Hotel Forums - Riga, Latvia     

During our short stay at the hotel. We didn't have our room cleaned and the only reason we got clean towels is that we waited at the reception desk till they got fed up of us. Breakfast was a joke, we asked for one thing and got something else completely different - when we asked about it the waitress laughed in our faces and retreated back into the kitchen. Upon checking out we were accused of using the minibar which I checked personally before we left the room and knew we didn't use anything. We refused to pay as it was an underhanded trick to get more money from us. My gran was staying at the same hitel and recieved excellent service - but speaking with other young people they also recieved terrible service. So if you are under 35 stay away they will treat you like something they found on the bottom of their shoe.

The hotel is across the road from the bus and train stations. But they are on the other side of a wide road, and the hotel is round the corner, down a side street, so you get all the convenience but none of the noise. In fact, I wasn't troubled by noise at all during our stay. I guess if you went in the height of summer, and needed the window open all night, then it may get a little noisy, but with the windows shut, it's pretty quiet, despite being very central. It's right on the edge of the old town, and there are 2 shopping centres within 2 mins walk, and also an absolutely enormous market on the other side of the bus station. If, like my wife, you love browsing market stalls, then this is the place for you. 5 former zeppelin hangars full of stalls (I kid you not), plus about the same number of stalls again outside. Apparently, this is where the 'real people' shop, ie the ones who can't afford the pricey (ie western priced) malls nearby. Back to the hotel. The room was a decent size, with a good sized bed. My wife felt it was too hard, although I was happy with it. The rooms have nice modern furniture, including a fridge/mini-bar and a tv, which has mostly Latvian/Russian/German language stations, but you can pay to have satellite channels if you can't bear to be without English language tv. I'd recommend you to try the Rigas Balzams, either from the mini bar or (much cheaper) by buying a bottle from the market. It's the local drink, and many people swear by its healing powers. Or are too drunk from it to care about their ailments. Personally, I thought it tasted like bad cough medicine, but o well, you have to try it once! On the subject of drinks, if you like to have a beer in your room after a hard day's wandering aimlessly around the old town, I'd suggest you get it from the supermarket rather than the mini bar. You'll pay about 1/4 the price for the exact same brands. But then you could probably say the same about any hotel's mini bar. The breakfast was good, and served fairly quickly. All in all, I was happy with the Forums and would recommend it to anyone staying in Riga.