Hostel Latberry

My friend booked this hostel for us before we travelled to Riga mainly on the basis of the price. I was initially sceptical about staying in the newer part of the city as I had only been to the old town previously, but the location turned out to be pretty good; with some great restaurants and bars nearby, as well as accessible supermarkets. The old town is only about a ten-fifteen minute walk from here anyway. The younger man who checked us in and we occasionally passed in the corridors was fairly blunt and not particularly welcoming, but the older lady who runs the place was incredibly friendly - to the point of sharing her food and alcohol with me whenever I was sitting in the kitchen. The other guests mostly consisted of Russian speakers, but a few Asians and Western Europeans were staying there at the same time. The place seems to attract a friendly crowd, and everyone in the hostel was on good terms with each other throughout my stay. The bed was comfortable, there were enough plug sockets near the bed as well as a generous amount of shelves for storage. There were no lockers, but everyone else was nice so we didn't feel like we needed them anyway. The kitchen facilities were adequate - I hate electric ovens personally but you can't have everything - and there is also a communal food cupboard for basic things (salt, vinegar, oil, etc.) that the hostel replenishes. Everything in the bathroom worked, though the music coming through from the kitchen radio (which could not be turned off as it is unreachable even for a tall person) could also be heard in the bathroom which was annoying as I like to play music as I shower. The only real problems I can think of though would be the wifi: the hostel has two networks, one for the kitchen and front areas, and one for the corridor and bedrooms. The kitchen one worked fine in the kitchen, but the bedroom wifi was slightly clunky and would cut out whenever we tried to watch a film or tv show. The other issue, as others have commented, is the height of the place: the hostel is situated in the penthouse suite of the building, and there are six flights of stairs to climb every time one needs to enter. When coming back from a bar or with a takeaway, this got very irritating very quickly.