Hotel Vantis — Hotel in Riga

It used to be my favourite hotel in Riga some years ago. It's located in a great place near the riverside not far from the city centre. Also there is a big shopping centre near by. There is lots of space for free parking. Nice terrace for breakfast and pleasant rooms. But...

This time everything went wrong with this hotel. First of all the type of the room: I know that there is very loud bar on the other side of the river, that's why during booking I've chosen the room with a garden view, but girl on the reception told that she don't have any marks about it and the only one avaliable room has river view (the view is great, but I'd like to sleep in quiet).

Secondly is cleanliness. In general the room is very clean, but on the toilet (🚽) there were dried yellow stains of urine, that's disgusting.

The breakfast was quite simple almost without any warm options. It was fine in general, but usually for such price you could get something more (BTW the bakery was great, but the most delicious ones ended very fast).

And the last one I didn't liked is that when we were just about to leave the room for checking out we have received a call saying that we need to check out. It was right 1 min. before deadline. I've never met that strict punctuality in hotels before. We even hasn't overdue the checkout, but already received the reminder to go away. I really don't like such attitude from the personnel.

Most likely next time I'll try to find some better...

We stayed one night at the Hotel Vantis after flying in late afternoon from Frankfurt and starting our driving holiday of Latvia, Lithuania & Estonia. We hired a car from the airport and it was an easy drive to hotel, where we had free parking. Check in was a little tough as the receptionist didn’t speak English but she spoke Russian, which my husband understands so they communicated that way. There is no lift so it was abit of a pain to carry suitcases upstairs but we were only on the 2nd floor so could’ve been worse. Our room was massive with a view of the river. The bed was very big and comfy plus there was tea & coffee in room which is always a must for me! There was also a fridge which is another plus. Breakfast was a good selection if you like meat, cheese, veg etc in the morning. Its not what I like but thats just my preference, my husband was very happy. I just had toast but i’m fine with that and a cup of tea! The hotel was roughly a 30min walk into the city which was fine for this time of year as its light till very late and it was a pleasant walk along the river. Overall I loved the hotel and would not...

I really wanted to give this hotel 5 stars... Cleanliness of the rooms, graciousness of the hosts, good breakfast, lightning speed WiFi, wonderful landscaping and views of the river and city. The only problem I have is its location- it's a little far from the center of the old town. Location in itself wouldn't be a huge issue had it not been for a lack of transportation from the hotel. I personally wanted to attend some shows (you're finding yourself in one of the most cultural countries in Europe!), so that would've made it for some long walks (about 30-40 minutes) or a taxi ride (which is not particularly cheap). The only bus to town stops running around 7 pm, so you're stuck with the options enumerated above after that... With a heavy heart I had to cancel my last couple of nights here, which the host was more than understanding and had no problem doing. In the end, I'd totally recommend this to anyone looking for a clean and quiet little hotel, away from the main crowds, but if you're interested for something more centrally located this is...