Listvyanka
This purpose-built hostel located at the far end of ul Chapaeva provides top-notch digs for backpacker prices, leaving Listvyanka’s other flat-footed…
Must-see hotels in Lake Baikal
Olkhon Island
Occupying a sizeable chunk of Khuzhir, this intricately carved timber complex has grown (and continues to grow) into one of Siberia’s top traveller hang…
Irkutsk
Experienced tour guide Jack Sheremetoff had a super-central apartment hostel in Irkutsk long before the word even entered the Russian language. Despite…
Olkhon Island
The owners, a former Soviet table-tennis champion and his polyglot wife, indulge in interior design passion, as you will immediately notice when you move…
Irkutsk
Described by some as the finest luxury sleep east of the Urals, this very central Japanese hotel gets rave reviews and justifiably so. The 24 rooms enjoy…
Olkhon Island
Looking from the outside like a research station in Antarctica, this upmarket establishment has rooms with laconic Scandinavian-style interior design…
Lake Baikal
Trekking and cycling enthusiasts Rufina and Yevgeny run this cosy and well-equipped homestay with just two rooms and a large shared bathroom, which…
Irkutsk
Rising high above the 130 Kvartal, this professionally run, freshly minted timber hotel mixes traditional wooden architecture with boldly contemporary…
Lake Baikal
Twenty years ago, you could only find such folksy timber mansions, known as terem, in illustrated fairy-tale books, but now terem-styled hotels are…
Irkutsk
Not your honeymoon dream, but a budget hotel that goes an extra mile to compensate for cheap decor and drab surroundings. Smallish rooms are clean and…
Irkutsk
Just a few steps off ul Karla Marksa, the 30 rooms at this purpose-built tower hotel remain stylish and unfrumpy despite the antique-style furniture and…
Olkhon Island
This well-liked option has nine rooms, three in a typical village house and six in a purpose-built, pine-fragrant building opposite. New showers and…
Irkutsk
With its Kolchak-inspired name, this cosy 13-bed apartment hostel has become well-established digs for Trans-Siberian wanderers. The lower bunks sport…
Lake Baikal
A real architectural solianka (apart from the soup, this Russian word means a mix of random items that happen to be at hand), this modern turbaza has a…
Irkutsk
The stated goal of opening sister hostels in every major city of the world is yet to be achieved, so for now this hyper-ambitious project is confined to a…
Listvyanka
On a ridge behind the shore road, cute little wooden huts (named after Baikal’s winds) with stove-heaters, private toilets and hot water (but shared…
Irkutsk
This timber-built 14-room boutique hotel in the 130 Kvartal has an unpretentious feel with a brown-beige colour scheme and stripped wooden floors sporting…
Listvyanka
This chalet-styled log house has a large common balcony with a distant view of the lake, and pine-scented rooms with soft mattresses and good shower…
Lake Baikal
Not too busy with its main occupation, Port Baikal's pretty railway station is part-timing as a hotel. Clean and bland in an almost nostalgically Soviet…
Irkutsk
Well-established, cosy backpacker hostel around a 10-minute walk from the train station offering a kitchen, washing machine, a high bathroom-to-bed ratio…
Irkutsk
Yet to live up to its immodest self-description, this airy modern place stands out in the long list of Irkutsk's claustrophobic converted-flat hostels…
Irkutsk
Freshly opened when we visited, this brightly coloured hostel occupies a new building and has lots of common space, unlike its labyrinthine competitors in…
Lake Baikal
The only fully fledged resort in the whole of Baikal, the Riviera is good value for money, with simple though tastefully decorated summer-only wooden…
Listvyanka
The 13 comfortable twin rooms in this timber guesthouse around 800m back from the lake are a good deal. Its sister guesthouse in Bolshie Koty offers…
Lake Baikal
Shumak valley is home to the rather comfortable Turbaza Shumak, which also arranges expensive weekly helicopter transfers to/from Irkutsk (one way/return…
Lake Baikal
A pretty and modern timber guesthouse, 6km away from Sobolinaya ski resort. Owners promote a quiet, meditative approach to holidays and discourage noisy,…
Listvyanka
This stylishly upmarket complex, with very comfortable international-standard pine-clad rooms, dominates the hillside above Krestovka.
Lake Baikal
Six-bed hostel-homestay at the southern end of town providing a great opportunity to experience small-town Siberian family life. A fully equipped kitchen,…
Lake Baikal
A friendly local English teacher runs this compound of 10 pine cottages, each containing two beds, a table, a stove ring and sometimes a kettle. Otherwise…
Listvyanka
Set just an endemic species’ throw from Baikal’s lulling waves/crumbly ice, this newish, clumsily named, purpose-built hotel by the market is a step up…
Lake Baikal
Around 2km away from Port Baikal and geared primarily for domestic tourists, this modern turbaza has summer-only rustic log houses with funky wooden…
Listvyanka
Just 10m from the shoreline, it’s not surprising that all nine rooms (doubles only) at this small hotel have wonderful lake views. Rooms are a little too…
Listvyanka
Spitting distance from the lake in the port area, this glass-and-steel hunk of incongruity has seen renovation in recent years, rendering the four lake…
Lake Baikal
National park ranger and guide Alexander Beketov runs this very comfortable homestay. The Beketovs provide a superb base and run tours to the Barguzin…
Irkutsk
Within a Swiss chalet–style building, the 64 rooms here are modern and comfortable, service is pleasant and English is spoken, though you’d expect little…
Irkutsk
If you’re in Irkutsk on business, this white and blue-glass tower is where you’ll want to unsheathe the company credit card. Rooms are just about…
Olkhon Island
A pleasant place to stay offering a good range of activities. Accommodation is in two-storey cabins and tiny single-room shacks with verandahs. Enter from…
Irkutsk
Behind nine Doric columns, immaculate rooms are realistically priced at this gleaming four-star favourite. Reception staff speak English and the Western…
Lake Baikal
A cluster of modern timber houses with tidy, well-equipped rooms. There is a kitchen for self-caterers. The owner can advise on Peak of Love treks, but he…
Lake Baikal
This hostel fills a traditional timber house where showers run hot and the 12 beds are all in double rooms. Booking ahead is essential.
