Dome Hotel

This is a superb hotel with excellent comfort. The food is superb, both dinner and breakfast. The reception and restaurant staff were all friendly, made suggestions of nice things going on like the midsummer fair in Cathedral square. It is in an ideal location around the corner from the cathedral, castle and river Daugarva. Most of all Riga is a magical city and the Latvian people are special. Also lovely beach place Jurmala.

How could there be?

geras lygis

A beautiful building with tons of character from the many original features. Comfortable beds with lovely toiletries in the bath/shower room. Very small towels which were a bit disappointing. So why only 3 stars? Our room, a Suite (room 203) was spacious and well equipped, however the air conditioning didn’t work so it was quite humid and stuffy. No problem we thought, we’ll open a window. And that’s when the problems started. All we could hear was an incredibly loud whining noise coming from the air conditioning condensers of other rooms! 😱 This wasn’t just heard occasionally, but constantly. We mentioned it to reception shortly after checking in and were told the air conditioning didn’t work in our room because they were switching over to summer mode. And the noise was apparently known about and world be sorted ‘soon’, just they were unsure how soon would be… Sadly, over the first 3 nights of our stay we mentioned the noise which was severely impacting our sleep to various hotel staff. We asked them to come up to listen, and they accepted it was noisy and they’d get maintenance to sort it first thing in the morning. That didn’t happen 😩 During those first 3 days we asked whether there were any rooms available for the rest of our stay and told there wasn’t. However, we were checking their website, and there was availability…We had asked to speak to a manager but this didn’t seem to be followed up and I’m not sure the staff really responded to our concerns in the way we would expect. On Wednesday night returning to the hotel around midnight after a long day and dinner out, we were told the manager had been spoken to and they’d like to offer us an alternative room for the rest of our stay - which was quiet and had working a/c. At last - we were pleased but this really took far too long to sort out. We were really very disappointed and unimpressed with how the hotel handled things. It would also have been helpful if they had contacted us during the day/evening to advise that they were able to offer a different room, as this would have meant we could make the switch earlier in the evening rather than moving things from one room to another at just after midnight. Having read other reviews mentioning exactly the same problem, it seems this is an issue the hotel are choosing not to do something about. As it gets warmer over the summer, it’s going to get warmer and stuffier without air conditioning working. Having the window open with the loud droning of other guest rooms air conditioning isn’t going to be a practical option. If you’re in room 203, do check to see if the air conditioning is working. If it isn’t, you’re in for a poor night’s sleep. Finally, breakfast. It’s mentioned in a lot of reviews as being really good. And it is, if you go down early. If you’re down after 9.15am don’t expect much left from the continental breakfast buffet. Despite breakfast being offered until 10.30am, it didn’t seem to get replenished, other than a few extra baby tomatoes and cucumber slice being put out. Service was polite but coffees were slow to come out, and not particularly hot when they did. The ‘menu’ items were very nice though, we particularly enjoyed the crepes. It would be great to be offered another coffee, or to be offered a glass of orange juice on arrival (we always had to ask). In summary, if you get a quiet room and get up early, Hotel Dome is in a great location for exploring Riga and beyond (with an excellent craft beer bar less than a minute’s walk away). Just hope you get a quiet room…

From the minute we arrived, our experience was terrible. I actually thought we must be at the wrong place because all the excellent reviews could not be of this cold, gloomy hotel. The indifferent young woman at reception reluctantly put down her phone to check me in. We also needed help parking, and based on this email: “Upon your arrival, our team will be pleased to provide further details regarding directions and payment options.” I thought we’d get that help. But the “team” was just her and all she did was draw a few lines on a map and go back to her phone. An hour later my husband returned, still unsure if he’d paid correctly. A passerby ultimately helped him navigate the very confusing app. Meanwhile, the receptionist mumbled something about prosecco and water, which I said I’d love. “Water is in your room,” she said, prosecco no longer an option apparently. Since my husband was trying to park, she watched me lug two suitcases and two tote bags across the lobby and into the elevator. I guess the team doesn’t help with that either. Then there’s the room! With its slanted ceilings and random columns, my 6’3 husband could only stand up straight in about a third of the room. But we did get a full view of each other in the bathroom! Unless we pulled the heavy, dark purple, funereal curtain across the door, which made us feel like we were in a tomb. Have I mentioned the breakfast that a reviewer claimed was one of the best they ever had? Stale, store bought croissants and bread, cold fish salads that no one even tried to make look appetizing, deviled eggs with oddly grayish filling. There were signs for other items, such as Burratta , but they were never bothered to be refilled or put out in the first place. On our second morning my husband had to deal with the parking again. When he asked the (different) receptionist for help, he was told to come back in a half an hour. By then our car would be towed. This was truly one of the worst hotel experiences we’ve ever had. Why two stars instead of one? The location is good. The bed was comfy. And the windows opened to let in nice fresh air, which is especially good because the room smelled like a grandmother.

Das Personal - sowohl an der Rezeption, als auch beim Frühstück war überaus zuvorkommend und aufmerksam. Uns wurde jede Frage beantwortet und Wünsche nicht nur erfüllt, sondern z. B. Buchungen für Restaurants, Bootsfahrten oder Taxibuchung ohne Nachfrage angeboten und zu unserer vollsten Zufriedenheit erledigt. Das Hotel liegt perfekt - fußläufig sehr nahe an der Innenstadt, aber dennoch weit genug entfernt, um keinerlei Lärmbelästigungen ausgesetzt zu sein. Das Frühstücksbuffet war nicht überladen, aber dafür qualitätiv hochwertig.

Nichts, alles in bester Ordnung!