Hotel Guter Hirte

The rooms were clean and good, with superb mattresses, and the bathrooms were spotless and newly fitted. Breakfast was excellent value and had everything you could want. Overall, a good experience. Salzburg is about a 12 minute walk from the Main Station and can also be reached conveniently by Bus 3. Africasiaeuro

I’m leaving a warning for future guests. I found this budget hotel on booking.com, then a few days after booking I got a WhatsApp message saying I needed to complete payment within hours to keep the room. The link opened a slightly discounted payment page that looked like booking.com. I didn’t want to lose the room, so I tried paying, but it failed several times, thankfully. I called the hotel to ask how to finish payment, and the owner or manager told me bluntly to ignore it because it wasn’t from them. There was no sign of concern or apology, and I felt like I was bothering them. Apparently it was a scam pretending to be the hotel, but the sender had my phone number and email, which was overwhelming. I told booking.com because the scammers were using its name too. Please be careful: an extra payment request outside booking.com isn’t from the hotel. I wasn’t thinking clearly, since some places do ask for later payment. The scammers used a Netherlands number (+31) and the name 'UpMarket Concierge'. The message said: “Dear 000, this is Hotel Flair. We kindly ask you to complete the final step to secure your reservation. Please be aware that your booking from ___ to ___ will only be held for the next 6 hours. Complete the process via our secure link here: ____.” The link led to the scam. Based on the manager or owner’s tone, I presumed they wouldn’t help if the payment had gone through.

The woman working until 3 in the morning was polite and friendly, but the man on reception after 3 was very rude. I went to him to recharge my room card because it had run out, and when I said excuse me, he stood up and started shouting at us in his language. While on the phone, he said something about us being Indian to the other person, which we couldn’t understand. After the call, he shouted at us again, saying rubbish in front of other people. He kept making comparisons because we are Indian. I felt he was disrespecting both the hotel and his country. I’m done with this place and won’t come back. I don’t recommend talking to him, and he’s not at all kid friendly.

The breakfast costs extra, but it isn't expensive, and the spread is genuinely worth it. Everything we tried was high quality, with scrambled eggs and bacon too, which suited us Americans who aren't ready for Brie first thing in the morning. The hotel is cute and within a mile of the train station, so walking around is easy. Several bus stops nearby cover the city, and a public transport pass comes with the room. The rooms are a little small, and the electricity only works after you put the key in a slot by the entrance. Nothing wrong with that, I just hadn't come across it before.