Botanisches Garten des Universitaets

I'm on an '8 country tour' (yes, say it to the Gilligan's Island theme). When asked what I was most looking forward to, I said Latvia and Lithuania as they were both former Soviet bloc nations. I came from a rather swanky hotel to Viktorija Hotel. Swanky was 4 star, Viktorija 3. I guess there's a scale. I've seen other reviews, and some people were pretty hard on the place. When I arrived, I did not have a good exchange with the brunette at the front. I believe Latvian culture is quite different though, plus, there was a communication error on my part, so I'll take the brunt of that. I obtained my physical key on a wooden knob as big as a child's fist and went to my room. The hallway IS oddly dark. The room is roomy! The furniture, VERY basic, like American dorm room style. The bathroom, a butterscotchy one cm tile all around. Seemed very Soviet era. The TV, snowy. I had to laugh after swanky just because of the contrast of the two worlds. But in reality, this is what I wanted. Viktorija is just keeping it Riga real. Room was clean, bed was comfortable, shower was hot, location - plenty of walkability. TV and refrigerator unplugged. Why? they don't like vampire devices. Me neither! (Google it) They actually won my heart with this. Then I thought the dark hallway was for energy conservation. (Won my heart part ll). Would this be my choice for my 7 stays, perhaps not. For this one, I had good time. I will defend Viktorija Hotel in this moment. Now you know what to expect.

Super helpful staff, convenient walkable location in Old Town, but still close to transport hubs (tram, airport bus.) My room had an HVAC unit which was a great bonus. Very close to bars/shops/restaurants but still lovely quiet location.

Really clean and the staff were super friendly.