Frequently Asked Questions

What is a short-term rental?
Any rental that is between one day and six months in length is considered short term. Rentals up to 2 weeks can start on any day of the week and are possible by prior arrangement with our company, while rentals for longer periods may require a tenancy agreement. Usually we make every effort to be flexible about arrival and departure times wherever possible.

What are privately owned homes?
They are someone's private home that they let for a period whilst they are away or staying in their second home. They can be studios to three bedroom apartments or even four or five bedroom houses. And you rent the entire property.

What are the benefits of residing in an apartment rather than a hotel?
Imagine: you've been sightseeing or working all day and you return to your one bedroom apartment. You soak for an hour in the bathtub, then stroll into the kitchen, in your bathrobe, and prepare a simple meal. Then grab a glass of wine and relax in the living room in front of the TV until your ready to go to bed. Now imagine doing all that in one hotel room!

How large are the apartments and what do they contain?
In our superior apartments, we do our utmost to offer you the same standards in decor and furnishings as a top hotel. However, you will find that we offer the visitor more space with but at vast savings: our apartments range from one to four bedrooms and all of them have a certain number of bathrooms as specified in the rate, a separate living room/sitting area, and a fully equipped kitchen. Each property has a direct dial telephone, and the majority either has satellite or cable television.

How well are the homes equipped?
As it is in everybody's home, in each apartment there is china, cutlery, kitchen utensils, bed linen, towels, TV, telephone, a cooker and a refrigerator. The property description will mention if there are other appliances such as washing machines, microwaves and video's etc. Though owners generally do leave one, we do recommend that you bring your own hairdryer.

Can we use the telephone in the home?
Yes, all the properties have a telephone that can make local and international calls. You do not pay for local calls in Saint-Petersburg, while for making international calls one should buy a telephone card. You can of course receive calls.

Can I use the telephone line for my computer?
Yes, but you will need to buy an adapter for the telephone socket - any good electrical shop or some department stores in Saint-Petersburg will sell them.

Will there be things like air-conditioning or power showers in the home?
Appliances like these will be mentioned in the property description. If they are not mentioned the property does not have them. Nevertheless, it is rare to find air-conditioning in apartments in Saint-Petersburg - we just don't have the weather for this.

Can you offer airport / railway transfers?
We can arrange in advance for you to be picked up at airport / railway station, and taken directly to your apartment by car. After a long international flight or a train journey, this is a very welcome service. The only thing we need to provide it is your arrival details.

Are the homes serviced?
As you are renting a private home it is are not serviced, you are expected to self-cater. We can however assist you with organising maid service on request during your stay, for this there would be a charge. We will clean the property at the end of your stay, so you can just up and leave on your departure day; this is called our clean out fee.

Can you arrange theatre tickets?
We do not have any special arrangements with a ticket agent, but we are happy to call the theatre directly for you and arrange the tickets, where available, and have them charged to your credit card. Alternatively we do leave amongst our welcome pack, two booklets on London, which give you the latest theatre information and phone number.

Can you arrange travel insurance?
Unfortunately, we can not do this, although it is strongly recommended that you have insurance.

Do you provide an information folder on the property?
When you arrive at the property we will bring you a folder that contains a map, cuts-away and specific information on the apartment you are renting and general information on sightseeing in Saint-Petersburg.

Can you help us with tickets for museums and exhibitions?
Unfortunately, at the moment we do not provide tourists with tickets, but we can assists you with museum vouchers that are a little bit more expensive than tickets, but they give certain benefits such as avoiding endless queues on entering famous sites, for example.

Can you arrange guided tours and generally provide us with assistance with finding places of interest?
We will do our best to assist you during your stay. We can inform you of current theatre productions and arrange tickets, dinner reservations etc. In addition, it would be our pleasure to organize guided tours to popular sights in Saint-Petersburg, and to beautiful countryside locations such as Tsarskoe Selo, Pavlovsk, and Peterhof.

How and where do I receive the keys from the apartment?
You will receive the keys at the day of your arrival. There are two options: you may either come to our office to take the keys or our manager will be waiting for you near the house entrance at the certain time.

When do I pay the remaining amount of rent?
You should pay rest of payment on the day of arrival immediately after receiving the keys.

Are the apartments safe and secure?
Yes, given the fact that apartments often have discreet entrance areas and videophone entrance facilities. Apartment's inner door is unlocked by conventional keys, while the door from the apartment building onto the street may be locked by a device which requires you to punch in a code that usually consists of three digits. You have to push all 3 buttons simultaneously; alternatively, one should have a metal strip-key to make it work.

Can I preorder a welcome food pack to be in my apartment upon arrival?
Unfortunately, we do not provide any food services.