Laukbaloži — Hotel in Jūrkalnes pagasts

Laukbaloži didn't quite meet my expectations, but, admittedly, this was in part because this was a last-minute, impulse booking to get away from the city on the night of the summer solstice, so I didn't really research the place.

On the bright side, the cottages are nice-looking, charming and fairly comfortable, the green fields around those are scenic, and the beach is in a few minutes walking distance.

The sleeping arrangements are fine, and the bathroom is fairly nice. The kitchenette is as one would expect in a small holiday cottage: there is a fridge, a tiny induction stovetop, but little else. This is compensated for by grilling equipment being available.

There is plenty of space for parking, and free wi-fi is also available. On the downside, the connection was pretty bad, with high latency and low bandwidth, so I quickly switched on the hotspot on my phone instead.

Now, about a few of the gripes I had with my stay at Laukbaloži.

First thing that surprised me was that there's a group of four cottages right next to each other. This was certainly a fault in my research, I'm pretty sure this was mentioned somewhere, but I was looking for a quiet, solitary place, and was stuck with neighbours literally fifteen meters away all the time. It helped that the other guests were extremely well-behaved and kept to themselves (hopefully, as we were), but this naturally adds some inconvenience if you're looking for solitude.

It doesn't help at all that the cottages are barely a hundred meters away from the nearby highway, which adds a constant background noise from passing cars.

The place is listed as pet-friendly, and it is, but you need to pay an extra 15 EUR for every pet you bring - in cash. I don't mind too much, but I didn't realize this before booking, and it would've been much more convenient to pay everything as a single charge instead of carrying cash.

The same applies to sauna - again, this was a failure in my research, but I was under the impression that there would be a private sauna, but it's actually shared, and an extra fee applies if you decide to book it. I cannot comment on its quality, as we decided to skip it altogether.

Lastly, the ants were quite a nuisance. I understand it's difficult to deal with this sort of infestation, especially in the countryside, and I myself don't mind too much. But my significant other is, um, less than fond of ants, and one of our dogs got a really painful bite on the paw. Also, if you're staying for more than a night, you might want to pack away your food supplies lest those be raided by the six-legged bandits.

Having said all that, the place still gets my recommendation, especially if you don't mind the company, and if you're looking for a place close...

what a wonderful place. the tiny houses have everything you need (but beware: towels are quite small and the sink in the bathroom is extremely tiny - but these are really minor minor things) location is great, everything was super clean, beds were comfy. can...

The house has a nice design both exterior and interior. It had everything for comfort and primary needs. It has a nice terrace with a hammock. Also the outside environment was nice and equipt with possible zones for...