Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga

The Grand Hotel Kempinski returned one of Riga's storied addresses to the top rank: the former Hotel de Rome site on Aspazijas boulevard, directly opposite the white neoclassical bulk of the Latvian National Opera, where the old town meets the ring of boulevard parks. Reopened by Kempinski in 2017 after comprehensive reconstruction, it delivers the full grand-hotel apparatus—liveried doormen, marble lobby, afternoon tea—at a scale and polish no other Baltic hotel matches.

Rooms and suites are classically contemporary, with walnut, brass and deep carpets; opera-facing rooms have the view, and the suite line runs up to some of the largest quarters in the region. The Kempinski The Spa downstairs is a genuine facility with a 15-metre pool, thermal circuit and treatment suites—rare depth for the old town.

The rooftop Stage22 restaurant and bar looks across the opera to the old town's spires, the ground floor holds an all-day brasserie, and the lobby lounge's tea has become a Riga institution. With the opera across the street, the old town one block away and the art-nouveau district a short walk up the boulevards, the Kempinski is where Riga's grand occasions happen.