AC Hotel Riga, how to sleep in Latvia's only Marriott property

For Italian reward travelers, there are not many opportunities to make points or use points in Latvia with the most popular programs. Hilton has two hotels, one being the Garden Inn Vec Riga, the other a Hampton Inn near the airport. Radisson and Accor are definitely more popular here, offering many more facilities.

Location

This AC Hotel is in the most prosperous area of the Latvian capital. Here there are almost all the embassies, lots of trendy restaurants. However, without being too far from Vec Riga, which is the old town.

It can be reached in 20 minutes from the airport, as can everything else in the tourist area of the city. From here one can walk quietly to all the key places in the Latvian capital.

Reservation

I booked using only 15 thousand Bonvoy points, the cost of the room was €169, it seemed like a fair trade-off to use a handful of accumulated points. AC Hotel does not offer breakfast included as a benefit, but Platinum users or above can opt for 500 points or 10$ credit to spend at the hotel as a bonus.

In this situation I make a very simple account, if I am alone I get points, if I am with family I get breakfast and with shopping I accumulate more points.

Check-in

This was our last night in Latvia and after saying goodbye to all the relatives we decided to spend it in downtown Riga. Having the plane in the late afternoon the choice ended up on this hotel mainly to take advantage of the late check-out free of charge provided by the status.

Unfortunately no suite upgrade, although there were suites available and our standard room was changed to an executive room, twice the size of a basic room, but I was sorry Not having had the free upgrade to suite.

The hotel

This hotel is not a new construction, it used to be called Alberts Hotel and had a beautiful feature. On the 11th floor, the top floor, housed a cocktail lounge on one of Riga's highest rooftops with a beautiful view of the city, especially at sunset.

Now that the hotel has been rebranded AC Hotel the restaurant/bar on the top floor has become a conference room, so the view and terrace are for the exclusive use of MICE.

The best view is reserved for fitness sufferers; the small gym is accessible via a staircase from the 10th floor. Here an array of equipment to keep fit without having to run in the cold Baltic winter.

On the ground floor is the hotel restaurant, bar, and a small relaxation area where you can wait for a cab or chat with friends.

The room

Our room was on the 10th floor and like all executive rooms overlooked the city.

It was not a suite but it was still very large.

In addition to the king-size bed, which is very comfortable, there is a sitting area with a sofa and coffee table. When I reflect on my experiences in hotels in this chain, I would say it is one of the best, if not the best.

In the room all the classic equipment: coffee maker, kettle, mega TV and above all a beautiful view of the rooftops of the Latvian capital.

Nothing to say about the bathroom either, which offered everything that is logical to expect from this category of hotel.

Breakfast

What many people ignore about hotel chains is that they do not own the facilities, they are not the employers of the staff working inside the hotels. This is an affiliation with a circuit, the facility manager proposes and joins the network. At this point, management must maintain certain standards at both the chain and individual brand levels.

Everything is normed, defined and catalogued. Just as in a McDondald's a franchiser cannot invent the sandwich of the day, in a chain hotel you cannot deviate. For example, I recently discovered that in the AC Italian hotels do not include scrambled eggs in the breakfast buffet And indeed they are not to be found.

Fortunately we are not in Italy here, the buffet is rich and full of all flavors. From hot to cold, from sweet to savory, the breakfast is fully promoted.

And as you can see from the photo above, we didn't miss a thing at all on our last Latvian morning before returning to our bread and Nutella.

In conclusion

If only they had not eliminated the rooftop bar it would have been a really perfect stay. I visit this hotel often, and I have to say that net of the room (more or less large) I have always been comfortable.

The verdict

Great location for visiting Latvia's capital, guaranteed international product in a city that doesn't have as many alternatives for point and mileage accumulators. Valid breakfast

7

Pro

• The position
• Beautiful view from the upper floors

Against

• They eliminated the rooftop bar