Centrally located, next to the State Hermitage and St Isaac’s Cathedral, Casa Leto in St Petersburg is a small, exclusive, family-owned boutique hotel providing excellent accommodation and friendly service. The rooms have a classical style and evoke the atmosphere and grandeur of old St Petersburg. With high ceilings, plasterwork and original antiques, it often serves a location for fashion and film shoots. Casa Leto is located in one of the most desirable locations in St Petersburg, a few minutes walk from Nevski Prospect and the Hermitage museum. St Isaac’s Cathedral, Nicholski Catherdral and the Marinski Theatre are also only a short distance away. Right outside the doorstep there are many restaurants and clubs, including some of the best in the city.
The interior of Casa Leto has preserved the spirit of the 19th century. Ceilings are decorated with stucco and the proportions and size of rooms are generous. The hotel has an impressive old-fashioned entrance staircase. Inside the hotel itself there is a lounge with a bar where one can relax on Chesterfield sofas. And because it has only five rooms one will get all the help and attention one need from the staff.
Bolshoya Morskay was formerly known as ‘Diamond Street’ and it leads to the Admiralty Square and the Hermitage Museum. Adjacent to the hotel is the House of Faberge and the Astoria Hotel. The building of Casa Leto was built specifically for the rich and respectable in 1870 as private apartments. In one of the apartments, which now forms part of the hotel, lived the court composer Alfred Zimmerman. Some of his works were found under the flooring during the restoration. Until the Russian Revolution, the basement and ground floor were used as a piano showroom. Nearby are the homes of Schakowsky, Korsakov and the writer, Vladimir Nabokov, who wrote “Lolita”. A recent drama series for Russian television on the life of Dostoyevsky included scenes shot on the entrance staircase.
About Arnon Kohavi
