Where is it?
Radisson Blu Daugava Hotel is located in central Riga, just by the west bank of River Daugava. The main city centre with the old town is right on the other side of the river and can easily be reached using the bridge just around the corner from the hotel.
From the airport it takes around 15 minutes to get to the hotel by taxi.
The arrival experience
I arrived at the hotel around 7 pm. The lobby was almost completely empty and I was immediately checked in by a friendly young woman. She informed me as a gold card holder in the Radisson Rewards program I had been upgraded from a standard room to a superior room. She also asked me whether I was planning on having breakfast in the morning as it was neither included in the rate, nor included in my upgrade. Most likely it would have been slightly cheaper to pre-book the breakfast the night before. As I was leaving early I declined the breakfast this time.
The room
The room was located on the seventh floor, just around the corner from the lift. The superior rooms are significantly larger than the standard rooms, measuring 28-32 sqm. Almost twice as large as the standard rooms (15 sqm) according to the hotel webpage.
The superior room had a queen-sized bed, a work desk, an armchair, a TV and a minibar.
However although the room had everything needed for an overnight stay the design left a lot to be desired. It felt old, in some cases quite worn, and definitely lacked any kind of charm or atmosphere. There were also a few slightly annoying details such as not a single power socket being available anywhere close to the bed or the nightstand, to be able to charge the mobile phone during the night or to use a laptop (with external power supply) in the evening.
Whilst the room obviously had a separate bathroom the wash basin was in fact located inside the room, which also felt a bit strange.
The separate bathroom had toilet and a bathtub and of course all the standard Radisson toiletries.
Another very interesting and much more surprising aspect of the room was the walk-in closet. An adjacent small room with plenty of hangers. I really do not think many guests would make full use of that room unless you stay a couple of days at a minimum, but at least you can place your suitcase inside to get some more space in the room.
Easily the best part of the room was the view overlooking the city centre, the old town and the river. Absolutely magnificent in the evening.
Food and drinks
There is a restaurant in the hotel called Panorama Restaurant located on the ground floor where the breakfast is also served. Possibly the best aspect of it is the nice view of the river and apparently it is a great spot to watch fireworks during festivals and public holidays, which I can definitely imagine.
There is also a lobby bar serving drinks and light snacks.
Other facilities
The hotel has an excellent and rather spacious fitness centre which is definitely a highlight of the hotel. There is a large and well-equipped gym, a 24-metres swimming pool, and different gym classes such as aerobics, saunas and solariums.
There is also a small shopping arcade next to the lobby and a beauty shop called Aleksandra.
Service
Friendly and courteous service throughout the hotel and they provided a nice recognition of my gold status with the upgrade. Also inside the room a small personal welcome card was waiting together with a bottle of red wine and a box with cranberries in powdered sugar.
Breakfast
As I had to check out already at 6.20 am there was no time for breakfast (which started at 6.30 anyway) but they had a small take-away counter in the lobby with coffee and tea, a few bottles of water, croissants and health bars. When I checked out the receptionist also told me they had breakfast boxes, in case I wanted one, even though I had actually not paid for breakfast, which was a very nice touch.
Final impression
The hotel is fairly old and especially the furniture and fittings in the room were showing their age. But there was a wonderful view of the city and the river from the room, friendly service and an excellent fitness centre. Nice gold recognition as well.
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