Hotel Kemeri

I’m giving one star for the location. Otherwise, I’d rate this place even lower. The smell was the worst part. They said it came from cleaning products, but it was a mix of those products and dampness. The whole place smelled musty, with lavender and vinegar from the cleaner. Even the clothing rails for sale near check-in and the decor made a bad first impression. When we raised the smell, we were told nobody else minded it and that we should be glad they cleaned regularly. It was clear management wouldn’t address our concerns, so we tried to spend as little time in the room as possible. The next morning, we drove two hours to a family event in Cesis. It ran into the early hours, so we stayed the night there. In the morning, the hotel called and messaged saying we should return the room key so they could remarket the room because we hadn’t stayed overnight. I told the manager we had paid for the room, and whether we slept there was none of their business. We would return the key at the end of the booking. The manager then cancelled our Booking.com reservation, claiming we hadn’t checked in, leaving us without the accommodation we had fully paid for. When we returned to Riga, we went to the hotel to speak with the manager, who wasn’t there. The staff member present made it very clear they didn’t care what we thought. We’ve sent Booking.com our complaint with photos and video evidence.

They upgraded us to their best room, which was a lovely surprise. There’s also a small shared cooking area, and a supermarket nearby. Everything was simple and clean.

There are good transport connections, and the place is close to Kemeri National Park. You can get to the Jurmala beaches by local bus or train.

The rooms were clean and nice, and the staff were genuinely friendly and helpful.