Grand Poet Hotel By Semarah

An outstanding hotel in Riga – fantastic staff, breakfast and an excellent spa! We had a wonderful stay at Grand Poet Hotel and SPA by Semarah. Even though part of our visit to Riga was unfortunately interrupted by an unexpected hospital visit, coming back to this hotel really felt like returning to a place where we could relax again. The staff were absolutely outstanding. Friendly, professional, helpful and genuinely welcoming throughout our stay. I really cannot say enough good things about the service here – everyone we dealt with made a very positive impression. Our room was beautiful, stylish, comfortable and very well maintained. The only issue was the temperature. We could not get it below around 24°C, which was a little too warm for us. We stayed in room 426, and in the evenings we could also hear a fairly strong music beat from outside until around 23:00. Fortunately, it stopped later in the evening, so it did not disturb us during the night. The spa was one of the absolute highlights of the hotel. This is a proper wellness area and we really enjoyed it. There is a swimming pool, jacuzzi, two saunas, a salt room and Turkish steam bath. There is also an ice fountain and a bucket with cold water for cooling down after the sauna – a great touch. Another detail we really appreciated was that there is drinking water available inside the spa. There are even three heated loungers and a heated bench, which are wonderful after using the sauna or pool. The spa is luxurious and thankfully it was not extremely crowded during our visit. There could perhaps be a few more places to sit or lie down, especially when it becomes busier, but overall we thought the facilities were excellent. I would also have liked to try one of the massages, but unfortunately we did not have enough time. The treatments did seem quite expensive, though. Breakfast was excellent. Very extensive, fresh and beautifully presented, with a huge selection of hot and cold food. There was even champagne available. Another very nice detail was a separate lactose-free coffee machine. These little things show that they really think about different guests and dietary needs. The location is also excellent. The hotel is directly opposite a beautiful park, and once you walk through the park you are basically at Riga’s Old Town. You can explore a large part of the city on foot from here. For guests arriving by car, there is parking very close to the hotel. We paid around €24 for 24 hours, which we found reasonable considering the central location. Overall, this is a hotel that really delivers the complete package: beautiful surroundings, excellent rooms, an impressive spa, fantastic breakfast and, most importantly, exceptional staff. There are a couple of small points that could be improved – mainly the room temperature and some evening music noise on our side of the hotel – but they certainly did not change our overall opinion. We had a fantastic stay and would absolutely recommend Grand Poet Hotel to anyone visiting Riga. We would happily stay here again.

A very beautiful and lovely hotel with a perfect location. The rooms are spacious and perfectly furnished and importantly it is very quiet so you can't hear the other guests. The view from the 5th floor is beautiful over the city. All in all an absolutely lovely place that I would love to come back to. And the breakfast is ****** perfect for everyone

We’ve stayed in Riga many times and have stayed in various hotels across the main city area. The Grand Poet is one of the best hotels we’ve stayed at so far. It has a luxury which almost rivals the Grand Kempinski hotel, but at a far more affordable price point. It’s certainly not the cheapest hotel in Riga by any means; however, I believe overall it is good value for money. For example, all hotel guests have free access to the spa. Usually we stay at Wellton Riverside - which is a great hotel and comes at a much lower cost - however, at Riverside, spa access costs extra. Once you factor in daily spa fees at Riverside, the total cost for an equivalent stay at Grand Poet is almost equal. The spa itself was very good. The main swimming pool was a good temperature - not too warm but not too cold. However, the jacuzzi and main sauna were quite small. The changing rooms also had a strange set-up. Guests did not automatically have access to the changing rooms and lockers, as they are expected to arrive from their room in a robe and swimwear, and leave their belongings either inside the spa itself or on shelves outside. The toilet was located inside the changing rooms, meaning if you need the toilet mid-swim, you need to walk over to the spa reception area, dripping wet and ask the staff for access. This whole setup just seems confusingly unnecessary. Secondly, upon arrival, we were asked if we’d like to upgrade our room. This was an additional €25 per night - for this, we were offered a room with a park view. Our initial room was supposed to be a standard double room, but when we arrived, they said it was in fact a twin room (with 2 double beds). Based on this, as well as the upgrade offer, we thought to go ahead. When we arrived at our room, we were quite disappointed with our “park view”. The room itself was great, but the view was nothing more than a tree right in front of the window (see photos attached). By “park view”, they meant “a room which happens to have a window on the road which runs alongside the park”. Retrospectively, we should’ve challenged this - either asked for a refund or a room change! However, we checked in late at 20:00 due to our travel arrangements, had a spa booking at 21:00 (which is free but requires booking in advance), and needed to get food in the meantime. Because of this lack of time, we decided to just accept the room upgrade which was a waste of money. We never ate at the SNOB restaurant, but we did go to the bar, which was pleasant and had a good range of cocktails. The bar was expensive in comparison to the rest of Riga, but it provided a premium atmosphere. Lastly, the hotel had a decent location. Its location isn’t quite in the heart of the Old Town, but it is only a few minutes' walk away. Furthermore, although the hotel boasts a luxurious atmosphere, we felt it lacks the real Latvian authenticity which can be found throughout the Old Town. Overall, we would stay again, particularly due to its premium atmosphere and its included spa; however, we won’t be doing the upgrade for the park view room again, considering our last park view room had a view of a single tree!

Excellent experience! Room was comfortable. Buffet breakfast is one of the best we've had. Eventhough the items don't change, it is plentiful and very consistent. Hotel is situated in a prime location. Nice decor throughout. We were amazed at how quiet our stay was. I celebrated my birthday and hotel gave us a complimentary Prosseco bottle in our room upon arrival which made it extra especial. Everything was perfect during our stay!