JLG Hostel — Hotel in Jelgava

We three British middle-aged guys are on our last leg of a tour of LT and LV. We had heard about this interesting university town and booked the Hostel room ahead based on B.c reviews and prices. Jelgava is not a touristy town. We arrived from Rundãle at 12:43 after the bumpy 1.5hr bus journey.||||We could only check in at 15:00 (and had told the Hostel we would be there then) so found a left luggage place in the bus station (70cents for three items, which closed at 16:30) and found Silva terrace nearby in the main pedestrian street to have a beer in. We worked out there was no point going the 2.2km there and 2.2km back as we would miss any ticketed attractions so we explored the town, collected our bags at 16:15 and eventually had a late lunch in Silva. A pop into the Rimi supermarket and before we knew it it was 18:00! We then embarked on the long walk out 2.2km from bus station, taking the quieter backstreets using Maps.me route finder.||||We arrived at 18:20 and the dour receptionist woman did not look happy. My friends said that is usual customer service style in the Baltics although it was possibly because we did not arrive at 15:00 as we said we would.||||She showed us through the communal and kitchen areas and up the stairs to Room 5. Interesting colour coordinations! ||||The landing was quite dusty with clumps of dust scurrying round the floor in the breeze. ||||The room was large and bright with a twin/double bed and single bed all with clean sheets, pillows and duvet but the bed sheet was far too small, a weird common issue in the Baltics/Eastern Europe.||||There was a kettle in room, unused as no cups, but there were plenty of sockets for devices. The small bin did not have a plastic bag inner and that showed, it was quite grubby.||||There were no seats or chairs (although space for a table and chair or two) so one had to sit on the edge of the wooden beds. A bit uncomfortable.||||This room five had the large balcony overlooking the road. Great if the weather is good but a bit windy and cold when we arrived. Two loungers, a log stool and table were useful to relax on after the long walk. It was a bit noisy as on the main road but inside the double glazing was fairly effective.||||The kitchen had a fridge freezer, both sections quite full, as were the cupboards so the hostel was quite busy), a double portable electric hob, kettle and some glasses, crockery and cutlery. There was a very old dried out avocado in the corner on the surface and unwashed utensils by it. The next morning the avocado had gone thankfully. The bin under the sink was very full of mixed rubbish (no recycling evident) and an unrinsed milk container with very stale milk in it. It looks like no one had emptied it for ages. In the morning was a disposable nappy in the same unemptied bin; I suppose there was nowhere else for it. I separated out the basic bulky recyclables (plastic bottles) and put them to the side.||||In the corner of the kitchen was a shower-room for ground floor guests. In the kitchen itself was a brightly coloured table and chairs in kitchen for kids. ||||The common room looks very different from the TA image, obviously aged and rearranged, more just a space now with one sofa (very social!) but there is a covered and seemingly unused pool table and TV. The massive wardrobe is round the corner.||||The toilet paper in the upstairs loo had run out but I let the receptionist know and she gave me a new roll no problem.||||We only noticed two other male guests, both quiet and no one playing loud music as did a previous reviewer! I never found a jacuzzi (mentioned previously); maybe I did not hard enough.||||We walked back into the centre to find and eat dinner (at Istaba restaurant - not in TA - underlooking the new bridge) but took a €4 taxi (after the quiet Monday night meal)at 23:45. The driver overshot as had never heard of the place! The 8/10 B.c rating for locality was a bit optimistic.||||On returning from the dinner we tried out the big old CRT TV once the satellite box SCART was connected up and plugged into the mains! Only three channels were viewable as all the rest were pay channels. The only English channel was the 'interesting' Japanese NHK World; Enjoy!||||We had a peaceful night on the slightly lumpy beds. Getting up at 07:30 (09:00 bus to Takuma) and the morning the sun was out. I made coffee using the kitchen kettle and stealing a drop of milk from a large bottle in the fridge (sorry it was me!). ||||There was a small washing machine in first floor shower/loo & sink room. The shower was a multi squirt job which needed careful controlling according to my friends. I used the shower by the kitchen which had old hairs in the plughole that I swept out to the side with my toes. Not a pretty sight and I hope they are cleaned away. Plenty of hot water at a good pressure. There was no direct light above the sink mirror for shaving (steamed up anyway) and pressure was good enough for jetting my razor.||||Up at 07:30 we left at 08:27, saying goodbye to our hostess, to walk the 25 minute, 2.2km to the bus station to catch the 09:00 local bus. We were a bit miffed that the bus stopped right outside the Hostel at 09:05! We arrived at Tukums at 10.15 to catch the 10:45 to the seaside town of...

We had a super enjoyable stay at Jelgava Hostel - perfect location, friendly and helpful staff, and great value too! We stayed in a family room which had everything we needed.||You can feel cosy, almost like home. There is a jacuzzi you can relax in and there is a Billiard table you can play after with friends or staff.||The parking next to the house also made it really easy to get to the hostel and its for free.||Can't recommend this place enough, will definitely be back next time...

The receptionist raged for 5 minutes in Latvian that we'd have to pay in cash before calling somewhere and confirming that we have already paid, which we did. Booked a private room, got into dormitory room with other guests. No way to lock the rooms....