Holiday

For my business trip, the room heating was hard to control and made the stay uncomfortable, especially on colder days. The service was very poor and didn't meet basic expectations for a hotel in this category. The website advertised parking and a spa, but neither was available. We had to park in the shopping centre next door and pay another €76. I wouldn't recommend this hotel. I'm sure Sarajevo has better options.

The newly renovated room I got on the seventh floor was spacious, clean, and had stylish, functional new furniture. Others in my group weren't as lucky. The renovation was mostly cosmetic, though: old, stained bath and shower, a bathroom wall hole with its plastic cover fallen off, and other fixtures in terrible shape. The room door looked original from 1984, had a bent chain as if it had been forced several times, and wouldn't close unless pushed hard. That left the room unlocked for much of the day after housekeeping. The window mechanism fell apart as soon as I opened it. The bathroom worked, but looked dated; the place needs a full renovation. Check-in staff were friendly and helpful, but housekeeping was all over the place. Some days the room and bathroom were cleaned, other days only towels were changed, or the bed was made without fresh towels. Sometimes supplies weren't replenished. I used the tea sachets on day one and didn't get more until day four, despite daily service. The hotel is a beautiful brutalist historic structure with lots of character, but it hasn't had the investment needed to meet modern standards. The furnishings and finishes don't show off the architecture. Old dated furniture, seemingly abandoned ground-floor areas, a leaking lobby fountain, cheap white fluorescent lights, and a reception straight from a Soviet spy novel all add to the odd feel. Beside the elevators, the lobby had a LED holographic ad of a naked dancing woman for the local strip club. Breakfast was a talking point for our group. The room felt like stepping into socialist 1984, with tobacco-stained curtains, wood paneling, cheap fluorescent lighting, and no windows or natural light. Food was a strange mix: cheap boiled frozen vegetables, mushy salads, and cheap sausages with gristle and bone, alongside a few better things. Fried eggs were good, as were the smoked cheese and spinach burek. Coffee was extremely bad. Most days the only option was Nescafé from a machine that produced slightly brown water pretending to be instant coffee. Some days another machine had real coffee, but that was bad too, just not quite as bad. Strange and interesting, but not an experience I'd repeat.

The room turned out to be good, with a great shower and a huge window that opens all the way. Breakfast was pretty good too, so I raised my rating after the first night. The front desk women were very nice. Still, the basement has been under construction for what seems like ages, so there's no pool, sauna, or gym. The website keeps the old spa photos and doesn't mention this before booking. They charge as if the hotel were fully finished, which makes it too expensive. If I could get my money back and leave, I would. Manager, please be upfront and update the website. You might avoid reviews like this, and maybe keep your job.

We stopped here for one night on our Balkan trip. The rooms were comfortable and clean, apart from the bathtub, which wasn't. Breakfast had a decent range, though the tables needed cleaning. The hotel itself is quite old, but it's in a central spot.