Albert Hotel - Riga, Latvia     

We stayed here early December 2007, we booked this hotel because of the reviews on this website. Although this hotel is already very good value we got a lot better deal by trawling the Internet than we would have got from the links on here or from the hotel direct (Always shop around!) The hotel lived up to its reputation in every way. It is in a good location about 10 mins walk from the old town. Hotel and rooms are spotless. we asked for non-smoking room and this is what we got (no smell of smoke). We didn't dine at the hotel apart from breakfast so can't comment on the food. Breakfast was standard hotel fare but a good selection and was nice. Reception staff were very helpful and polite but the bar staff on the top floor were less welcoming and even a little rude. I thought the drinks sky bar were a little expensive compared with the bars in town, and the food was VERY expensive. This didn't bother us too much as we only went in there once. The Skyline Bar in the Reval Hotel is twice as high with fantastic views over the city centre. It also has great cocktails that are cheaper than at the Albert, and a glass fronted lift to whizz you up and down! The bar across the road try to charge you 5 lats to get in (reason why no one was in there) and claim it is for the entertainment (non playing). Lots of nice bars in town with lots of different beers from different breweries if you are into this kind of thing (I am!) Dined the 1st night at the Uzbekistan restaurant a couple of streets away. Restaurant Kokanda 12 Bruninieku iela Very good value and fantastic Uzbeki food! It's not a glamorous restaurant, but is basic and cosy. 2nd night we took a tram out to the LIDO complex. Out of this world. Really good value "all you can eat buffet". Great entertainment and good beer brewed on the premises. You could easily spend the whole night here so be prepared! Very enjoyable weekend in Riga and only saw one stag party. These people were very well behaved but told us that if you are English and are in a group of more than 3 you will not be welcome in Riga. They had problems with not getting served in some of the pubs and the locals were quite hostile towards them. We as an English couple had no problems at all and all the local people that we had contact with were very friendly.