Naughty Squirrel Backpackers Hostel

The hostel is conveniently located. The staff are amazing and couldn’t do more for you. The hostel itself is slightly ran down/old but it is clean and has everything you need. My only complaint would be the socket in my room had loose cables. The hostel reception also leave at 22:00 which means you can’t loose your key or else you’ll be locked out. There is a WhatsApp group chat you should join to talk with staff and other travellers and this is where activities are discussed and planned.

Excellent place if you want to meet other travelers and get good tips for the city. They create a welcoming vibe as soon as you check in. If you stay for a couple of nights and get involved in the activities, you will feel like you're part of a big family or friend group. There's definitely a good comradery created by the hostel between the guests. Excellent location and base for your trip to the city. If I ever return to Riga, I will definitely try and stay here! Note: Probably not for people who are not interested in meeting others or if you're looking for a quiet stay it wouldn't be suitable. The rooms are nothing special, but they're clean and good for a hostel!

Where to start? The location is perfect for getting to all the local attractions and it's surrounded by bars and clubs. You need a security card to get into the hostel so thankfully no one can just walk in off the street. The hostel has the feel of a camp/home, it's got that friendly atmosphere. The bar is priced well. They have Netflix so if you fancy just having a chilled day on the couch, go for it. There's a fussball table in the smaler common room. The owner definitely knows what he's doing when it comes to hiring staff, everyone from the receptionists to cleaners are lovely. Special shoutout to Rachel who's the events person. She really helps gel the group together and makes sure no one's left out. Saying that though if you don't want to get involved or drink or anything, your never pressured to do so. There's a board at reception with activities or suggestions on what to do that day and night. I'd definitely recommend the pub crawl on Fridays and Saturdays, unlike many crawls I've been on your taken to busy bars with locals in them. Check outs at 11am but our flight wasn't till 10pm, so we done some exploring then chilled in the common room till our flight without feeling like we had to leave. I'm trying to think of any cons but I honestly don't think there was any, it was an amazing stay.