Luxe Beat Magazine DECEMBER 2014 | Page 31

Travel Insider Tips • During your visit, ask if you can join this engaging chef while he shops for the best, freshest ingredients at the morning farmer’s market. • For a memorable splurge, reserve the impressive, 1,636-square-foot, Lobanov Presidential Suite, with a private furnished terrace, an exquisite hand-painted ceiling fresco above and a deep bathtub carved from a single slab of marble. • Across the street is St. Isaac’s Cathedral (also designed by Auguste de Montferrand), the third largest cathedral in the world, capped by a shimmering dome made from 100 kilos of gold! Climb the stairs for the best birdseye view of the hotel and St. Petersburg. 31