Helikon Panzi

The place was disgusting, and I’d never recommend it. We were eight people and had agreed on four separate rooms, but that arrangement fell apart from the start. No one was there when we arrived except a cleaner who knew nothing. She put us in two rooms and two tiny spaces that barely fit a bed, makeshift rooms made of plasterboard. The owner turned up about four hours late and said more guests were coming, so some rooms had to be freed up. Four of us ended up in one room, and our agreed reservation was no longer honored. That was only the beginning. The photos looked about 15 years out of date and bore no relation to reality. Everything was very worn down. The yard was dirty and untidy, with food scraps left outside for cats that were already three weeks old. The roof leaked. It looked like not a single forint had been spent on the accommodation in about 10 years, and the owner gave us no invoice for what we paid. The yard could fit at most four cars, not eight. We had three cars and managed to park, but I don’t know what would have happened if we’d arrived separately. There were yellowed shower curtains, used gas stoves that seemed a hundred years old, and a fridge squeezed into one of those spaces that leaked water into the room. The toilet tanks were so loud when flushed that everyone woke up to hear them. The walls around the light switches were black, and it looked like the place hadn’t had a hygienic paint job in about 10 years. We stayed four days, and I lost count of how many people came through. If he could, the owner would put four people in one bed. Never again.

The photos on all the listing sites need updating. The coffee machine shown was in such poor condition that we didn’t dare go near it. There were two tiny cubbyholes by the entrance, a disaster, with barely room to turn around. The yard had weeds, rubbish, and food scraps for a small animal that were already mouldy. In the rain, the stairs up to the second floor leaked. The downstairs room’s fridge leaked too, and the upstairs toilet was beyond comment, its tank was so loud you could hear it in the yard.

Lake Balaton is very close, which suited our holiday plans for swimming and sunbathing. The accommodation worked for what we needed. If you have high expectations, or even use Domestos while on vacation, this probably isn’t the place for you. We’d like to stay at the Helikon Pension next year, if our budget allows.

The guesthouse is a big zero. The photos haven’t been updated in about 10 years, and the place was dirty and shabby, with worn furniture, musty beds, leaking fridges, an unbearable toilet tank, and disgusting showers. The yard was untidy, dirty, and full of rubbish. The landlord wasn’t there when we arrived or left. We reached him by phone, but he wasn’t helpful and said he couldn’t come, then the cleaning lady would show us where to put our things. She didn’t know the details either and kept referring us to the boss. The four rooms for eight people that we’d arranged fell through right away. Neither of the two private “rooms” downstairs was more than 2 square meters, and neither had a shower, even though that was specifically mentioned on the phone. Later, the lady showed up and said other guests were coming, so we should move into the four-bed room. We didn’t get a bill. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.