Kolonna is a very well-known brand in Latvia. They have the biggest chain of perfume shops, a leading real estate agency and they recently started building a chain of hotels. I had read good things about the one in Riga and also the first review of their one in Cesis was also very positive. My research showed no other hotels in Cesis were of international quality, so there really was no question as to where we would stay. I paid Ls42/GBP42/$80 for a double for one night at the height of the season - that's rack rate. In general I thought that it was a fair price for a good quality room in a small town such as Cesis. The location of the hotel is perfect - right in the heart of the town centre with a beautiful park right behind it. In general, I was happy enough with the room. The only thing stopping me from giving it a 5* review is that, although the room was very neat, tidy and clean, I found it to be a little generic. It could have been any decent hotel just about anywhere in the world, which is a bit of a shame as both the town, and the hotel itself have a lot of history (the hotel was there for decades if not centuries and was fully refurbished in 2006 from what I understand). Maybe I'm being picky because my expectations were too high, but the room felt it had been furnished by an accountant rather than a designer. The double bed seemed very small to us (140cm wide - we're used to 180cm). Also the little things were lacking - no extra pillows, no fridge, no aircon (this is understandable considering that in Latvia you only need aircon for about 4 weeks in the year - it just so happened that we stayed there on one of the hot days), plus there were only about 8 channels on the TV. Although the hotel has been fully refurbished, it appears that they did not upgrade the plumbing as it went from dribble to torrent and back again in a matter of seconds! Another minor gripe was that the bar stopped serving drinks at 22.00 on a Sunday night, which was rather a surprise. I don't want to paint too many negatives about the hotel as it was absolutely fine and I hate to think what the other hotels in the town are like. I jut think that it's a shame that there are just a few minor details stopping it from being a truly great hotel. Still, unless you are on a really tight budget or else you're a masochist who truly wants to experience post-Soviet provincial hotels, the Kolonna is really the only place to consider in Cesis.

I recently visited CESIS in Latvia about an hour from Riga to see a big mountain bike race. We stayed in the Hotel Kolonna in CESIS and it was great value. Hotel was refurbished to a high standard about a year ago, the rooms are very comfortable and clean. I was given a room on the street but had no problem with noise. There is a large elegant restaurant overlooking a garden and Park. Meals were of a high Standard. A shared computer in the foyer is available for Internet acces at a very reason small charge. Staff were very friendly and helpfull and despite some arrivals in our group late in the evening went out of their way to ensure they did not miss out on a good meal Cesis has a great medieval Castle complex and old buildings. Its also a great base for some mountain biking in perfect forest conditions. Mountain biking in Latvia is a growing sport attracting larger crowds and more competitors. The day of the race their were around 2000 entrants, not all were in professional teams, many took part in the Hobby class which does a shortened less challenging part of the route