| Hotel Rating: |   | | Satisfaction: |   | | Reviews: 5 | Photos: 9 | | 33 Dzirnavu St |
 | Riga Albert Hotel Reviews | 1 - 5 of 5 |  |
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 | Albert Hotel: Moderately priced hotel in the Art Nouveau zone
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I stayed four nights at Albert Hotel in January 2008. This is a quite large hotel (246 rooms), situated on Dzirnavu iela - a 15-minute walk or so from the Old Town of Riga, in the Art Nouveau district.
When booking our room, we asked for a non-smoking double room on one of the highest floors - which we didn't get. We had to choose between a non-smoking twin room, or a smoking double - we went for the non-smoking one, which smelled of smoke. (!) No view from our room. The reception staff did not speak good English, and communication was somewhat difficult at times!
Our standard twin room (#611) was quite small, but clean(ish) and comfortable enough (if you don't mind the rather ugly colour scheme!). Two quite comfy beds (with huge, thick, veeery firm pillows), a small work desk, two chairs. Aircon, minibar, TV with 12 channels (but very few in English - only Eurosport and BBC world). Free WiFi is available, and there's also a computer in the reception area where you can check your emails for free if you don't bring your laptop.
The bathroom (shower only, no bathtub) was quite small, but nice and warm! There's no shower curtain, and the floor got soaked every time someone took a shower.
A buffet breakfast is included - some hot foods (bacon, beans, eggs, oatmeal porridge...), plus a somewhat limited selection of bread, cheese, cold cuts, fruit, yoghurt... Breakfast is served until 11 - which is nice if you like to sleep in a bit when you're on holiday. ;o)
The hotel does not offer room service, but the hotel restaurant (Bestsellers) is very nice, and will let you take food up to your room. There are several restaurants and cafes nearby - please see my restaurant tips for some more info - both Mauricius, Paparazzi, the Flying Frog, a Double Coffee and (the rather horrible) Caramel Rouge are located near Albert.
Albert is quite moderately priced, we paid ca 80 euro per night for a double / twin room. I probably won't stay here again - I'd say Hotel Centra, for example, is a much better option.
Upon check-out, the surly receptionist charged us 350 Lats instead of 350 Euro (that's ca 150 Euro more than what we were supposed to pay!) - I told her (politely!) that this had to be a mistake, and offered to show her my booking confirmation - but she just kept repeating that "No, this is correct". This got somewhat tiresome after a while, and I told her I'd like to talk to her supervisor - which made the receptionist disappear for quite a while. When she eventually came back, she started punching numbers on a calculator without a word to us - I asked if she'd realised that they'd made a mistake, and got a surly nod in return. No apology! Everyone can make a mistake, but I do not accept rude behaviour. I was *not* impressed!!!
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| Albert Hotel: Excellent 'comfort' class
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I was originally going to go for something a bit cheaper but decided to treat myself so rather than end up taking a tram from the other side of town to see the sights, went for this relatively new hotel in the Art Deco district of Riga not far from the Old Town.
By British standards it's more of a business hotel, but it's very well priced, making it attractive if you want a few days of comfort as a tourist.
The hotel stands as one of Riga's tallest at about 11 floors and the Sky Lounge bar at the top will give you excellent views of the city, with Old Town to the south west in the distance. I'd read staff could be a bit frosty, but I found them perfectly nice and very helpful. If you arrive early or are leaving late then there is no problem with leaving your baggage in their storage area at no extra cost.
Rooms are standard, tv, very comfy double bed with good pillows (I have a thing about poor hotel pillows..). Both the bathroom and bedroom are on the smaller side, but I was out seeing the sights and so should you, so much so that it barely bothered me. One downside was no kettle, not because I'm from the UK and must drink tea the whole time, but it really helps when you've a cold/flu for those Lemon drinks...
The whole building has an Einstein theme, hence the name. Atoms grace the window to the shower, the carpets, even the room numbers plus his quotes grace the lifts.
The Sky Lounge can get very busy towards weekends, but even for a hotel bar in its class, cocktails at about 3.50 lats seem very reasonable - for a Londoner at least. Air con could get a bit cold though.
Breakfast was adequate, something for everyone and included in the price, though the bacon and sausage was more on the Germanic than British side for my tastes. I stuck mainly to the cold breakfast buffet which is more Baltic.
Some very good deals are about with this place so I'd recommend it as somewhere I would stay again. It's a good 15 to 20 minutes from the old town by foot, depending on your pace but the whole of my time here I didn't catch a bus or taxi to get around. I now have legs muscles of steel. Theme: HotelPrice: US$120-180 » Currency ConverterComparison: more expensive than averagePhone: 371-733-1717Directions: In the Art Deco district to the north east of Old Town. Number 22a bus from the airport leaves you at the Orthodox Cathedral about 10 minutes away.Website: http://www.alberthotel.lv/
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