Sashalom Hotel

We didn’t feel welcome and left without checking in. The owner wouldn’t help with a refund or another room when we pointed out that what we’d been given didn’t match what we’d seen in the photos on booking.com. He said he couldn’t photograph every room, then told us to check in or get out. The neighborhood felt terrible, and the location was bad. This delay left us very late, unable to find somewhere else, and we had to leave the city. A really bad experience.

We stayed for seven days, and the service was good. They guarantee attention at the hotel from 06:00 to 22:00. You can also pay 2000 HUF, about €5, for the entrance key so you can get to your room at any hour; they give the money back at the end of your stay. The room was clean, with fresh sheets and a towel on each bed. At check-in, they greeted us politely, showed us where everything was, handed over the keys, and explained the schedules, despite the worrying reviews I’d read beforehand. A room for six cost €66 per night, which is cheap. It’s two blocks from a train stop, and the ride to the city center takes 25-30 minutes. Across from the station there’s a SPAR, a Pizza Hut, and a pharmacy.

We left a day early after a horrible stay. We found five bed bugs, one full of blood, and my friend had a large bite on her leg. The owner insisted they must have followed us from the metro. We were so worried about bringing an infestation with us that we had to leave some things behind and throw others away. The room towels were dirty and stained, the hotel was disgusting, and reception was cluttered. The owner seemed very obviously like a hoarder, asked us bizarre questions, and spoke only Hungarian. He also made inappropriate remarks. Based on comments on Booking.com, he seems to have a history of being inappropriate with young women. He made sexual comments about his friend and said we should invite him for fun. He pressured us to take photos with him in the costumes we’d prepared for an event, even when we tried to refuse. We’d have been better off not staying, or maybe sleeping in our car. Zero stars, the worst hotel ever. I’d rather sleep in an old shed.

The sulfur smell from the drains spread through the room and hallways. There were bed bugs, the place was unclean, and the host was strange. Registration was also tedious, as though this were some highly acclaimed hotel for kings. I’ve stayed at plenty of awful hotels, but this one takes the cake. I’d give it minus stars if I could. Disgusting place, it should be shut down for good.