Hotel Sandwirth

We only stayed one night, but the room was clean, spacious, and cosy, and the historic building was fantastic to explore. The location was lovely, and staff were helpful and friendly. There was a city wide “water ban”, and they gave us one bottle of water total. It would have been nice to have one each. Finding the parking was the only real hiccup because the directions weren’t very clear. We couldn’t find the other garages and ended up in the most expensive one, though getting the hotel price was easy. It was a really good stay.

We won’t be back. The rooms and bathrooms were dirty, and the whole hotel felt tired and unloved. We expected a high standard, but this was the lowest we’ve ever come across. The reception staff seemed unprepared: there was no warm welcome, just a slow, clumsy check-in with mistakes, and they looked scruffy. As the hotel’s first point of contact, they gave us a bad idea of what the rooms would be like. When we went back with questions about housekeeping and coffee top-ups, we got blank looks and a mumbled “I don’t know.” That’s no way to run a business. The hotel needs staff with more enthusiasm and much better knowledge of their jobs.

The room was clean and spacious, with comfortable beds and great air conditioning. The hotel is only a short walk from the parking garage and main square. We enjoyed our stay and I’d come back.

We’re very grateful for the wonderful Austrian hospitality. We were travelling to Italy at night as a family and left late, so we needed somewhere to stop rather than sleep in the car. I’d been driving well, then noticed it was past 10 p.m. and most hotels on Google Maps were closing around then. At about 1 a.m., I remembered that four-star hotels often have a 24-hour front desk. Booking.com is the only site I know that lets you filter by stars. I don’t particularly like using it, but it pointed me to Hotel Sandwirth in Klagenfurt. I booked and paid for a three-bed room through Booking.com, then called Hotel Sandwirth and found out the reservation hadn’t come through. Even so, the receptionist kindly agreed to accommodate us. We arrived around 2 a.m. Since triple rooms weren’t available, the staff offered us two rooms for only a slightly higher price. The hotel was very clean and full of tradition. Breakfast was fresh, delicious, varied, and plentiful, and it was very good value for money. Thank you again, we’ll recommend it.