Fregat

Actually this hotel is simply great. Rooms are very comfortable with nice views, it is located right on the Lake, has a restaurant with very good menu both food and drinks and the view from the restaurant at sunset was amazing. Best place to stay I would think.

I traveled all over Russia and stayed in several hotels.This is the first time I give 5 stars to a hotel because to date, this one has brought me the most satisfaction in terms of quality of service. The staff was very responsive and professional. I was touched by the attention that was reserved for us.

I was very excited about staying at Frigate on my latest visit to Petrozavodsk. It is regarded as the most premium experience in the city. Although we were pleased with the accommodation cleanliness, modern decor and style, the quality of the food, and the restaurant terrace with lake view… that’s where the highlights ended. In general, the staff here is totally indifferent and apathetic. For example, like most places in Russia, there is a QR Code to leave a tip for your server. If you do not have a Russian bank account, you cannot use your credit card on this system. So in order to tip our server, I went to the ATM at the front desk of the hotel, withdrew cash and asked the receptionist if she could break a 500 ruble note into 100 rubles change. She waved in her hands and said defiantly in Russian that she would not. The receptionist next to her woke up and realized my request was completely reasonable and she waved me over and broke the note for me. It’s completely ridiculous to me that a guest can’t ask the hotel to break a small 500 ruble note after taking money out of the ATM IN THE HOTEL. Turned out to be a waste anyways because I rarely felt the need to tip my server. They are completely inattentive, allow dirty dishes to sit on unoccupied tables for hours after patrons leave, so there’s no where to sit. And when the coffee machine at breakfast inevitably breaks down, as it did every single day, they will not allow you to order paid coffee from them off the menu. When it comes time to pay your check, you will sit and wait forever for them to come back with it. Additionally, if you happen to arrive close to when the breakfast ends, be prepared to have food taken away from you as you’re reaching for it at the buffet. The first morning here, we woke up late due to a late night and went to the breakfast buffet about 10 minutes before they close. As I was quickly working my way down the buffet, two staff members at the stroke of 11am LITERALLY took food away from the table as my hand was out stretched to take the spoon. My wife and I were the last people in the buffet line and I can’t understand why they would rather waste the remaining food than to allow two hotel guests to finish filling their plates just before the buffet closed. The staff needs to be completely retrained, nobody says anything to do you as you walk through the hotel, everyone just stares at you and then looks away, its a completely cold experience. The best part however is that after you pay the top price for accommodations in Frigate, be wary that there is no air conditioning in the most of the rooms. You need to pay twice the already elevated price for AC in your room. This might not be a problem normally, but in a historic heat wave that struck Russia for weeks this year, it made the experience of staying at Frigate, a 4 star hotel, completely intolerable. Luckily, with no dispute, they allowed us to end our stay several days early and transfer to another hotel. We went instead to the Cosmos Hotel and had a 100% better experience with the staff and accommodations and paid the same money we would have spent at Frigate. Will likely never stay here again. And get ready, they’re opening a new hotel in downtown, can’t wait to see what a disaster that ends up being.