Best Eastern Victoria Vilnius

Me and a friend arrived in Vilnius in October 2005 with nowhere to stay. I did, though, have an "In Your Pocket" guide to the city which I had been scrutinising on the flight from Helsinki. In there I found an advert for the Hotel Victoria which described it as being "located in nice surroundings only 10 minutes walk from the parliament" and offering rooms from 17 Euros.

Arriving late at night, we got a taxi straight from the airport. We didn't know what the demand for hotel rooms would be like in Vilnius at this time of year and hoped that the hotel would not be fully booked. We need not have worried - tourists were thin on the ground and the hotel was operating at somewhere less than 25% capacity.

We booked in to a twin room at a cost of 139 Lits (approx 28 GBP / 42 Euros) per night, which included breakfast.

The room was en-suite, well furnished and most notably of all, very well heated. In fact, such was the heat in the room that we set off in to freezing Vilnius in short-sleeved T-shirts (but soon thought better of it!).

The room had satellite TV (although the signal was a little erratic), a fridge, a couple of chairs and a writing desk. All rooms were recently renovated when the hotel came under Swedish ownership.

Breakfast was buffet style, with a reasonable selection of cereals, yoghurts, cheese, bread, eggs and cold meats, as well as fruit juice and coffee and tea. Nothing special, but perfectly adequate.

There is a bar (the "Tropic Bar") on the third floor of the hotel but this was closed when we ventured up to have a look (it was after midnight, so may have been open earlier in the evening). The hotel also has a conference hall and meeting rooms which can be booked on request.

The staff were friendly and helpful and all spoke very good English. There was a selection of guidebooks and brochures in reception and a notice board showing the excursions that can be booked from there.

Unique Quality: The hotel is by no means the most centrally located, but the walk in to the Old Town (along the banks of the river) is a pleasant 10-15 minute stroll.

A good value hotel, a short walk from the sights.

Directions: About 10 minutes walk from the Old Town (along the banks of the river).