Numa Salzburg Ivy

The view from the window was nice, but that was about the only bright spot. We paid 224,64 euros for two nights in a medium room without a terrace, and found lots of black mold and limescale in the bathroom. The shower had a strong musty, damp smell. There was no front desk staff onsite, so we had to report it through a WhatsApp chatbot. It took a while to reach a person, who said they’d send a cleaner. Someone did come in while we were out, but the mold and smell were unchanged, and a dirty towel was left on the shower floor. The bedding and the charger we’d left on the bed were also gone. We contacted the chatbot again. The hotel apologized, said they’d look for the charger, and offered 10% back, or 22,46 euros. We never heard about the charger again. The Wi-Fi was unreliable and the room was far too hot. We wanted somewhere to sit outside our room for a bit, but there were no shared spaces, not even a bench or chairs. The garden shown on the website belongs to the restaurant downstairs, and guests can’t sit there outside restaurant hours. The restaurant wasn’t open for breakfast during our stay. We could order a breakfast box, but had to eat in our room, where there was only one stool. The restaurant man was rude for no apparent reason. One evening, a woman gave us menus and said we could order one last drink before closing. A few minutes later, he angrily said we should have known the restaurant closed at 10pm and urged us to leave the terrace as soon as possible. The next day, when we tried to enter the hotel part with our code, he snapped that the door was broken and we didn’t need the code. The information was useful, but there was no need to snap at us.

We paid extra for an upgraded room with a nice view, and on arrival the room did look lovely. Then we noticed the window had been left open and there were flies everywhere, which we had to kill. Gross, though not the end of the world. After that, we checked the bed as we always do and found stains on the blankets and pillows. I took the bedding off and messaged the hotel on WhatsApp. They arranged fresh bedding quickly while we were out, but when we came back, all the dirty linen was still in the room, which made me wonder how much had actually been done. The bathroom was grimy too, with scum in the shower and dirty floor grout. There were missing pieces of baseboard, marks along the walls, and a garbage can so dented it looked like it had been fished out of the trash. It felt run down, and the gap between what we expected from the way the suite was marketed and what we got was huge. Given what we paid, including for the upgrade, I was left wondering what exactly I was paying for. It felt like lipstick on a pig. Not a good experience, and sadly I won’t recommend it.

I gave it one star for the convenient location, one for the room and its facilities, and one for the quiet surroundings and secure access. But when we needed help, dealing with automated messages felt like talking to robots. Any people we saw around the hotel were completely unfriendly and didn’t even look back when we said hello. We stayed more than three days, and the room really needed cleaning. It wasn’t included unless you stayed 8+ days, so we had to clean it ourselves, even the glass cups. A broken shower made things worse. The room coffee machine was a nice idea, but the capsules were terrible. Tea, a heater, and two bottles of water were fine. I don’t recommend the place, and we don’t think we’ll try it again.

We loved our stay and were sorry to leave. Room 109 was the best room we had on our touring holiday around Europe, quirky and beautiful, with a roll top bath in the room, a balcony with lovely views, plenty of space, and everything we needed. It was clean too. We first got the wrong room number, though, and it took a while to get the correct one. The front desk wasn’t staffed, which was a problem when that happened. A fridge would have been a useful addition, as other reviews have mentioned. It’s about a 10-minute walk to the bus for Salzburg old town. Turn right as you leave the hotel, pass the Zoo, and the stop is on the left. Take bus 25 and get off at marketplaz, then walk over one of the bridges to the main old town area. We bought a 48-hour pass for travel and attraction entrances at the tourist office, and paid for our first bus trip to Old Town. It would have helped to have directions into town in reception or the rooms. The Japanese restaurant is onsite, though we understand it isn’t part of the hotel. It was very, very expensive. The food was good, but portions were small and we left hungry. The staff were aloof, banged plates on the table during service, and didn’t seem able to smile. It was an awful experience, and we won’t go back. Those were small issues with the hotel itself, and we loved the place. We can’t recommend the hotel highly enough.