River Garden Hotel Gabala

The location is good, and the room was comfortable and well maintained. The service was fairly acceptable overall. Room service took about 15-20 minutes for a simple hot chocolate, which seemed a bit long. We only found out after asking the maintenance staff that the AC unit was set to heating mode for winter, with cooling disabled by the hotel. We got fresh air by opening the window.

We had prepaid for our stay and were traveling with a child. The hotel later asked for extra payment because of the child. If there was an issue, it should have been handled through clear communication or at checkout. Instead, while we were out of the room, staff locked us out with all our luggage and personal belongings still inside. That caused us significant distress. A dispute over money should be handled properly, not by blocking access to a room that has already been paid for. This was a serious failure of basic hospitality, and we do not recommend Garden Hotel & Spa based on this experience.

We were especially grateful to Mr. Ugur for taking such care with our reservation and upgrade. The whole team was professional and attentive, and we were extremely satisfied with the friendly service, good food, and clean, comfortable rooms. Everything was organized at a high level, and for the price, the service went beyond what we expected. Our time there was wonderful, truly perfect.

The rooms are spacious and nicely equipped, and breakfast was perfect. Dinner, though, was dull, and there’s only one restaurant for dinner and another for breakfast. Most guests seemed to eat elsewhere, as we did on the following nights. Luckily, there are nice restaurants nearby, even within walking distance. A few small annoyances: the shataf (bum wash) was pointed the wrong way, and the room stayed hot even with the heating off, so we had to open the window even in January. No one answered my calls to reception, and housekeeping was inconsistent. They took away the toilet roll without replacing it and threw out toothbrushes after just one use. Those are minor issues, though. Generally it’s a nice hotel, and I can’t blame them for children running and shouting everywhere when they aren’t being controlled.