The Metropole is very well located at the edge of the historic center city of Riga, well within walking distance to everything. The rooms are immaculately clean, the breakfast is a decent buffet, and the staff is friendly and helpful.
But the review is not all good. Because Riga was the last stop of our weeklong Baltic tour, we made a point of booking a four-star hotel, wanting to end with a little luxury. The Metropole failed to measure up to our expectations. In contrast to the information on the website, our room was not spacious except for the high ceiling and the promised elegance of the furnishings was exaggerated. The odd piece of spare furniture lines the corridors, and parts of the building are kept dark, presumably as they are not finished. And it was bad news on the 90F / 32C days of our visit that there was no air-conditioning, though the website that we booked through showed this as an amenity. While the manager seemed shocked by this error, the website has not yet been corrected after several weeks.
Our biggest complaint was that the shower facility was not a cabin, but a corner of the small bathroom – meaning that the entire floor got wet with each shower. This simply isn’t up to four-star standards. The manager very kindly and patiently explained to us the restrictions for renovations due to the historical nature of the building, and moved us a different slightly larger room (still with the bad shower). I believe that there is a real desire to please the guest and to achieve a high quality environment. Still, we felt that the hotel would be better qualified as three stars with the hopeful potential to gain the fourth sometime in the distant future.
All things considered - location, breakfast, etc. - the hotel is a decent value. However, the potential guest should be warned not to expect the ambience and amenities that four stars generally carry.
- Metropole Hotel Riga
