Fine standard hotel. Excellent location being on the very edge of the old town, so never needed to walk more than 10-15mins to reach any of the main sights, restaurants and nightlife areas. Very good job as it was around -25c during out visit!

Rooms and the hotel itself are shabby in places and need a large scale refurb. Not really four star quality.

Complimentary breakfast
was very good with plenty of choice. Price excellent.

Although usually not choosing a hotel so far down the Tripadvisor listings, I was drawn to book this hotel because of it’s location which is superb. Having read many of the reviews on the hotel I was aware of some reviewer’s concerns, some of which I found to be justified.

Having booked a taxi ‘pick up’ through the hotel, it was waiting when we arrived and uneventfully transferred us to the hotel. The foyer of the hotel is impressive and a reflection of past Soviet grandeur, check in was efficient and speedy.

The hotel is listed as four star, and whilst it does not quite fulfil its billing it is a well equipped hotel with a range of facilities, including free Wi fi and a sauna.

The lifts were all working and were quick and efficient, there is disabled access in the hotel.

We booked a junior suite, which I would recommend, it proved to be very spacious and relatively well equipped with a good sized bedroom and similar large living room and bathroom. The décor in the bedroom and living room was neutral and in good condition, the bathroom was almost fully tiled in ‘gasworks’ green with a brown tiled floor coupled with black wood doors and panelling… an interesting combination. There was a large double bed with a firm mattress, and matching furniture, plenty of plug sockets, but of course you need an adaptor.

The lovely, large flat screen TV was a waste of time, with only four channels, none of which were in English. Whilst not staying at a hotel to watch TV it is enjoyable sometimes to relax and watch a programme from a reasonable choice.

The room, in fact, the whole hotel was always lovely and warm, with a very good heating system. There is no kettle in the room for those who like their cup of tea or coffee. The room was cleaned daily and the pleasant cleaners were very thorough, the room was always clean.

The shower was excellent both in pressure and hot water, towels were clean and changed every day.

Wi fi is free and available in all rooms, the connection even on the fifth floor was very good, good enough to video call through Skype.

All in all the hotel has many positives and is worth a look if for no other reason than for it’s location, with a host of museums, classical architecture and monuments all within five minutes walking. There are also scores of bars and restaurants in the near vicinity, several of which we visited and I have reviewed separately on Tripadvisor. Generally meals and drinks in the area, including the hotel, are slightly cheaper than in England, a good meal out with drinks will probably cost about £30 for two.

There are three Irish bars very close, I would like to recommend Moloney’s as the food is excellent, try their goulash! If you need information about Riga, go to Town Hall Square where the Tourist Information Office is, speak to Beiba and Sabine, they are so helpful and knowledgeable.

Having presented the case for the many good points of the hotel, there are one or two negatives. If I could offer a personal opinion it would be that the management of the hotel need to learn about organisation and staff training in the art of being welcoming to the guests. I did get the impression that some and stress ‘some’ of the reception staff were very unsmiling and gave the impression that guests were an imposition. Incidentally, I saw no identifiable management staff during the four days of my stay.

Perhaps the most negative comment I would like to express is about the organisation of breakfast. Breakfast is served in a very long narrow room which is totally unsuitable for purpose, even with a largely empty hotel, the narrowness caused bottle necks with people sat at tables being continually passed by others entering and those leaving the restaurant. To make matters worse the large self service breakfast bar was placed close to the end wall of the restaurant and the toaster and hot food were on the side of the breakfast bar nearest the end wall. Even with so few guests this caused a problem as no one could pass you if you were waiting for toast or hot food, a recipe for frustration which with a little thought could be removed by placing the breakfast bar in a more accessible place.

Having commented on the positive and negative elements of the hotel, I do think it offers good value for money.

My girlfriend and i stayed at hotel riga for two nights at the beginning of December. it was right in the middle of everythin. litrally 5 mins walk from anything i wanted to see. We had a superior room, right up on the 6th floor which was clean and spacious and had two king sized beds pushed together!

Look, its right slap bang in the centre of town. Location is perfect. Its big, old and the comments about decor made by others are true - its an old communist-era hotel, with the old recetion desks on every floor. It's clean, though, and I found the staff fine and helpful and its really good value for money. The breakfast was good, bathroom had all facilities and at £40 or €48 a night for 2 beds I think its good value. Don't listen to the moaners, but obviously don't leave valuables in your room on display in poor countries - that's just commonsense.