If you have the means, I advice to book a hotel outside of the old town of Riga (unless you came to party). The downsides are as follows:
1. There’s NO LIFT and this room is on the 4th/5th floor.
2. There’s NO AC/FANS and this room is getting a lot of sun, meaning it gets hot (even with closed curtains).
3. The NOISE levels in the streets and the courtyard are unacceptable, particularly at night. Apart from the city noise (loud music until late), guests and others use the inner courtyard throughout the night and prevent others from sleeping.
4. The beds aren’t comfortable, but it’s a hostel after all, so that’s fine.
Lastly, the fire alarm went off 3x one morning starting as early as 6.45am (the one in our private room was half-broken and only made a faint alarm- not reassuring) and apart from the absence of any safety protocols (only a private security person arrived, no one cared if we evacuated the building, no one did a headcount, etc.), we never got an explanation or apology for what happened. We were left confused and up to our own devices.
The hostel is doing well on:
- Cleanliness
- Room as in photo
- Location (depending on the purpose of your stay)