We got this hotel for a fantastic price. When we travel to Europe I always check the Novotel website first because I love their hotels and they always have good rates on their website if you are willing to pre-pay in advance.

The Novotel in Vilnius is clean, modern, and in a great location. The bathroom's location in the room is strange as you walk right into the bed as you exit the bathroom, but it's no big deal.

There was a little couch in the room which was great to rest on after a day of sightseeing. The Maxima grocery store on the corner next door was a GREAT find.. stocking up on snacks, water, etc. was perfect.

This city is an absolute gem and the Novotel is the perfect place to stay to explore it.

We were even able to catch some American Football (NFL) in our room on Sunday evening... fantastic!

We stayed there for 2 nights in early July 07. We got a good deal from its website, a twin room only costing EUR79 per night. The hotel is modern & bright, conveniently located on the edge of the old town; less than 10 min walk to the town center. The staffs were helpful and friendly. Our room was comfortable and clean; very quiet though facing Gedimino Ave. The bathroom has a separate bath and a hot shower. The breakfast was decent. We shall recommend this hotel to all the travelers to Vilnius.

During our recent trip to Vilnius, we stayed in both the Novotel and the SAS Astorija. Based on the reviews at TripAdvisor, I expected the Novotel to be the better experience. It turns out it was the other way around--while the Novotel was OK, it was much less nice than the Astorija.

CLEANLINESS: The Novotel was an odd mix when it came to cleanliness. Everything above carpet level was spotlessly clean. The carpets, though, were pretty grungy. I would guess that they are cleaned regularly, but have reached an age where no amount of cleaning can make them look nice. The carpet in my room had one stain that was so gross looking that I made a point of stepping around it whenever I walked across the room. Oddly, everything else--the walls, the furniture, the bathroom--was spotless. (This was true in the common areas as well--grungy carpet, spotless everything else.)

DECOR: Our room felt a bit like staying in an Ikea showroom. Everything was comfortable but it looked a little soulless.

LAYOUT: Although the room was a good size, it was laid out in an odd way that made it feel as though it had less useful space. To get to the bathroom, for example, you had to thread a somewhat narrow passage between the bed and the wall. A female traveler in our party told me that the mirrors "had obviously been placed by a man"--apparently, their placement made it hard to do your hair and makeup in front of them.

STAFF: I didn't have much interaction with the staff, but when I did, they were friendly and helpful.

RESTAURANT: Breakfast was OK but nothing special. (The Astorija breakfast was much better.) Our tour group had a dinner catered by the restaurant that was nearly inedible; several members of our party ended up going out afterwards to get a second, more palatable dinner at a local restaurant.

LOCATION: A pretty good location. Not quite as convenient to the Old Town as the Astorija, but a short walk from the Cathedral.

OVERALL: The Novotel is certainly a reasonable option, but you can probably do better.

Stayed here mid June on a five day trip to Vilnius.

Arrival/Check-In - Average

Booked online after trading a few e-mails directly with the hotel with questions that were generally answered promptly. Also at the time booked a transfer from the airport. The car for the transfer arrived late to the airport, just as I was on the verge of calling the hotel. It turned out to be nothing more than a cab booked by the hotel. In hindsight, you can get the same transportation for cheaper and would recommend for others to do so. Arriving at the hotel I found I was preceeded by a tour group of mainly seniors from the US. Despite the busy, unorganized appearance; they were handled by someone dedicated for them and did not hold up my check-in at all.

Room - Good

Had booked one of their "apartment" rooms, which is basically a standard suite. The room was clean while feeling modern although the carpets could use a change. There was only a double bed which surprised me considering the size of the room. They could have easily fit a queen or king. The bathroom was very nice with a separate bath & shower. There was a speaker from the TV in the bathroom which can be nice, but the volume was not adjustable. The TV in the bedroom shared a common wall back to back with the TV in the sitting area and were identical so the remote occasionally controlled both at the same time depending at what angle you held the remote. Just a small frustration.

Location - Average

Many of the previous posts claim this is the best located hotel in Vilnius. Although it is fairly well located, depending on your preferences, there are better. It is on the edge of the old town, not in the heart. If that was your focus, the Radisson or one of the many small boutique type hotels would be better options. Novotel is the closest hotel to the old town among the hotels that are located on Gedimino (or whatever it's called), street which is the main shopping street. If your focus was shopping, (although I'd have no idea why since shopping is below average at best), then this would be the place.

Food - Average

Other than breakfast and a few snacks at the bar; I never ate in the hotel as nothing on the menu really caught my eye. The breakfast was decent althought slightly limited in choice when compared with international hotels of this size elsewhere. Also, there was no variance from day to day which could become boring for a longer stay. The snacks I had in the bar were alright but nothing to write home about, definitely not as fancy as described in the menu.

Staff/Service - Average

The staff in the restaurant for breakfast were always polite, but run off there feet and therefore unable to provide anything but the most basic attention. Having only two people in there to clean tables/deal with customers/make sure the buffet remained stocked was a joke. They could have easily doubled that and still not had enough. Front desk staff was a bit hit and miss. Although very friendly, very efficient with a handful of languages spoken, they were of very little value when asked specifics about the city or the hotel. The staff in the lobby bar were a very good welcome to guests with a smile and a hello even if you were just waiting for an elevator, very impressive. However; like the breakfast, there were times during the day when it was clear an additional person was necessary.

Business Services - average

The hotel is served with wireless internet in each room which is free. This connection is generally stable and reliable. Unfortunately; if you are like me and purposely bring an older laptop so you have an exuse not to do work on holidays, there is no wired connection in the rooms. There is a "business room" which is essentially an extension of someone's office that has a chair and a computer. Very cheap feeling and it seemed someone was always in it, so you had to wait around if you wanted to use it.

All in all, this is a decent hotel that I wouldn't purposely avoid if I were to go back, but I'd probably try choosing something more in the heart of old town since that's the reason I'd be going.