Peregrino Panzió

I only lasted one night and won’t come back. The mattress was old, smelly, and stained under the sheet. The blanket looked clean, but I wasn’t sure. The toilet leaked, the place was noisy, and hot water was available only from 6 to 9 and 18 to 22 o'clock. Breakfast wasn’t included either. The next hostel I moved to was cheaper and included breakfast. I asked about getting a refund despite the problems, but there was none. The room I saw looked unfinished, like parts were still under construction. I wanted a non-smoking room, but it smelled like an ashtray. Staff said smoking was prohibited, but they didn’t check. The furniture was old, dust was on the floor, dead insects were by the window, and there were plastic plants. They wanted a €10 deposit for the TV remote, for an 80s/90s TV set. There was no toilet paper, which can happen, so that wasn’t a big deal. In the bathroom, pipes and other things came out of the wall around the tiles. Outside, someone had clearly ignored the no-smoking rule: furniture, a mattress, and other things were burnt in the backyard. When I asked, the staff member who came upstairs just rolled their eyes and said, “not worry, you take room?” The guy running Peregrino was grumpy, loud, and unfriendly. Guests got friendly treatment until they paid, and he didn’t seem to pay attention to things. Check-in required signing a form only in Hungarian. I asked for English, Italian, Spanish, or German, but there wasn’t a version in those languages. Only two fines were explained in “hunglish,” for smoking and damaged furniture. The owner and boss behaved badly. Parking wasn’t guarded or secure, and there was a strange burnt cigarette smell. Parts seemed under construction but were still being rented to guests, so I’d warn families away. The female receptionist “Nikolett” was a bright spot. I don’t know why she works for such a bad boss. There was free WiFi and a bar on the ground floor with soft drinks, wine, beer, and 3-4 kinds of stronger drinks. I looked at their new website afterward. It seemed they’d redone one room, maybe the one that had burnt down, and were showing it as if every room looked like that. When I searched online, ratings ranged from good to bad. I suspect the owner and staff, apart from the receptionist girl, paid more attention to hygiene, friendliness, and housekeeping back in 2014-2015 than they did when I visited. The newest ratings match my experience. I’ve travelled a lot and stayed in sub-standard places, but this was still not worth the price on a well-known booking site. The staff barely spoke English, just a few words in different languages. If you asked a question or had a problem, they’d just say “nem tudom,” Hungarian for “I don’t know.” At check-in they handed me a strange form with legal wording only in Hungarian. I wanted to see the room before signing, which brought more eye-rolling from the owner and staff. After a bit of arguing, I went up to look.

For a good price, I had a comfortable, clean room and a good experience. The people were nice and very helpful.

The rooms were filthy, with ashes all over and spider webs. There was no AC, highway noise, and a WC like a WW1 field toilet. 🤢

The rooms all need repairs, and the furniture looks older than my parents.