfast package inclusion” in our price.

I had told Livio on several occasions his staff were very problematic. To my face he told me they are all Russian ( he was being extremely condescending in my humble opinion). He said the staff have no understanding of hospitality unlike rest of Europe. I told him this was an unoble remark especially because my wife is Russian. What do you think would you tolerate this kind of remark despite your ethnicity? ( I imagine Faverio believes Italians are superior in hospitality).

We reported Livio to Four Season CEO office worldwide via email;Four Seasons’ reply is that Four Lions Saint Petersburg as Four Seasons is not part of their business.

We did get the impression Head Office and the majority of his staff find Livio troublesome. For example, there are no managers on duty during the night and reception is un trained in important matters at hand.

Flowers and bouquet wilted because the water was not changed
Again Livio made excuses; he blamed Russian house keeping poor level.
He blames Russians for everything unsatisfactory in the hotel it would appear.

More Problems:

The business guest centre in Four Lions has very little space and the water supply for coffee tea was not functiona during our long stay.

I lost many precious business deals due to the ineptitude of Four Lions and Livio was offering to keep us guests for much longer so we would spend more money.
He genuinely does not care about anything it seems but profit.

The gym is very small and there is no natural light; it’s a very dark space with a chandelier. I prefer chandeliers in a bedroom not a gym.

Be aware; good luck. There are better hotels in Saint Petersburg which are just as luxurious.

This post is to help those who are considering Four Lions Saint Petersburg.

If you want to see Russian officials (not federal, but regional from Nizhny Novgorod) turn into deep drunken scum and behave with the utmost disrespect to hotel guests and hotel staff, then this legendary hotel is for you. If you plan to relax in a pleasant environment, then it is better to choose any other hotel in the neighborhood.

We went to the White Nights festival in July 2024 and stayed at the hotel for a night. We booked a signature room with a view of the landmarks but instead got a room overlooking the city toilet, above a bar where the music did not stop until late at night. At 11 p.m., we asked to change our room to a quieter one. Although there were rooms available, it took 2.5 hours to solve the problem. Upon checkout, we were given a gift certificate as an apology for the inconvenience caused, which turned out to be impossible to use even during the low season. Beautiful building, beautiful city, wonderful musicians and absolutely unprofessional hotel managers with no respect for their customers.

It was family trip, and we really enjoyed it.

The location is next to St. Isaac’s Cathedral, and short walk from Neva River.

We stayed in suite with a view on Voznesenskiy Ave/Admiralty. Although, it is not showing St. Isaac’s Cathedral, it is quieter, and has longer balcony.

The suite was spacious with high ceilings, and modern amenities.

We really liked food in the hotel. The breakfast was plentiful - the best we have seen. The decor and service were also impeccable. We have also eaten at Asian restaurant Sintoho, and enjoyed it very much; it is very pretty too.

If you would like, they would find you tour guide to your interest, and it would be someone with real knowledge.

For children, there is a play room available, toys, and kid robes etc.

The spa was nice. Although they do not have a formal pool; a hydro pool is an interesting and enjoyable one.

We will return.

The hotel is a real Palace. Very well furnished, huge height of the room windows and view to the famous Saint Isaac’s Cathedral.
The bed is very comfortable (soft but no problem for the back) mattress
The bathroom is very big with small builtin into the mirror TV..
TV in the room is large and modern. Air conditioning works really well and silently. Excellent sound proofing. I liked wooden doors and furniture.
Paintings / replicas / photos are everywhere even in the toilet corner.
Italian Restaurant was amazing especially I could recommend Octopus.
The breakfast (we have taken on the menu) was well served and delicious. No goat cheese however, I have asked about it at the reception and we’ve been advised to inform the hotel about food allergies prior the visit.
We’ve been welcomed by a nice Lama toy to our daughter. Thanks for that, she still takes it to the bed .
The rooms with view to internal yard are good two. There is a glass roof of the restaurant where the breakfast is going on.
I would still advise to take a suit with better view.

Amazing hotel, so much history. Takes your breath away thinking it was a real palace where the rich and famous at the time would spend their time. We loved everything about our stay. The views, the balcony was spectacular. Dinner at the Italian restaurant was amazing. The spa was great too. Highly recommend!

Amazing hotel with excellent services. Breakfast buffet with an enough variety of food and drinks. Friendly, superior staff services. Perfect location with a lovely garden facing the hotel and different nice restaurants in near foods.

It was beautiful. Hotel is perfect.

It was an amazing stay, thank you fourseasons team . Highly recommended

Grate place
Everyone Very helpful will come back for sure

Très beau séjour dans la magnifique ville de St. Petersburg.
L’hôtel est idéalement placé dans le centre de la ville et il est facile de visiter à pieds les principaux objets culturels.

it was our vacation with my husband. the staff did their best to make us feel like kings. be sure to go for a massage to Tatiana and Denis. Concierge Natalya will book the impossible. if to Petersburg, then only in Four Seasons

Great

Hotel location is fantastic. The room very comfortable and cozy with nice view. This visit the service provided by house keeping was not to the Four Seasons level. The staff lacked experience of providing the level of service we expected .

Over all it was fine but not vow.

Sehr Schön, tip top

Выбор отеля был не случайным - мы хотели красиво отдохнуть и увидеть новогоднее убранство отеля, который славится своими новогодними елками. Елки мы не увидели, пару дней назад их убрали, к большому сожалению. Все остальные впечатления превзошли ожидания: учтивый персонал, прекрасный спа, великолепный итальянский ресторан и бар. Номер комфортный и достаточно просторный, постель царская, приятные комплименты от отеля. Спасибо за полноценный отдых! Покидать отель не хотелось. Обязательно вернемся весной!

Однозначно лучший отель в Санкт-Петербурге! Номера с террасами с видом на Исакий впечатляют)

Good

Отличное место вдвоём для отдыха в СПб. Идеальный сервис. СПА. Локация

Отель великолепный, но есть проблемы с кузней в Номера