Pension Panorama

We had a very pleasant family Christmas, with peace, quiet, and nature around us. Benecko nearby has ski lifts for beginners and advanced skiers, and Skałka restaurant serves delicious meals. The house also has a spacious dining room with a bar and lovely mountain views, plus a large terrace and a bench overlooking the scenery. It’s close to hiking trails. Communication with the owner was good, though he didn’t understand much English, so we used a Polish-Czech translator. The costs were a concern. When booking, I was told about the house fee, resort tax, pet fee, and electricity. At checkout, we also had to pay for heating, even though it was gas-powered. The house itself left mixed feelings. The bedrooms varied from tiny rooms with bathrooms difficult for a grown man to use, to large two-room apartments for four with bathrooms. Many had blown light bulbs, protruding nails, and loose wood paneling. Water pressure was weak in many rooms, and flushing took a long time. There was dust on lamps and shelves, and several rooms had lots of dead flies. The carpets throughout need replacing or at least cleaning. We spent three hours cleaning when we arrived before using the house. The kitchen had plenty of equipment, but some items were worn and dirty, and the whole area was caked with grease. There’s no dishwasher, just a steamer that couldn’t handle the dishes, so most had to be washed by hand. The oven was too dirty to use. It’s worth weighing the good and bad before renting this house.

The price bears no relation to the quality. The interior is in a terrible state: the kitchen was filthy, the carpets dirty and worn, and chairs, doors, floors, and beds all creaked. Drawers were loose and sticking out of the walls, and the bathroom faucets were loose too. The bathrooms and toilets are smaller than an airplane bathroom, like trying to use a toilet in a closet. There are no toilets in the common areas, so you have to go upstairs to one of those closet-sized toilets. The common rooms lack power outlets, Wi-Fi doesn’t reach every room, and the outdoor benches have no roof. Theft.

The sunrise and sunset views were beautiful. The kitchen was large but needed a proper clean, and unfortunately the dishes were dirty too. The refrigerators needed cleaning as well. There were sluggish flies all over the rooms. Disgusting.

The location and view are nice, and the place was relatively clean. But the cottage’s equipment wasn’t fully working. Some rooms had no working light, and the toilet could take about 15 minutes to refill. Shower pressure was often barely enough to wash with, let alone take a shower. There’s no other shared place to relax apart from the dining room. There is a sauna room in the basement, but I wouldn’t count that. For a summer cottage in August, the price is out of line given how much was broken or only partly working.