Grand Palace Hotel Riga is Member of The Leading (Small) Hotels of the World and as a Leaders Club Member I booked a single room for one night for 180,-- Euro/night, taxes and breakfast included (arrival was August 5, 2008).

Coming directly from Grand Hotel Vienna, where I stayed the night before, Grand Palace Riga was disappointing. Common standards one expects in a luxury hotel were missing:

- There was no doorman or bellboy available at arrival (and none the other times I passed the entrance). I had to carry two suitcases from the entrance to the reception on my own - passing a non-automatic heavy door and going upstairs to the reception.

- A guidance to the room wasn't offered. On request I was guided by a bellboy who took the luggage, too.

- Positive: I got an upgrade to a junior suite (no. 203) which was about doubled sized as the 18 sqm standard rooms. Only suites and junior suites have a bathroom with separate shower stall, a seating corner was part of the room. A central aircondition was missing, in the room was a noisy separate aircon-unit with an air tube one had to put outside the opened window.

- Even in a junior suite there is no dvd-player available. On request you get a dvd-player delivered to the room for 28 Euro/day!

- A concierge is missing, you have to ask the bellboy for assistance.

- Pressing service was offered for around 5 Euro/shirt. Two maids - who couldn't speak english - took a shirt at about 5 pm. At 9 pm I asked for the shirt which was returned about 15 min. later.

- The Restaurant is quite expensive (even for a Leading Hotel): A main course costs about 25 to 40 Euro. Prices like you have in michelin awarded restaurants in Germany. At the bar one only has the choice between soup, salad and club sandwich (for about 9 Euro a fair price). The club sandwich was served with a 400ml plastic bottle Heinz ketchup and a big glass of mustard from the supermarket where other guests put their knifes into before.

- Turn down was done correctly with a complimentary bottle of water. A newspaper was not delivered to the room in the morning.

- The breakfast buffet was quite small, the srambled eggs were not very appetizing and probably too long presented on the buffet (I had breakfast at about 10 am). Very surprising: Other egg dishes like omelette or egg benedict were charged separately (e.g. my egg benedict did cost 4 Euro additional).

Overall Grand Palace might be the best hotel in Riga but with a gap to the standards Leading Hotels communicate in all their publications. Most of the staff is friendly, but obviously not trained and through that always a bit clumsy. The facilities are acceptable but not breathtaking. Maybe one of the new four star hotels gives you more satisfaction and value for money.

This is an excellent hotel, centrally located in an old building in a quiet street in the old town.

There is much to recommend: the restaurant is superb, as is the breakfast; the bar is extremely comfortable; the rooms are tastefully and expensively furnished; the staff could not be more charming, and they are generally efficient.

Whether you are in Riga for business or pleasure, it is a quiet and classy haven from the noisier, lively venues frequented by the groups on stag or hen nights.

A minor drawback, for some (including me), is the lack of airconditioning in the rooms - the norm for Riga. This is of course not a problem except in Summer when the city can get very humid as well as hot. Although they provide fans (if asked), having to have a window open can result in some unwelcome noise if you have a room in the wrong location. That's a relatively small price to pay for all the other benefits, though.

first to say- I have been reading comments slamming this lovely hotel re no air con,, hilarious.. !!! I travel every week staying in 5 stars -and in smaller luxury properties you do not expect to get this.. I have just returned from Riga and it was near to 30 degrees- opening the window worked perfectly for me...

this hotel is in a great location right in the heart of the old town (the best area to stay in) within 2 minutes' walk of the main squares, museums etc. The rooms are lovely, the hotel itself is an old property with plenty of character. The staff are simply outstanding... friendly, amazingly helpful and ultra efficient.. I loved it.. it is part of a group I have recently discovered- Schlossel - and their property in Tallinn is as good... well worth checking out as they seem to have fab older properties with 6 star service.

I was there for work but have been to Riga a number of times- and there is something for everyone. A very pretty place - amazing buildings and art deco in partic is amazing (good book available in local bookshops or maybe this end with great photos and info re the art deco buildings) with a great coastal resort-Jurmala- 30 mins away (very cheap by train and not too expensive by taxi. Taxis by the way are very reasonable versus other countries). Plenty of good bars and restaurants at all price points.

There is also an amazing palace 1 hour's drive away if you have ticked off everything in Riga.

I would however have to warn re connecting flights and luggage not arriving, a pretty dire arrivals hall in the airport (took 3 hours for luggage to be unloaded and mine was not there...so a "fun" 2 days trying to get info and get said bag back!!!), pickpockets- like Barcelona and St Pete and other top tourist destinations- they are there and very good at their job....!!!!

there are some- but not all- dodgey bars and clubs with an abundance of prostitutes in the dodgiest ones (which it is easy to avoid...) - thks sadly to stag w/e groups probably creating a market for this.. if you are stupid enough to get really drunk or cause trouble- yeap- you will probably run into problems and wake up somewhere with no passport and no money... for the normal tourist tho- you are unlikely to have any problems- but do keep a close eye on your possessions at all times.

Regardless- well worth a visit for 3-4 days (or longer if staying at the coast as well).

This is a lovely hotel in the old section of the city. The room was very pretty, clean and comfortable. But, it was too warm and humid not to have air conditioning. We had a good meal in the restaurant and found the staff to be very accomodating. The fitness center was a sad affair but we found our way to a health club at the Radisson. Breakfast was nice but drinks at the bar very pricey. Overall we found Riga to be rather dull and the people seemed dour. The old part of the city is very pretty but, at least when we were there, not very lively.