Shnelli Apartments

Breakfast had a great mix of hot and continental food, and the views over the old town were lovely. We were upgraded to a room that felt like a small suite, with a lounge as well as a bedroom. We had a great night here and will definitely come back.

The location is very convenient, close to the old town, railway, market place, and Selver. You can get an inexpensive salad at the restaurant downstairs, and the hotel is comfortable. Rooms were okay, though not special, and breakfast was nothing memorable. Some employees brought back memories of Soviet times. The room numbers were hard to spot until we realized they were on the caepets. My room also had a strong perfume smell, though I was able to change it. As in other Estonian hotels, the shower water flow was weak.

For the low price, the location, tidy room, and very good breakfast were hard to beat. The one annoying issue was the connecting door between two separate rooms. It stayed locked, so there were no worries about access, but sound carried so clearly that I could hear EVERY word next door. Better sound insulation or thicker doors would help.

The booking was for five people through Hotels.com, with breakfast prepaid, but what we got did not match it. We stayed three nights over New Year with a child, and it was a terrible experience. The accommodation was unhygienic and unsafe for a family. In the family room there were beds for only three. We were told the sofa could be used, but it was extremely dirty, smelled strongly, had no separate mattress, and was not fit for sleeping. We had to pay for another room even though we had paid for five guests. The hotel suggested two double rooms, but that still would have left one person without a proper bed despite full payment for five. The linens were clean, but the bed frames, bed structures, and sofa were heavily stained and extremely dirty. Photos document this. After staying and sleeping there, I had an allergic reaction, and my child developed serious skin reactions and wounds, also documented in photos. This was a serious hygiene and health risk, especially with children. Breakfast had been paid for, yet staff repeatedly asked us for extra payment even after we showed receipts and the booking confirmation. In the end we got no breakfast at all. We paid for a service that was never provided. Staff offered no solution and told us to contact Hotels.com ourselves, which was extremely difficult over the New Year holiday. This involved misleading booking information, a clear breach of contract, and a serious failure around hygiene and safety, all backed by photographs. I’m requesting a full refund for the prepaid breakfast, repayment for the extra room we had to book because of the hotel’s error, and a significant or full refund for the stay because it was unsafe, unhygienic, and did not match the reservation. An apology isn’t enough when a child’s health, allergic reactions, and a breach of contract are involved. The experience was extremely poor from start to finish, and our holiday was completely ruined. I won’t return and wouldn’t recommend this hotel to families or other travelers. I expect the matter to be handled promptly with appropriate compensation. If it isn’t resolved within a reasonable time, I’ll escalate it to consumer protection authorities and submit all the photos as evidence. Kind regards, Sona Said Faqir