This is a lovely hotel in the old section of the city. The room was very pretty, clean and comfortable. But, it was too warm and humid not to have air conditioning. We had a good meal in the restaurant and found the staff to be very accomodating. The fitness center was a sad affair but we found our way to a health club at the Radisson. Breakfast was nice but drinks at the bar very pricey. Overall we found Riga to be rather dull and the people seemed dour. The old part of the city is very pretty but, at least when we were there, not very lively.

This was a trip I booked for my wife and I which in hindsight was a mistake. Don't get me wrong The Grand Palace Hotel is a lovely place to stay and the staff are very welcoming/helpful by Riga standards but I was under the impression that a five star hotel HAD to be fitted with air conditioning? The GPH did not have A/C in the room. The food was really nice although we only ate breakfast. The hotel was the highlight of our break as Riga itself does not offer much. Be prepared to be ripped off left, right and centre e.g. we took a taxi to the Lido for 5lats, our return to the same spot was 12lats. A 5 minute journey to the Skyline bar was 12lats. We decided to walk home from the Skyline bar but would not recommend this as Riga is a very menacing and sinister place after dark. This was compounded when we met 2 guys who had popped into Groks Pub after midnight and were forced, at knife point by the bouncers, to pay (after a body search and an escort to an ATM) a companionship fee of ?600! What happens is 2 females will innocently sit next to you, order wine, say hello, when you return the pleasantries you are required to pay this extortionate fee to the lovely bouncers who will multiply in numbers if any resistance is given. This was not isolated as we were told from other guys at the airport that they had been duped into paying similar fees. One of the guys said the doormen actually removed the door handles from the inside unless cash was given. Tour companies should be warning young guys, specifically in stag parties, of this danger. It's not right. To conclude, the people of Riga are mostly surly, rude and arrogant, I will not be back as they do not appear to welcome tourists, period.

We went to riga for the beginning of spanish holy week and we stayed at grand palace hotel. The rooms are confortable, the service is perfect and you cannot find a better place to visit the center of riga. I think i would go again if i travel to riga even for business or pleasure. just only one thing we didn?t understand. we asked for a toothpaste set they gave it to us but they charged us.

Decided to 'splash the cash' and go a bit more upmarket for our trip to Riga. The 'Grand Palace' did not let us down - excellent in every way. From the welcome we received on arrival, to ordering the taxi for our departure - the staff were very friendly, helpful and attentive. We had a room on the ground floor and certainly did not notice or hear any of the noise that others have mentioned in their reviews. Many nice touches - champagne at breakfast and chocolate on your pillow each night ! The breakfasts were very good but we didn't have an evening meal, but only because there were too many other restaurants to try on our short visit. Riga 'old town' is very compact and all places of interest are easily reached on foot from the 'Grand Palace' . The 'Grand Palace' is only a 1 minute walk from the Cathedral; 5 mins from the Town Hall square and perhaps 7/8 mins from the Opera House and gardens. So in short - I would fully recommend the 'Grand Palace' for it's combination of location and service.

So as my title suggests, the grand palace hotel INSISTED on called us Mr & Mrs for the weekend. We had checked in under our real names, we had showed them our passports, we had even requested that they stop doing it but when we checked out we were still "married"! So this is definitely not the place for a first weekend away as a couple then! Luckily myself and my "Mr" have been together for a long while and felt we were having an illicit affair for the weekend!. Other than the old fashioned attidude we thought the hotel was wonderful. Great location, right in the old town. Check in was painless, followed by a refreshing welcome drink in the bar. Our "business class" room was lovely. We had a flat screen tv, fully stocked mini bar, nice little bottles in the bathroom, and a hairdryer that could actually dry my hair. However, the bathroom, although lovely looking was much smaller than you would expect from this type of room, there was also no tea/coffee making facilities in the room, which was cushioned by the fact the room service is 24hours. The food here is fantastic, both in room and in the Seasons restaurant. The service (besides the bar) is flawless. the staff were so lovely and helpful but i would say that the receptionists should be a little bit more knowledgable about the city. But they were just so nice and friendly, I couldn't even hold the above mentioned old fashioned attidude against them. They are not snoppy or pompous in the least. The Bar Service, as people have mentioned, can be slow. There didn't seem to always be a staff member behind the Bar. Breakfast was nice. I thought the choice of food was fine for me. I agree with another poster than the toaster was slow and the birds were annoying but everything was tasty, the choice was good and surroundings lovely. the health club is very nice with the same pleasant service. All in all the staff at the Grand Palace made me feel like a princess for the weekend - Even with the "Mrs" title!