Acta City 47

The only things I liked were the Wi-Fi and breakfast. I wouldn’t pay even half of the €250 I spent, and I’d only consider staying again if I were completely deaf. At least on the fifth floor, this hotel failed at its main job: letting people rest at night. The doors and walls might as well have been fishnets. I was woken around 1 pm by people in the corridor walking, talking and opening doors. Later, I could hear a neighbour having a conversation that didn’t seem especially loud. Waiting for the elevator, I could hear someone showering through a “wall”, as if the water were falling right next to me. I don’t mind a small bedroom, but here walking around the bed meant hitting my arm on the wall-mounted TV. In the shower, you have to hold the handset because the wall mount sprays water onto the floor. The magnetic room card deactivates whenever it gets close to a phone. They warn you about it, but it’s a hassle to get back to the room and find yourself locked out. The hotel’s four-star claim feels wildly optimistic.

The bed and pillows were nice, and I was glad there was a coffee maker in the room. But I’m staying here now, and the noise outside is awful. Homeless people are fighting and making a lot of noise, and the building isn’t soundproof at all, even on the fifth floor. The metro is close, but that’s the only good thing about the location. The room layout is poor. The wardrobe has no doors on the outside, there isn’t a single drawer, and the only mirror has no socket nearby, so doing my hair is guesswork. The air conditioner ventilation smells strange. Breakfast staff weren’t helpful, and spoke rudely to us after we accidentally took a mug from the bar instead of the one we were meant to use. The gym isn’t really working either, only one machine works.

The room AC was disappointing, as seems common across Europe. The rooms were clean and the staff friendly. There’s a department store next door, which is handy. The train station is close, but there isn’t much else to do nearby unless you take the metro.

We were there for one night while in transit, and it was a great stay. The rooms are really spacious for a big city, and breakfast was included and very good. The location was great, and the staff were very accommodating, especially Jenni. We’re from Australia and felt overwhelmed with things, but she helped a lot, from picking a restaurant to arranging hire car collection and parking. Highly recommend.