Hotels make a good background for great movies, and in the back of my mind owning my own hotel has always seemed somehow very romantical. Maybe I got this notion after watching the Mamma Mia musical as the rustic resort hotel Villa Donna depicted in the movie left this dream-like impression. But since then I have indeed been silently dreaming about buying a house and turning it into a hotel – one day on some equally beautiful island as Kalokairi.
However, owning a hotel would be colossal in any part of the world, don’t you agree? Therefore, I decided to take a look into the options of what the market of real estate in Riga has to offer.
So, here we go! Let’s find out how realistic the chances are of ever owning a hotel in the capital of Latvia!
Real estate in Riga
As I discovered just after typing “buy hotels in Riga” on Google search engine, real estate in Riga has actually quite a number of hotels on offer. However, the price of this type of real estate in Riga is incredibly high. Well, I never thought that it would be cheap but my hopes just sank as I learned that it is at least a one million deal. At the moment, in the spring of 2022, there is even one 6 million worth hotel offer on the market of real estate in Riga. It is a 4-star hotel in the Old Town. Just imagine how much a 5-star hotel would cost!
There are also some other options, like a luxury 2-million-worth hotel in the Old Town. However, it still is not the price category that I could be looking for if ever seriously considering getting into the hotel business in Riga.
Therefore, I understood that I definitely have to check some other real estate in Riga offers…
Realistic offers of real estate in Riga for hotel business
Well, what I discovered is that there are indeed also some more realistic offers to get into the hotel business in the capital. However, the word hotel then turns into a hostel. But if you think about it for a moment, maybe it does not matter so much after all, does it? Hostel is still something very close to a hotel. And the price of a hostel is definitely more than half the price of a hotel which makes me like it even more.
For example, in the spring of 2022 there is an offer of a hostel on Valdemāra street for half a million euros. To my surprise, the rooms of the hostel are heated with the help of a ground source heating pump. That makes this hostel incredibly economical to run – much cheaper than any 5-star hotel! Maybe I could make it even without guests booking rooms and live there just by myself? Besides, the building is only 5 minutes away from the Old Town which is a very prestigious location.
Anyways, half a million euros still is a high price to pay, and I could never make it without winning a lottery. So this real estate in Riga offer may not be so realistic after all. But there are even some more options in real estate in Riga after all if only you dig deeper. For example, a 250 000 eur worth hostel in Jugla. This hostel has 17 rooms, 4 shared kitchens and 5 shared bathrooms. The advertisement says that each room is rented for 210 – 300 eur a month. The only drawback seems to be the heating system – a gas boiler. That makes the heating costs very high.
But real estate in Riga always has some other alternatives on offer. For example, a 250 000 euro worth hostel on Stabu iela with a central heating system.
Real estate in Riga outskirts
As I scroll through the real estate in Riga hotel offers, I cannot help but notice that there are some options in the outskirts of Riga as well. However, the prices do not seem to be much lower. Even seemingly as far away as Tukums and Sigulda hotels are sold for half a million euros. And some hotels cost even more. For example, a hotel in Valmiera is sold for 800 000 euros. And Jūrmala hotel prices are even higher.
This makes me arrive at a conclusion that a hotel business requires some serious investments regardless of its location. And the closest I can get to buying a real estate in Riga for hotel business realistically speaking now seems to be only dreaming about it.
If you have any ideas of how to buy a hotel at a more realistic price, please let me know in the comments section below!
