Booking your hotel room
We do this for you, as long as you tell us your arrival and departure dates and times at least twelve weeks before the first day of the event, after which time we can not guarantee an hotel room for you. Each night costs 174 EUR incl. per room per night (no breakfast included) for single or double occupancy inclusive of all taxes and service charges
We will confirm your booking by email - you do not need a booking reference number. Cancelling your attendance within 35 days of the event will mean a charge of one night to cover the accommodation we have booked for you.
Forwarding materials to the hotel
It is recommended that you take your materials with you to Russia, rather than couriering them, as our experience is that materials sent by courier do not arrive.
If you wish to send materials please describe them, clearly, as "Information materials for conference" and give the insurance value as zero. This will help avoid customs delays and taxes. Check with your courier company that the materials have been delivered successfully before you leave home.
Make sure that your materials don't arrive more than seven days before the workshop starts.
Please send to:
FAO Jane Gilham, Alphe Conferemce
Your Name and Company Name
Astoria Hotel, 39 Bolshaya Morskaya,
190000, St. Petersburg Russia
Airport transfer
If you would like us to arrange an airport transfer for you, please supply us with your arrival and departure flights and times as soon as possible.
The cost of this is 40 Euros each way, 80 Euros return. This is payable in advance in pounds sterling.
Visas
- completed Visa Application Form95. Some Embassies now have an on-line form which you must use. The following is the link to the online form for the Russian embassy in London http://www.rusemblon.org/logon_en.htm
- 1 passport photograph (in some countries 3 may be required)
- the Consular fee (cash, postal order or money order only. No cheques)
- passport (must be valid for minimum of 6 months after leaving Russia)
- prepaid self-addressed envelope, using secure postal method
- A copy of your health insurance certificate of document
- and the following official invitation
- Visa Support Letter (Tourist invitation)
- Maximum period of 29 days.
- Issued by a registered company (STN ltd.), and consists of official confirmation and a voucher for accommodation bearing the reference number of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Hotel vouchers alone are not acceptable.
Visa Support
All visitors to Russia with booked hotel accommodation are entitled to and should apply for a tourist visa. The visa support letter issued to Alphe delegates by STN. Ltd is a request to the Russian Consular Authorities to issue a tourist visa. If you intend to stay longer in Russia, please contact us immediately.
After you have been accepted to Alphe Russia, please fax or email the following details to Natalia Brudno at Lingua Consult, natalia.brudno@lidenz.ru or fax +7 812 3340788
Name (full name as in passport),
Sex
Passport expiry date
Date of birth, Passport no.
Nationality
Arrival and departure dates (from Russia)
The visa support letter will be sent to you. Printouts or faxed copies are accepted in all
Russian consulates.
Some embassies and consulates maintain their own website:
Denmark - http://www.ambassade.dk/russicphe.php3
Germany - http://www.russische-botschaft.de/
Ireland - http://ireland.ru/embassy/Russia_Ireland.html
Italy - http://www.ambrussia.com/
Japan - http://www.embassy-avenue.jp/russia/
Netherlands - http://members.tripod.com/ambrunl/
Slovenia - http://www.burger.si/Ljubljana/Ambasade_Rusko.htm
Sweden - http://www.ryssland.se/
Switzerland - http://home.datacomm.ch/rusbotschaft/
UK - http://www.russialink.org.uk/embassy/index.htm
USA - http://www.russianembassy.org/
Itinerary
Friday 24th October 2008
17.00 - 19.30 Registration
17.00 - 19.30 Educators set up their tables and stands
17.00 - 19.30 Welcome Reception.
Saturday 25th October 2008
08:00 Venue and Alphe Café open - Alphe staff available.
09.00 - 13.00 Alphe meetings (30 minutes each)
13.00 - 14.30 Lunch (not included)
14.30 - 17.30 Alphe meetings
19.30 - 23.00 Dinner for all delegates (included)
Sunday 26th October 2008
08.00 Venue and Alphe Café open
09.00 - 13.00 Alphe meetings (30 minutes each)
13.00 - 15.00 Lunch (not included)
15.00 Clear venue
Making appointments with agents
All meetings are arranged using Meeting Manager. At least four weeks before the conference begins you will be able to view the delegate lists. To access Meeting Manager go to www.hothousemedia.com/mm. Simply enter you username and password (which is the same for all Alphe's) and then select the conference in question. If you have forgotten your username and password use the "Forgot Password". Once in the correct conference environment, select those that you would like to meet and send an email request. If that delegate wants to meet with you they will select an empty appointment slot on your personal agenda and the meeting is arranged and confirmed
Appointments
You will meet dozens of people, so bring a camera and a questionnaire with the main topics you want to cover. Remember, the real work will start when you get home - the follow-up is the most important part of workshopping, so don't let your contacts forget about you.
Events
During Alphe, there will be a complimentary reception after registration on the first night, with drinks available. There will also be a complimentary dinner in the hotel on the day 2.
Hotel services
- Health Club and Spa, including swimming pool, fitness centre, hairdresser, beautician and masseuse.
- Business Centre
- Laundry Service
Mobile telephones
Most mobile telephones with triband work in Russia.
Around the hotel
Situated next to the landmark St Isaac's Cathedral, the Hotel Astoria is ideally located for visiting all of the city's main attractions: palaces and gardens, museums, shopping areas and nightlife, many of which are withing walking distance. In addition, the hotel is only 30 minutes from the airport, and the main railway station for Moscow is also nearby.
Peter and Paul Fortress is located on a small island only a short distance from the hotel. It is possible to visit the cathedral in which the remains of the last tsars are buried, and to see the cells in which Lenin's brother was held before being condemned to death.
For those wishing to shop, the main shopping area - Nevskiy Prospekt - is only a short walk from the hotel and provides a mixture of the latest haute couture and traditional Russian grocery shops, which in turn give you a real taste of life in St Petersburg.
Map http://www.astoria.spb.ru/map.html
St Petersburg
St Petersburg is a magical and beautiful city. It was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great and built on the delta of the River Neva on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, hence the network of scenic canals running throughout the centre. These have earned it its reputation as the 'Venice of the North', with a total of 68 tributary rivers and canals and 349 bridges throughout the city.
There is so much history and so many different styles of wonderful architecture that it is a pleasure to explore on foot. There are 150 palaces interspersed throughout the city, the majority of which are extremely ornate with their gilt and amber interiors and are well worth a visit.
Most city palaces have a countryside counterpart, for example the stunning summer palace at Peterhof, which can be visited by hydrofoil during the winter months. Another stunning summer palace is Catherine Palace in the town of Pushkin, a short drive from the city centre. Equally splendid are the Russian churches, often with differently coloured exteriors, depending on the era in which they were built.
In the winter months the famous Kirov Ballet performs at the Mariinsky Theatre and provides a great attraction to the city. A programme of concerts, operas and ballet continues through the summer months.
Airports
Several airlines operate regular flights to St. Petersburg (LED) international airport (Pulkovo 2). It is also possible to travel by bus, train or boat (mainly from Finland and the Baltic States). If you fly via Moscow or from any CIS country, you will arrive at the domestic terminal (Pulkovo 1). If you change planes at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport (SVO), you must not only go through immigration and collect your luggage, but actually leave the building and take a transfer bus to the domestic terminal, which is at the other end of the airport. This is not the case if you change planes at Moscow's Domodedovo airport (DME). However, there are fewer connections from DME to St.Petersburg than from SVO.
The following international airlines offer direct flights to St.Petersburg:
British Airways, Air France, Scandinavian Airlines SAS, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, KLM, Finnair, Czech Airlines CSA, Polish Airlines LOT
Getting around
Taxi cabs are safe and can be taken from the front of the hotel. You can also hail a taxi from the street. Many sights close to the hotel are within walking distance.
Tourism
Founded in 1703, St. Petersburg is the cultural center of Russia and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The Grand Hotel Europe is located in the very heart of the city, within easy walking distance of its major attractions.
Just off Nevsky Prospekt, as you walk toward the golden spire of the Admiralty, is the monumental Palace Square, lined by the Tsars' former Winter Palace and the world-renowned Hermitage Museum. Right across Nevsky Prospekt from the hotel are the magnificent Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan and the elegant arcades of the Gostiniy Dvor Department Store.
Arts Square, dominated by a monument to Russia's national poet, Alexander Pushkin, lies even closer. Recently renovated, the square is at the center of a 19th century architectural ensemble including the Russian Museum, which boasts the largest collection of Russian art in the world, and - you guessed it! - the Grand Hotel Europe. Also within a few paces are the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Mussorgsky Theater.
Just around the corner are the soaring onion domes of the Church of the Spilt Blood. One of the city's most photogenic monuments, the church was built near the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated on March 1, 1881, hence its name.
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