Saint Petersburg hotels with an indoor pool
In Saint Petersburg, Russia, six hotels on our list have an indoor pool, and two of them, Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace and SO/ Saint Petersburg, are a few minutes' walk from St Isaac's Cathedral. If you want to swim rather than float, the large pool on the lower level of the Hilton Saint Petersburg ExpoForum spa is the better bet, far from the centre near Pulkovo Airport and the ExpoForum. With January averaging around -5 °C or colder, an indoor pool is the only realistic way to swim here for most of the year. Searching for St. Petersburg, Florida? This page covers the Russian city only, from St Isaac's to Peterhof.
Saint Petersburg is a northern city where swimming means indoors for most of the year. January averages around -5 °C to -7 °C, depending on the source, and July, the warmest month, averages about 18 °C. From late May to mid-July, the white nights keep the sky light almost around the clock, which is when an evening swim after a late museum visit makes the most sense. The hotels on this list split between the historic centre around St Isaac's and Nevsky Prospekt, and the outskirts, near Pulkovo Airport, Pushkin and Peterhof.
Where to stay
Which pool for swimming, which for a soak?
Every pool on this list is indoors, and the climate explains it: winter in Saint Petersburg runs well below freezing, and even July rarely averages much above 18 °C. The six hotels carry 6,761 guest reviews between them, with a weighted average of 9.4 out of 10. Three of the six add a hot tub. The real difference is between a relaxation pool for a soak and a pool long enough to swim.
Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace, in a 19th-century palace four minutes' walk from St Isaac's Cathedral, has the most striking pool in the city: a relaxation pool under a glass dome, inside a spa spread over four floors in the building's original courtyard. It is heated, but reviewers note it is small and not made for laps. Its 9.6 out of 10 on 1,464 reviews is the best score of the six. I would book it for the setting and a post-museum soak, not for a training swim before breakfast or a long run of laps.
SO/ Saint Petersburg sits three minutes' walk from St Isaac's Cathedral and keeps its indoor pool and hot tub on the same wellness floor as the gym and the spa. That single-floor layout makes it easy to go from a workout to the water without changing floors. It scores 9.2 out of 10 on 675 reviews. Between the two hotels by the cathedral, I would choose SO/ if the hot tub matters, since the Four Seasons does not list one in our data, and the Four Seasons for its glass dome.
Hilton Saint Petersburg ExpoForum is the clear swimmer's choice. Its spa runs over two levels, with a large indoor pool on the lower one, more than ten treatment rooms, saunas and a Turkish bath, plus a hot tub in our data. It scores 9.4 out of 10 on 1,590 reviews. The catch is the location: about twenty minutes by taxi from Pulkovo Airport and ten minutes from the Alexander Palace, it suits an ExpoForum event or a Pushkin visit, rather than a stay built around the Hermitage and Nevsky Prospekt.
Three more fit specific plans. Crown Hotel St. Petersburg, five minutes' walk from Moscow Railway Station, has an indoor pool and a 9.4 out of 10 on 1,654 reviews, the largest sample here: my pick for arriving by train from Moscow. Grand Hotel Emerald pairs its indoor pool with a full spa and fitness centre, eight minutes by taxi from the Fabergé Museum, at 9.2 on 1,035 reviews. Belveder Hotel & Spa, a former palace near Old Peterhof, adds a hot tub and a wood-fired sauna bathhouse to its indoor pool.
A traveler's takeFor a city-centre stay, I would book SO/ Saint Petersburg if I wanted a pool and hot tub next to the gym, and Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace if the glass-dome pool and the setting mattered more than swimming lengths. For real laps, I would go to Hilton Saint Petersburg ExpoForum, but only with a reason to be near the airport or Pushkin. Arriving by train from Moscow, Crown Hotel St. Petersburg is the practical choice. And in winter, with temperatures below freezing, any of these six turns the pool into the best part of the evening.
Indoor poolFour Seasons Hotel Lion Palace St. Petersburg
A palace-set indoor pool steps from St. Isaac's Cathedral
Why guests love itA stay at Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace built around the indoor pool tends to feel more like a spa retreat than a typical hotel swim, helped by the palace architecture and the quiet mid-morning hours before the wellness floor fills up. St. Isaac's Cathedral being four minutes away makes it easy to fit sightseeing between pool and spa time without much planning. The three restaurants remove any need to leave the building for dinner, which suits travellers who want the whole stay, pool included, to feel considered.
Indoor poolHilton Saint Petersburg ExpoForum
An indoor pool and hot tub near the airport
Why guests love itA stay at Hilton Saint Petersburg ExpoForum built around the indoor pool benefits from the extra space a newer, purpose-built hotel allows compared with the converted palace properties closer to the center. The twenty-minute run to Pulkovo Airport makes it a workable base for a short trip without a long central-city transfer. Alexander Palace, ten minutes out, fits as a half-day trip without disrupting the rest of the stay. A kitchen in some rooms adds real flexibility for anyone staying more than a couple of nights.
Indoor poolCrown Hotel St. Petersburg
A downtown indoor pool five minutes from the station
Why guests love itA guest choosing Crown Hotel St. Petersburg for a short stay near Moscow Railway Station finds the indoor pool genuinely useful rather than decorative, open enough hours to fit around an early train or a late arrival. The European restaurant works well for a low-key dinner without leaving the building, and the business center covers a quick work session between sightseeing. It works best as a practical, well-placed base for travellers whose priority is the station and a reliable pool, not a spa floor.
Indoor poolSO/ Санкт-Петербург
A chic indoor pool and jacuzzi by the cathedral
Why guests love itA stay at SO/ Санкт-Петербург built around the pool and hot tub benefits from the full wellness floor around it, gym and spa included, without leaving the building. St. Isaac's Cathedral being three minutes away makes an early visit easy before the hotel's own restaurants get busy. Percorso, a minute out, gives a dinner option beyond the two in-house restaurants once they start to feel repetitive. This suits travellers who want a central, contemporary hotel with both a swim and a soak on offer.
Indoor poolGrand Hotel Emerald
A five-star indoor pool near the Faberge Museum
Why guests love itA stay at Grand Hotel Emerald centered on the pool benefits from the spa-and-fitness floor sitting right alongside it, so a swim can turn into a longer wellness session without much extra planning. The eight-minute taxi ride to the Faberge Museum fits neatly into a half-day, and Bronte restaurant a minute away adds a dinner option beyond the hotel's own kitchen. Free breakfast, Wi-Fi and parking make the overall value better than the five-star rate alone suggests.
Indoor poolBelveder Hotel & Spa
A budget palace stay with a real bathhouse and pool
Why guests love itA budget stay at Belveder Hotel & Spa built around the bathhouse tends to feel closer to a traditional Russian sauna night out than a standard hotel pool visit, wood-fired heat and a hot tub included in the same low nightly rate. The eight-minute taxi ride to Old Peterhof works well as a half-day trip without disrupting a slower, bathhouse-centered schedule. Rooms stay simple rather than polished, which fits the price, and free parking removes a cost that central five-star hotels routinely add.
Local tips
- 1If you want to swim lengths, choose Hilton Saint Petersburg ExpoForum: its spa has a large pool on the lower level, while the Four Seasons dome pool is small and built for relaxing.
- 2Plan an evening swim during the white nights, from late May to mid-July, when the sky stays light almost all night and museums close late.
- 3Arriving by train from Moscow? Crown Hotel St. Petersburg is five minutes' walk from Moscow Railway Station and has an indoor pool for the evening of arrival.
- 4Belveder Hotel & Spa sits near Old Peterhof, not in the city centre: book it for a day at the Peterhof fountains, with its wood-fired sauna bathhouse afterwards.
- 5Both SO/ Saint Petersburg and Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace are within four minutes' walk of St Isaac's Cathedral, so you can see the cathedral and swim on the same afternoon.
- 6Searching for St. Petersburg, Florida? These six hotels are in Saint Petersburg, Russia; the downtown Florida hotels are a different city on a different continent.
- 7From November to March, with averages below freezing, I would favour a hotel with a sauna next to the pool: Hilton ExpoForum and Belveder Hotel & Spa both have one.