Agate Hotel

The property itself is rather charming, located in a small village not far from Riga (about half an hour) and in an area equipped with all amenities (supermarkets, pharmacy, pubs, green areas, etc.). The building resembles a mountain cabin, built mainly of wood with rustic, albeit somewhat dark, furnishings. The rooms are standard, with the bare necessities, although certain details are clearly neglected (e.g., superficial cleaning, a rusty shower holder as shown in the attached photo). The real issue, however, is the service, which calling “terrible” is actually a compliment. I should mention that I stayed at this property for an international sporting event, accompanying the national team I coach. Generally, when establishments host such clients, they are expected to maintain certain standards. But let’s go step by step: we were asked to pay for the meeting room (something that has never happened in other hotels for similar events); I asked to print a few pages and was charged (again, unheard of in these circumstances); for five days, lunch and dinner always consisted of the same single dish: salad, rice/pasta, and some extremely poor-quality meatballs. One day, a girl asked if she could have the dish without rice, and the reply was “The plate is already prepared, it’s this or nothing.” And now the highlight: during meals, a reddish, sickly-sweet drink was served, a sort of fruity juice. We asked for water. The reply: “We don’t have water.” We then asked, “What about tap water?” The answer: no, no water at all. Inconceivable. Furthermore, there was no room cleaning or towel change for the entire five days. Overall, an absolutely unwarranted level of discourtesy and unfriendliness. In short, the few redeeming factors (such as the plentiful breakfast) do not make up for the abysmal treatment we received. One star, because zero is not an option.