I was for 4 nights at the Reval Hotel Lietuva in Vilnius for business reasons. Usually the organizers of our annual meeting choose amazing places in the capital towns but this time they were left with this hotel as the only choice because of our number of participants and the necessity for a big meeting room.
We had used another hotel of the same group in Tallinn but if my memory is good the quality of the sister hotel in Estonia was much higher.

When I arrived there my colleagues who were already working at the logistic of the meeting seemed really frustrated by the attitude of staff in general: reception and especially the business centre. If I must be totally honest I didn’t find them grumpy or not kind: they were overall kind and if they were not really smilers it is also because the Lithuanians are not Spanish or Brazilians: they are more reserved and do not have a particular interest in showing fake smiles, this is true. Moreover, the Lithuanian hotel and restaurant sector is going through a very difficult phase and it seems that more than 10,000 jobs were lost in the past few years. During our stay CLOSING DOORS, a “mini strike” in preparation of the general strike at the beginning of July was organised, so I didn’t expect to have someone roll the red carpet for me.
The office and meeting rooms were OK but the service very casual: one day we had at 9 am the sandwiches for lunch and had a mild food poisoning (my fault: I should have not eaten them!)

One thing is sure: this hotel has NO CHARM at all. The location is not the best in town: the area is full of work in progress as they say it is going to become like LA DEFENSE, Parisian business area. There is no real life there and the only entertainment was striptease house and casino, which is not exactly my idea of fun. One thing is to be remembered: the SKYBAR, a bar at the very top of the hotel (22nd floor) where you can enjoy amazing views of Vilnius even though you are not a guest. Don’t take the mojito: it’s just a glass of ice with a few drops of mojito: take a beer instead!

The rooms are SO SAD: the main colour is a sort of greyish tone and unless you are on the city side (which was NOT my case) where nice views can be enjoyed, they absolutely have nothing to be remembered. One thing about the bedrooms, they are very clean and the mattresses are good and this is in the end the most important thing in one room.

The breakfast buffet is…interesting. There is a good choice of marinated fish (excellent) and potatoes croquettes that are worth but the rest is pretty average. You have dispensers for water, coffee, juices, if you want an espresso you pay extra, if you want freshly squeezed oranges it’s better to buy the tool…
Very often the barman or barmaid is not at the ground floor bar…
It’s true, the service is very slow!
I was told that dinner was OK but did not try it myself.

There is no pool, which could give a plus to the hotel.

We went downtown and saw some amazing hotel locations like the SAS RADISSON. That’s probably where I would go if I ever go back to Vilnius for leisure or maybe in some boutique hotel.
I did not ask how many stars the REVAL has but after all they cannot be that many…