50th Guest House

Though I cannot review what it is like to stay here as I had to cancel my stay last minute due to an injury and the hotel attempted to charge an additional. cancelation fee even though I had prepaid for the rooms. I would avoid at all costs.

What kind of hotelier obliges elderly guests to hang around in the street for 40 minutes in 32°, waiting to be let in ? This kind. The website on which we booked confirmed reception operating between 7 am & 3 pm. A fancy plaque over a key pad in the doorway re-confirmed this. It doesn't. We arrived exactly at 2.40 pm - door shut. We rang four times the number on the plaque - answerphone & after 40 minutes a woman bothered to respond to it. To all remonstrations she replied I cannot hear you. Eventually she gave us a code & we got in. We took the lift - already occupied by a pile of dirty laundry - to our room. There are 6 steps from lift to the room. The next morning, smiling a welcome from the lift, was the same pile of dirty laundry ( see snap ). Asked in reception - a girl preparing the breakfasts - how to get in touch with the manager - an owner/ manager, we were told. She gave us an elegant card with the hotel details but no name. I asked for the name : the girl replied that she was not allowed to give it. ( the answerphone episode already made clear that the phantom owner/ manager, if this was she, didn't want anything to do with us ). Notes to help you decide: 1) The hotel website claims a fridge in the room : there isn't 2) The bathroom needs a good scrub : black & brown mould growing round shower & pedestal of washbasin. Very dim lighting helps to obscure all this. 3) Empty box for tissues 4) Shower head fi**ent leaks 5) There is one ( German ) television programme & no programme guide 6) Some power points don't work . there was a scary flash behind one of them 7) Hanging space for midgets 8) The extra pillows - awful polyester filling - had np pillow cases 9) The hotel website claims a buffet breakfast - it isn't. It is brought to your room on a tray. And it is mingy : a small cup of coffee & mug of tea, both tepid. Croissants, however, very good Our two nights here would have in any case been quite enough. We left at midday : the two receptionists ? /cleaners gave the game away by saying that they would be shutting up the shop as soon as we'd gone. A pity. The rooms are large & quite tastefully equipped. The air-conditioning works. The situation is quiet. Without the grime & the systemic neglect, this place could be really something.

This place has potential but is let down by being poorly managed. The Good.   A good location in the old city this hotel is new / newly renovated in an historic building at what must have been significant cost.  An open air glass and chrome spiral stair serves 7 levels (more on this later) and bathrooms are fully marbled.  Breakfast was excellent and housekeeping generally good.  Needs work.  After booking and paying we received an email advising limited check in times that closed before our flight arrived.  Our first email querying how we could gain access after check in closed at 3pm was ignored causing significant stress.  After following up the hotel suggested we phone on arrival to check in.  Day 3 the hotel switched off the lift.  We arrived back at reception at 5pm to find no staff available and their phone diverted to voice mail.  Emails and phone messages went unanswered.  I’m currently wearing a knee brace and the prospect of 5 levels up a narrow spiral stair to get to our room seemed challenging.  After waiting an hour and several more calls we decided to eat early to avoid the stairs... Arriving back at 8pm we found the lift switched back on.  Overall significant $$$ have been spent on monogramed towels and bedding and building features.  Parts remain unfinished (shower rail only fitted at one end, electrical socket without cover, painting stops randomly).  The problems we encountered seem to reflect poorly thought out customer management and could easily be fixed although anyone with luggage, a baby carriage or limited mobility may find the spiral stair which is slippery when wet makes this an unsuitable choice.  As a “boutique” hotel with 5 rooms it feels more like a hobby business run by indulged children when things go wrong.

Unattended and unable to contact. Lift was accidentally switched off one afternoon and we could not climb 5 stories up a lethal slippery glass spiral staircase to our room. No reply to phone, email or text. No apology, just total denial. Lavish marble fittings and a great breakfast could not make up for this. A lot of money has been spent on this boutique hotel and it is very comfortable, in a good area and has potential but without anyone in attendance it feels soulless and quite confrontational in an emergency.

Cool place in terms of location and temperature. Room (502) was large and had a sumptuous bed. Breakfast is ordered in advance and delivered to the room in the morning. The hotel is just a short walk from the water taxis and there’s a small convenience store right outside.

doors closed the night of my arrival, international call to have them opened, room without heating, no room cleaning, ceiling shower off, no check in service. You feel alone and abandoned. Stay away from this tourist trap.