Grätzlhotel Belvedere

I felt anxious for the rest of my stay after two separate incidents where men tried to enter my room without warning. First, after I emailed about the broken heating, a man showed up while I was showering. I hadn’t heard his knock, and he was already coming in before I could grab a robe and shout for him to stop. The office should have told me someone was coming. A few minutes later, two more men tried to get in, saying they needed to check whether the fire hydrant was safe for me. Why wasn’t that checked before I arrived? As a woman who often travels solo, I’ve never felt this unsafe in a place I was staying. The heating didn’t work on my first night, and when I emailed the next morning, nobody replied to explain what would happen. The key safe code also failed, so I had to call the office to have someone bring me a key. When I said I’d been waiting in the cold for a while, the person on the phone snapped at me. Luckily, no one else turned up after those first two incidents, but they left me on edge. They need to communicate properly with guests. Isn’t that why they ask for our contact details?

The room was 83°F / 28°C in summer, and there were no windows to open for air. They provided a fan, but that was just a Band-Aid. The listing falsely advertises AC, and I’ll be asking for a refund. I’m sure this might be a nice place in winter, but in this heat it’s unacceptable. Edit: The owner confronted me the next morning with a sob story about Google’s algorithm causing the bad information. If you care so much about your Google reviews, stay on top of your Google Maps information. You call yourself an architect and small business owner, so design in some AC and own the problem. I found reviews about this going back years. Yes, I booked on your website via Google Maps. As you say, it doesn’t say there’s AC or that there isn’t, so make that clearer if you want better ratings. I called the night before and was told there was AC, which was false, it was too late to move rooms, and a refund wasn’t possible, with no promises for the next morning either. If I could give less than one star, I would. Stay away.

The interior was unusual, and the place had everything we needed for four nights. We accidentally went to the wrong building at first, but the reception staff were incredibly helpful, checked us in, and handed over the welcome pack. The city center was an easy walk away, or just two stops by transit, which suited us perfectly.

They told us at the last minute that the flat I’d booked for my daughter’s Christmas holiday, many months earlier, was no longer part of their offer. It’s unacceptable. We feel miserable, honestly.