slothis · English

Volshaya Morskaya Inn: A Budget St. Petersburg Hostel

2016-07-07 · Updated: 2026-08-11 · Original (Korean)

This article was translated from the original Korean post with AI assistance. Read the original Korean post →
A spacious waiting room with the Russian word for St. Petersburg written in large letters on the wall and a bust in the center.
St. Petersburg

At 4:30 AM, whenever I take a train in Russia, I always seem to arrive at dawn. Sure, I take these trains because they're cheap, but finding a hostel in the morning when you're exhausted is never easy. As soon as the St. Petersburg metro started running, I hopped on the first train and headed to the hostel I had booked right before leaving. I had emailed them to say I was arriving early and asked if early check-in was possible, and they replied it would be 300 RUB.

'Wait, the room itself is 300 RUB, and they want another 300 RUB just to check in a bit early?'

I was instantly annoyed and thought about just waiting it out on the street, but I could barely keep my eyes open thanks to a snoring high school student on the train, and it was drizzling outside. I don't usually like the rain anyway, but in my exhausted state, every single raindrop felt as heavy as a bear. I had no choice but to bite the bullet and pay the extra 300 RUB to check in early.

I followed the map and got close to the hostel, but there was no sign, and the door wouldn't even open. It was already tough enough with the rain, and this just made it more frustrating. Even though I was worried sick about money, I ended up going to a nearby restaurant that was open, eating a burger and beer combo that cost a whopping 430 RUB, and emailing the host. A little while after I sent the email, I got a reply asking where I was. My phone was basically a brick without Wi-Fi, so we kept checking each other's locations via email until we finally met at an intersection. Can I even live without Wi-Fi or data anymore? I'm not confident.

The host of Volshaya Morskaya is named Natalia. During my long-term stay (well, it was only a week), I learned that Natalia usually comes in to clean the hostel after 10 AM, but that day she came to work at 6 AM just for me. When I found this out later, I felt really sorry, and it made me like the hostel even more.

I hate uncertainty, so I settled the payment as soon as I arrived, but strangely, she only took 1,200 RUB. She had definitely said early check-in would be an extra 300 RUB, but she didn't take a single penny for it. After talking it over, it turned out Natalia barely spoke English and had misunderstood my email, thinking I wanted to stay an extra day, which is why she asked for 300 RUB. In other words, early check-in at this hostel is free. My mood suddenly improved.


A closed large black iron gate leading to a courtyard next to a commercial building with a red sign.
It's usually firmly shut like this. Before going to this hostel, you absolutely must confirm with Natalia when and where to meet, or how to open the door.

I opened the tightly shut iron door and entered the building. A musty smell and a dark interior. It smelled like a typical cheap hostel. When I went into the room, it was even more surprising. They had crammed six bunk beds into a tiny room, and with luggage in the aisle, there was exactly enough space for one person to squeeze by. 300 RUB, which is about 4 USD. Feeling the power of money in capitalism once again, I just climbed into my bed and passed out.


Inside a building with a window letting in bright light above old and dark concrete stairs.
Just walking down the hallway, you can briefly feel like you're in a prison.
A red door decorated with the number 49 and star-shaped stickers, and a colorful radiator on the wall next to it.
As you go up the hallway, you'll find a door that looks like it belongs to a room filled with a 5-year-old girl's dreams. This is the Volshaya Morskaya Hostel.

After staying for about three days, I started to figure out the charm—or maybe the instruction manual—of this room. For charging devices, you just use the seat closest to the window at the dining table in front of the kitchen which practically became my private seat. The people staying in the cheapest 6-bed dorm aren't travelers but long-term guests here for work, so they all leave in the morning and come back around 9 PM. On weekends, they sleep all day. Therefore, as a traveler who spends most of the day outside, I barely ever ran into them. But we would at least acknowledge each other with a glance when passing by, and no one ever touched anyone else's belongings. This doesn't mean I recommend leaving your stuff lying around or guarantee that it's completely safe.


A simple communal kitchen with a dining table, gas stove, and front-loading washing machine, with light coming in through the window.
Right under the TV was my designated spot. It's a place known more to Russians than foreigners, so sitting there and watching people have quick Russian-style meals is pretty interesting.

Depending on who you're sleeping in the room with, it can smell pretty strongly of sweat, and the boiler is so weak that the hot water in the shower cuts out about once every five minutes. The toilet tank takes about five minutes to refill after a flush, so you have to aim to send everything down in one go. Looking at it this way, it sounds like the absolute worst room, but there are perks that make all of this bearable.


A narrow dormitory room with black bunk beds on both sides and light coming in through the window at the back.
The 6-bed dorm. The bottom bunks were already occupied by long-term guests.

First of all, the location is so close you could literally crawl to the Hermitage (the famous museum). It's more obvious if you look at a map, but if you stay at this hostel, you barely need to take the subway. The hostel is in the perfect spot where you can walk to any major tourist attraction. The fact that St. Petersburg's tourist spots are clustered together also plays a part.

Second is cleanliness. It's a hostel with poor lighting and a slightly musty smell, but Natalia comes in almost every day to vacuum, wash the bedding and towels of people who checked out, and clean the bathrooms. At first glance, I fully expected there to be bedbugs, but I didn't get bitten once during my week-long stay. You only realize this after staying for more than three days, but it's surprisingly clean. Natalia cleans the double rooms especially meticulously. Also, because there aren't that many people in the hostel, there are never long lines for the bathroom or shower. At most, it's one or two people. Of course, it depends on the situation, but you'll probably rarely see this small, low-capacity hostel swarming with people.


A dark hallway with several doors on the right and a cleaning bucket and mop on the floor.

Finally, the people. Honestly, this only applies to the time I was there, so it's literally a variable. Unlike other hostels, it has an extremely cramped and dark atmosphere going completely against the mainstream trend, so people don't stay up late chatting loudly or get drunk and disturb your sleep. By 9 PM, everyone is getting ready for bed, and no one even drinks a single beer inside the hostel. The only people who disturb your sleep are snorers or people like me who show up late at night. They don't drink, play music, and make a lot of noise like the trendy, youth-oriented hostels these days. Especially if you run into the long-term guests staying in the 6-bed dorm who work here I honestly think they're gang members or fixers. There's no other way they'd have eyes like that. One look at their eyes and you'll probably chicken out, you'd have no choice but to quiet down even if you were being loud. This quiet atmosphere made me extend my stay again and again in this initially uncomfortable room, ending up staying for 7 nights.

If you search for the cheapest place on Booking.com or Agoda, this hostel is the first one that pops up. It's true that looking at the reviews and photos makes you hesitate about staying here, but if you're alone or with two or three friends and want to stay somewhere cheap, I highly recommend it. For women, I recommend avoiding the 6-bed dorm the long-term guests are all men, and even if you do stay here, you should keep in mind beforehand that there are many inconveniences. During my week there, I saw couples come in twice, and from what I could tell, the women were perfectly adapted to budget travel. If you want to test whether your girlfriend or wife is cut out for budget travel, I highly recommend this hostel as a testing ground. Just don't blame me if you break up.

I've rambled on a bit, but to conclude: it's cheap for a solo traveler, the Wi-Fi is good, and you can take a shower, so it's a perfectly fine place for broke backpackers with nothing lacking.

I want to thank Natalia and the guys on the bottom bunks of the 6-bed dorm for treating me well for a week.


Volshaya Morskaya Booking.com Link

Expenses

Total Expenses 1880 RUB

Total Trip Expenses 525,936 KRW + 38,555 RUB + 152.26 USD