Roko Sodyba

The dinner was okay, nothing special, and breakfast was weak. There are places to play football, tennis, and volleyball, plus a pool table, though the balls are badly worn and sometimes stop rolling because of dents. The on-site bar wasn’t operating for some reason. We had the whole place overnight for a conference with more than 30 people. On arrival it looked good, and we got settled in our rooms. Mine was like a standard three-star Eastern European hotel room, as were most of them, though some were a bit better. One colleague had the best room, I think, with a fireplace, separate bedroom, and large balcony. Another found a strong dead-animal smell coming from the bathroom, but after asking, they were moved to another room. The walls were paper thin in every room. After the work part, we had a small party and ordered 30 liters of beer with snacks. They said 10 portions would be enough, so the boss ordered 15. For 30 people, I thought that should mean more than two pieces of fried bread, one piece of cheese, and one onion ring. I didn’t use the sauna, but those who did said it was capped at 80 degrees and wouldn’t heat above 60. The host was the biggest downside. Even though we had the whole place, she asked us to turn the music down because it was supposedly bothering someone. The nearest neighbors were 150 meters away, and I checked with one of the laser range finders we sell. The music wasn’t particularly loud, and many people had gone to sleep without being woken, even in the same building.

Getting from the sauna to the pool is badly laid out. You have to cross the entire dance floor, and that long route is risky since it’s easy to slip. You also cool down on the way.

The lake is nice, and it’s easy to get here from Vilnius. There’s a lot of space and the building is large, though some of the yard structures, like the swings, are old and badly need renewing.

The rooms didn’t feel very cozy, and the bathroom towels were really old. There was no hair dryer or spare blanket for colder weather.