Islande Hotel - Riga, Latvia 

May long weekend in Riga and the entire city seemed to be "full." When I got to my original hotel, "Hotel Hanza" which i had booked based on the great reviews on this stie, they told me there was some technical problem with my room, and they would be sending me to a "better hotel" and I would get free bowling and free sauna. Hotel Hanza looked great by the way... and they have free wifi. I asked if this Islande had internet, and was assured that they do. Anyhow, so far none of this is Islande's fault and I was very open to getting sent to what was listed in all the guide books as a four star... boy do they live on another planet! This hotel is literally in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! It is over this boring bridge from the old town and in the middle of a field. There is honestly nothing there, no restaurants, nothing - you have to get up and walk across the bridge every morning and night (if you are too cheap to take a taxi, which I was). This hotel was in no way appropriate for a tourist wanting to walk around the city checking out the sights. Add to this that there was some serious issue with the way the door to the room closed - it's not on automatic hinges and you have to pull very hard to get it to click shut - I would be worried that children wouldn't manage to properly close the door. Also they wanted me to buy some hourly vouchers to use internet in the room, which I found more offensive than places that charge $15/day. As everyone mentioned, the rooms are "big" - but having a 20 foot bowling alley as a hallway between the main hallway and your bedroom isn't actually useful for anything. The room was boxy and boring with no interesting decor, the shower was very average except falling apart and the shower head actually fell on me! The floor covering in the entire room was some kind of linoleum that was extremely slippery when wet and I nearly slipped and fell several times. What took me most over the top however had to be the useless front desk staff, who made me sit and wait half an hour until "official check in time" but then were so inefficient that it took half an hour to register me anyways so all in all I spent about an hour in the lobby to check in! On the front desk there is a plaque that says "airport shuttle" and so I asked one of the girls to tell me about the service and she looked at me like I was a martian. When I pointed to the plaque she then just said "oh, ok, when do you need it?" instead of telling me anything like the price... which she eventually confirmed to me is THE EXACT SAME PRICE AS TAKING A TAXI! Breakfast was good, and the duvet was amazing, but overall I can only see this hotel as being a good choice for a bus of hockey players or others who are driving through maybe. And they must be people who prefer not to have service.

Hotel is newly refurbished. Spacious. Two elevators. Bowling. Two restaurants. The one on the first floor serves mega size portions. TV has at least 1 German and not less than 5 English channels. Internet available (cable) in the room for 4 pounds (8 dollars) a day. Wireless on the first and ninth floors. Helpfull staff. Breakfast selection - dissappointing ;) because it is soooo big you just can't have a bite of every item - there are so many things - actually one of the best breakfast selections in my entire travelling experience. Clean place with a nice view of the old city, bridges and the river. Definately a good choice for a budget traveller with a wish for a bit of an upscale. Old town within 30 - 40 min walking distance over the bridge, but there is also a shuttle bus from the hotel to the old town. Parking right next to the hotel. Something like Reval Hotel in the centre of the town, but to my opinion better value for the money.