Hotel Centrál

We were on our way to Italy and stayed the night, checking in around 11PM. The reception is open 24/7. A few things to keep in mind: The rooms are clean, but there's a strange smell. It wasn't bad enough to stop us sleeping. There's no A/C, and our room was about 30 degrees when we arrived. Luckily, it was cold outside so we could open the windows. The hotel is very old. The elevator has been out of service for years, so don't believe the claim that it only stopped working yesterday. Water from the bar has to be paid for in cash. The room is cheaper if you pay cash too. Breakfast from 7-9AM was disappointing: scrambled eggs, yoghurt, bread, tomatoes and ham. At 70 euros cash, or 82 with card, it was way too expensive for what you get. If it cost half as much, I might suggest it for a one-night stay, since there aren't many good options nearby. I wouldn't recommend it at this price. Maybe it was a great place when it opened in 1913, but now it needs major renovation.

The building has a pleasant old-fashioned feel, and the location is handy, though things around there shut early. Beyond that, we found the place dirty, with plenty of bugs crawling across our room floor in the morning. The receptionist was rude from the outset. The walls are so thin you hear everything from the other rooms, and you end up whispering so you don't upset the receptionist.

I spent one night here and it was the worst hotel stay of my life. There were cobwebs and insects all over the place, the towels were dirty and torn, and the bathroom carpet was filthy. The room itself was unpleasant, with furniture arranged in a way that made little sense and wall covering peeling off. We waited ages for hot water, and the soap had expired two years earlier. There were only two working outlets, neither reachable by the fridge, so it couldn't run. The window was far too high to reach, leaving us with no way to get fresh air. I wouldn't recommend staying here to anyone.

The staff were helpful, though there didn't seem to be many of them. The manager appeared to be handling breakfast and speaking with a contractor on another floor at the same time, and might have been preparing the buffet too. For anyone wanting to stay in central Nagykanizsa, there may not be much choice. The hotel hints at its former grandeur. The stained glass on the stairs and the doors built for ten-foot giants make you imagine its heyday around 1914 and the 1920s. Our room, though, was a letdown. In summer, no air conditioning in a Hungarian city is rough, and the windows face a busy road with both vehicle and pedestrian noise at night. There was no proper shower or curtain, so water went across the floor, and the poorly secured shower head was too low and hard to aim. I'm not a ten-foot giant either. Breakfast was okay, but the coffee was cold. The water and coffee heaters were unplugged, which probably explains it.