A Romantic Cinema Evening in Sigulda

A "Romantic Cinema Evening in Sigulda" package, gifted by colleagues from the Dāvanu serviss gift experience service, was used this weekend. It included two tickets to a chosen film at KinoLora, an overnight stay in a semi-deluxe room at Hotel Segevold, dinner at the restaurant, and champagne in the room.

Hotel Segevold

On the afternoon of 3 December we arrived at the four-star hotel. Reception welcomed us warmly and explained how the evening would unfold. We agreed that the champagne would not be served at the dinner table but rather in the room. The semi-deluxe room was on the third floor and consisted of a hallway, a sizeable bedroom, and a bathroom (with an actual bathtub, not just a shower). Everything in red and dark brown tones.

The rooms had skylight windows, so lying in bed one could watch the wind and rain raging outside (December, after all). Everything necessary was at hand - towels, white terry robes, shower gel, soap, shampoo, hair dryer, and so on. Two glasses were set on the bedside table, but ordinary drinking water was missing.

There was enough time, so we walked around to the adjacent shopping centre "Raibais suns" (the Spotted Dog), sat down and had a coffee at the pub of the same name, marvelled at two parking spaces jam-packed with almost-new Volkswagen SUVs bearing state police markings, and then headed to the shopping centre "Šokolāde" (Chocolate).

Shopping Centre "Šokolāde"

It turns out that both at "Raibais suns" and at "Šokolāde" there are small shops where one can buy draught beer (Brenguļu, Madonas, Iļģuciema) and wines from Italy (Lambrusco dell'Emilia IGT, Pinot Bianco del Veneto IGT, Verduzzo Dorato Veneto IGT, etc.). That was also done on the way back to Rīga the next day.

In my view, the Chili Pizza in the "Šokolāde" centre has an extraordinarily successful interior with colourful orange-yellow paper lanterns, soft sofas, and large windows. One feels like staying there and tasting something from the menu. Incidentally, I recommend it - currently on offer is a very tasty hot drink with a creamy "hat" called Dzērvenīte (cranberry), only Ls 1.75 with a friend card.

Kino Lora

In keeping with our avatar and our special fondness for flippered creatures, the animated film "Happy Feet 2" was chosen for the cinema evening, one of whose main characters is a penguin named Ēriks. I must say it was very well dubbed into Latvian and is enjoyable for young and old alike. I will not repeat myself about KinoLora's spacious and quite comfortable armchair-seats (read here). The hotel staff had also taken care of reserving good seats in the cinema hall.

Hotel Segevold

After the film we headed briskly back to the hotel, where dinner was reserved for 21:00. It consisted of leaf salad with Caesar dressing, white fish fillet with broccoli in a cheese crust on fried potato wedges, and ice cream with forest berry sauce. It turned out that tea or coffee was supposed to be included, but nobody offered it. The food was good but not outstanding (Spa Hotel Ezeri right there in Sigulda offers something better and more original). We ordered white wine at an extra charge to go with the main course. The wine was a perfectly good Italian table wine.

Full of anticipation for the "continuation of the banquet," we contentedly headed to the room to soak in a warm bath, slip into the white soft robes, and await the champagne in the room. For some reason we naively imagined (probably influenced by the gallery photos on hotelsegevold.lv) that it might be a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket - but instead two filled glasses with a sweet cherry in each were brought. As for taste, there was nothing wrong with them.

An unpleasant surprise came when at around midnight, having looked at the price list on the table in the room, we conceptually decided to empty the mini-bar, picking out a small bottle of sparkling mineral water and a bottle of beer - only to find the bar empty. Calling reception, we were informed that a bottle of water would be delivered, but there was no beer - neither light nor dark - and only the champagne could be offered (at an additional charge, naturally).

In conclusion, staying in Sigulda for the weekend is a good idea - but one must still account for the unpredictability characteristic of Latvian hotels (something may be missing, or if you do not ask you will not receive it even when it turns out to be included in the price, and so on).