Hotel Marselis

We’ve stayed at this hotel before and have generally had good experiences. The staff are a big reason we’d come back: they’re very friendly and helpful. The location is another plus, with Marselisborg Deer Park beside the hotel and a long beach just across from it, which is handy for families. On this visit, though, the sauna wasn’t working, even though the sauna and pool were the main reasons we picked the hotel. We stayed from the 23rd to the 25th, and our room wasn’t cleaned on the 24th despite daily housekeeping being included. The pool water also felt quite cold in the below-zero winter weather. For a four-star hotel, the breakfast could be better, and some bathroom details need attention too, including a shower curtain with mold.

At checkout we brought up the problems, and were told we should have put a sign on the door to ask for room cleaning. There wasn’t a sign in our room, and in most hotels cleaning happens unless guests ask otherwise. The room had obvious issues: mold on the window frames and a thick layer of dust. We were moved to another room, but it wasn’t cleaned even once. The bathrobes only came in size M and were so short that it made me wonder if the hotel assumes guests are 1.50 m tall. Parking was another hassle from the start, since you can only pay through an app, which isn’t usable or allowed for some visitors from other countries. Not a great welcome for a hotel in this category. The restaurant didn’t help the impression. The table lamps had a visible dark ring of dust. There was a menu online, but at the restaurant we were only told to choose a sequence of starter, main course and dessert, without being shown what the actual dishes were. We were left guessing. The four-star rating feels more like an oversight than a promise. The lack of upkeep and investment was hard to miss.

We enjoyed the atmosphere, rooms and breakfast, all of which were excellent. The hotel has a sea view and is about an 8-minute walk from a deer Park. We’d book again when we visit Aarhus.

The gym and pool are good enough, and there’s a nice bar with a good breakfast. Some of the equipment and fittings are a bit old, but they’re fine. A very good place.