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Europa Royale in Riga is not just an average 4* hotel. It is an historic and cultural monument of national importance and pride to every Riga citizen. The building dates back to 1876 and once was owned by uncrowned royal couple of Latvia, Emilija and Antons Benjamins. We offer you a unique possibility to touch and find magnificent treasures like largest Venetian chandelier in the entire Baltic region, restored fireplaces, original ceiling decor, wooden staircase, stained glass.
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
Had booked this hotel last year via Travel Republic and was not let down by reviews that we had saw. It was centrally located and easy walking distance to the tourist attractions, such as Monument Square, Old Riga Town, etc as well as shops restaurants and parks. We stayed for 4 nights very large and spacious room and lovely warm under heated flooring in bathroom.( nice feel for sore feet). Breakfast had a wide range to choose from, including bacon, egg and sausage as well as fruits and cereal. Staff were friendly with both check in and check out speedily dealt with. Our room overlooked the court yard, but other rooms overlook the main street and park opposite. We will be staying here again on our next visit to Riga.
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Date of stay: February 2020
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I stayed here for 2 nights during a business visit. the hotel seems to have been converted from an old mansion/palace. hence rooms are very spacious. best part is the bathroom floor is heated. the furniture seems a bit dated though. the hotel has a resto/bar and the food is okay, so is the breakfast. overall value for money as the room rate is very reasonable.
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Date of stay: November 2019
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Trip type: Traveled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
As a well travelled person, but a first-time visitor to Eastern Europe I particularly wanted a hotel unique and typical of the city. I did not want another world-wide chain hotel with a modern concrete building filled with identical shoe-box rooms. In fact there's only one well known chain in Riga, the Radisson SAS. However, there's plenty of wannabe chain hotels - I discarded them and was left with a short list of classical hotels. After carefully reading through all the reviews here I choose The Europa Royale, ignoring the fact that it's score wasn't as high as some I read the content of each review to judge what it was people liked about it.
It turned out to be exactly what I was looking for, it blew me away! Built in 1876 in a Florentine Renaissance style (according to the guide book) this building is just incredible. It's got the most beautiful proportioned rooms (huge) with extra high ceilings and amazing decoration, the detail is extraordinary. I would guess that the hotel was completely refurbished no more than a year ago, as everything looks new, whilst being in a very old shell. The bathrooms had electric underfloor heating so the tiles were lovely and warm. Rooms had an electronic safe, free wifi or wired internet and wall mounted widescreen televisions with a good choice of channels. (Beware of the explicit adult channels at night-time!).
I booked a deluxe room direct with the hotel and the nightly rate of 77 LVL was extremely good value and included breakfast. I imagine that a similar property in a city like Paris would cost at least 5 times as much. (And the staff would be vile to you for no extra charge!). The breakfast was very nice indeed, a comprehensive buffet selection - and served until 11am at the weekends, which is great for a relaxing weekend.
If I had to find fault it would be that the bar was small and the staff incredibly slow. However, they were always friendly and always gave the impression of trying their hardest. Drinks were carefully made, the only problem was how long it took. I was very disapointed on our night of arrival around 11pm to be told that there was no possibilty of food at the hotel (room service or otherwise) and indeed that the only place in Riga still serving food at this hour would be the nearby McDonald's! Be warned... Rigans eat early and kitchens close around 10pm.
Bear this in mind though and you'll be fine, you will also save a lot of money as everything is cheap in Riga, food and drink are half the price of the UK. A nice place to relax and recharge when out and about is the Starbucks inspired "Double Coffee" outlets which are peppered across Riga. Unlike their Seattle rivals prices are reasonable and they serve alcohol and freshly prepared food in addition to all the usual types of hot drink you would expect.
Riga is a very compact city so you can get around easily on foot. The Europa Royale is in a good location, just a 5 minute walk from the edge of the old town, and right beside the parks. 5 minutes walk to the North is the Reval Hotel, probably Riga's tallest building. It's another popular hotel but for me the attraction wasn't the glitzy lobby or the concrete and glass construction (it's just an identikit hotel like thousands the world over) but the jewel here is the Skyline bar. On the 26th floor of the Reval this is a real destination and well worth a visit (get there before sunset to get a window seat, then sit back and enjoy the view!). It's the nicest rooftop bar I've been in of any hotel so far. (Beating, in my humble opinion even "Felix" at The Peninsula in Hong Kong!).
I would guess that 90% of the sites can be visited on foot with no more than a 20 minute walk, but if you do want to go further afield the convenient trams and trolley buses are only 0.30 LVL per trip. We enjoyed these trips not knowing where we going and it was all just part of the fun having a nonsense conversation with the ticket collector! Taxis are another option, best for the trip to/from the airport. At only 7 LVL for the 15 minute journey it's a lot cheaper than the UK would be.
Riga is 800 years old, the old town is extremely picturesque and this is usually what is seen on the postcards, but I think my best memories are of wandering around the Art Nouveau district with buildings which make wedding cake decoration seem restrained! Some of them have been beautifully restored, and some of them will be in the coming years no doubt. Apparetly the inside of many buildings have been ruined as during the Soviet era 10 room apartments were divided into tiny living units. Now they are a mix of private and publicly owned.
Riga is a city of contrasts. It's residents are clearly still quite poor compared to their fellow EU residents from "old Europe" and you'll see all walks of life at the daily central market just South of the Old Town. I could just imagine how life in the Soviet era, (only 16 years ago) would have been quite miserable.
It's a fascinating city with plenty of interesting attractions and things to seek out, a long weekend here should reward the intrepid traveller with some good memories. Don't be put off by talk of Riga becoming inundated with stag parties... Riga is the quietest capital city I have ever seen!! Perhaps this has more to do with visiting in the middle of winter, when it's as cold as it is in Riga why would anyone spend more time then necessary outside.
I look forward to returning to see Riga, next time in the Summer, the parks will be stunning with the trees in full bloom, and I would have no hesitation in choosing the Europa Royale again. It has made a lasting impression on me and I doubt I'm ever going to find somewhere as elegant and such great value for money ever again.
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Date of stay: February 2007
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Have just returned from a great 5 night stay at the Europa Royale in Riga which exceeded my expectations despite a couple of problems with the hotel.
When we first checked into our room we were pleased with the decor, cleanliness & size (especially the beautiful bathroom) but it was a hot day and the air con wasn't working properly. As air con was my main reason for booking this hotel this was a major problem and meant we had a pretty uncomfortable first night, especially as when we opened the windows the mosquitos came in and feasted on us. We were offered a different room but that was just as warm and not so nice so we stayed put. Thankfully by the following evening this had been fixed and the rest of our stay was blissfully cool.
The hotel itself is quite stylish with some great features such as beautiful stained-glass windows in the bar area and chandeliers in the dining room. Breakfast was served from 7am to 10am which meant there was no rushing in the mornings. The selection of food for the buffet breakfast was very good and included hot pancakes, eggs & sausages as well as lots of fresh fruit and the usual meats, cheeses, pastries etc. Although the same things were served each day the choice was so good that it didn't bother us.
I would definitely stay at this hotel again but would choose a different room as ours (room 209) was situated above the bar/dining area which meant that we could hear music from below both in the mornings when breakfast started and also in the evenings. Although it wasn't very loud it was noticable and did detract a little from our stay. Also the glass lifts are opposite this room and people in the lift can see straight in so a lot of the time we kept the curtains shut.
The hotel is well situated for both the old town (about 5-10 minutes walk) and the new town.
Riga is a great place to visit - don't forget to have cocktails in the Skyline Bar in Hotel Reval (about 5 minutes walk from Europa Royale).
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Date of stay: June 2006
Value
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I booked this hotel for a mid-week trip after reading that weekends can lead to Riga becoming busy with stag parties, etc...
We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and made our way to the hotel via a taxi (10 LVL). On arrival at the hotel I was very impressed - the staff were very helpful on offering maps, tours, carrying bags, etc... And perfect English speakers I should add.
The hotel itself was beautiful - not just corridor after corridor but a very nice layout to the hotel. The rooms were very good - double bed with a nice view and under floor heating in the bathroom!! :)
We headed off to tour Riga and being Irish, we decided to pop into the first Irish bar we saw just to see what's good to do/see in Riga and where to avoid (heard some stories about people being marched to bank machines, etc...). So we went into DeLacy's Irish bar and left it several hours later walking in the wrong direction (1.2 LVL a pint) !! we quickly got into a taxi and made our way home (about 4 LVL).
We decided the casino on the ground floor of the hotel was due a visit. So off we went and lost some money in the nice casino - didn't mind cause got a few drinks for free while we were there. (don't forget to get a 50% free voucher for your first purchase of chips).
Breakfast in the morning was beautiful - served from 8am til 10am.
During our stay we did a bus tour, visited the Skyline Bar (26th Floor of a hotel), visited several more bars and many restaurants and had a really good time. And at a really low cost might I add also - maybe not as cheap as some people make out but at 1.20 LVL a pint and about 0.80LVL for 20 cigarettes its hard to go wrong - there's definitely not much to complain about.
If you are aiming to avoid the stag parties then maybe its best to depart on Thursday. On Thursday night and during the day on Friday there was a lot more evidence of this with one group of fellas on a stag night smoking in one of the bars - not illegal in Latvia I don't think but all the same, its not allowed in the bars.
The Europa Royale is also very well situated. You will be about 5 minutes walk to the Skyline Bar, about 5 minutes to the shops behind the hotel and about 5 minutes to the restaurants, bars (Irish, English and strip) and shops in the Old town and there is a casion on almost every corner!!
I would definitely recommend Riga for a visit and this hotel would be very hard to beat.
Some tips for your visit:
1) Wrap up - it was -6 most of the time we were there 2) Don't drink milk in Lido - its sour!! 3) Visit Red Fred restaurant - the food is great 4) If you like steak done well done then Riga is not for you, everything is rare - medium at best
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Date of stay: February 2007
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
When we arrived at the main entrance of the hotel, a sign on the door redirected us to enter the building through a secondary entrance located in a street under construction, thus of inconvenient access. The room (Nr 409) was located on the 4th floor. It was a very dark room as it had only 3 very small windows (20x20cm). The entire floor and the room had an unpleasant smell of mold. Paint was peeling of the walls. A "notebook" for guests was on the bedside table, consisting of a single wrinkled paper sheet stained with grease, presumably food. Furniture was worn out and damaged. The bathroom had no windows and poor light. Mold was growing on the plastic edge of the glass protection of the bathtub. The breakfast had a big variety, however the quality was poor. For the 3 days of our stay, we tried to have the soft boiled eggs, which were always overcooked. The fried eggs were overbaked and chewy. The juice containers were covered with plates instead of a proper lid. There were very few tables and it was hard to find a place to sit. The staff at the lobby desk did not have a professional posture, acting as if it was an inconvenience to receive us. At the check out (9am), we witnessed a couple of other guests completely drunk (there is also a casino in the hotel) yelling and spitting on the floor inside the hotel, while the person at the lobby desk said nothing. Then they vomited on the floor just outside the door. Unpleasant stay in a badly frequented hotel. Absolutely do not recommend.
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Date of stay: August 2015Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lovely hotel in a good location. Easy walking distance of the old town and restaurants. We had a problem with the heating in our room and they quickly found us another room. They gave us a nice room overlooking the park. Beautiful bathroom with underfloor heating. Restaurant, bar and smoking room all smart and elegant. Staff helpful and pleasant. Breakfast was nice.
Visit the Central Market it is an interesting experience. Taxi drivers may rip you off and also drive like they have a death wish.
Try some Latvian food, grey peas, potato pancakes and pork ribs. Staburags is a good Latvian restaurant with waitress service. Alus Seta is good for beer and has a self service buffet. Il Patio in the old town is good for pizza. Avoid Vairak Saules miserable staff and truly awful pizza.
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Date of stay: March 2007
Value
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Just come back from Riga and a lovely stay in this beautiful hotel. The staff were quick to respond to my initial email to book a taxi from the airport and right from the minute we arrived were friendly and helpful. Loved the bed turndown and chocolate at night too.
The breakfast was good and everywhere very clean.
This is a renovated hotel and the decor was amazing from beautiful plaster ceilings to wooden floors. We stayed in a standard room which was large with a lovely bathroom with bath. The ceilings are high and molded and everything was in keeping with the history of the building.
Would definately recommend this for a special stay.
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Date of stay: September 2006
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at this hotel for 3 nights in June, as a 'treat' at the end of our holiday. We had high hopes for a 4 star experience, but ended up disappointed. On the plus side, it is very well located and has many original 19th century features, including a very nice dining room and lovely seating areas on some corridors. Clearly, from reading other reviews, some rooms are much better than others. However, we did not think the facilities in our room or hotel were up to a 4 star hotel. Our first room was quite nice, though it had a view mainly of a wall and smelt of stale tobacco. However, the main problem was a lack of 'crowd control' by management. In the middle of our first night we were woken by loud noise as a group of around 4 people came back (clearly drunk) to the neighbouring room, and proceeded to have an impromptu party. After this had gone on for a while, we phoned reception, who said they would ask them to be quieter. After another 30 minutes or so of putting up with very loud talking from next door with no sign of intervention from staff, we went down to reception and asked to change rooms. We were allocated to a different room, but we received no apology for the inconvenience and were given a smaller room on the top floor, which had virtually no windows. No-one accompanied us to our new room to check we were happy with this, or offered to help us move our luggage, possibly because there were not enough staff around(?). The new room was also full of flies (about 10 of them) which we then spent around half an hour (at 4am!) chasing out of the room. At breakfast the next morning (after a very bad night's sleep) the classical music in the background was interrupted so that a heavy rock track by Motorhead could be played (presumably in response to a request from one of the guests who needed to shift a hangover??), thereby spoiling the beautiful setting. Things did improve on the following two nights, but our overall impression was of an under-managed hotel, with a small number of young staff trying their best to be helpful but being a bit out of their depth. As a result, we would not choose to stay here again.
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Date of stay: June 2008
Value
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Location
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Check in / front desk
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We had a wonderful 3 nights at this luxurious hotel in the centre of Riga. The breakfast was really good with lots of choice and brilliant service. Even though the hotel was in the centre of the city, behind the big wooden doors, you felt you were in a country house hotel. We only had a standard double room but there was a seperate walk-in wardrobe and a large bathroom. If we visit again, we will certainly book this hotel.
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Date of stay: November 2007
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Riga area.
PRICE RANGE
$56 - $72 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
europa royale riga hotel riga, europa royale hotel riga, riga europa royale hotel
LOCATION
LatviaRiga RegionRiga
NUMBER OF ROOMS
1
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