Park Panzió***

It’s OK.

The room was spotless and spacious, as was the bathroom. The decor looked like it was from the 1970s or 80s, so I’d be surprised if the place is new, but everything was well furnished and maintained. The beds were hard, which is a matter of taste. There’s a small refrigerator that takes a long time to cool things, but it does the job. The room has plenty of outlets and is quiet at night, apart from frogs and other animals. Bring earplugs. The location wasn’t an issue for me, though it seems to be for some people. My stay wasn’t the most comfortable, but it wasn’t tragic. Check-in was quick, though I happened to run into the cleaning lady as she was taking out the garbage. The owner or manager wasn’t there, but she called for instructions. She only speaks Hungarian, while the renter on the phone sounded friendly and helpful. The instructions sent through Booking.com explained how to enter the building, but didn’t give the room number or explain how to get in without a key. If I hadn’t run into her by chance, that could have caused a problem. Management’s Booking message said check-in was no earlier than 3:30pm, with a possible charge for arriving before then. That’s 30 to 90 minutes later than at most places, and could be awkward since Booking says check-in starts after 2pm. I get up early and tend to look for places where I can check in early, so this might have been a big problem if I hadn’t happened to arrive at 3:25pm. I don’t know whether they would actually have charged me if I’d arrived at 2pm. It was 29C outside when I checked in, and the room was hot and stuffy. I ran the AC at full blast for hours. The room got less hot, but was still barely tolerable. Three cold showers later in the day helped. The AC may be inefficient, overworked, or short of freon. I could only open the windows at 9pm, and then the AC and fan suddenly stopped. Maybe it detected the colder air outside, I don’t know, but it never started again and the room still wasn’t comfortable. The thermostat gives you no clear idea of what temperature you’ve set. The owner’s Booking message said the place gets residual water from floods. Looking at the water when flushing the toilet after urinating, it seemed as though it hadn’t flushed at all, and I wouldn’t drink it. There was no obvious smell or discoloration in the shower or sink, though, and no unpleasant smell or taste. Fresh water is available in the hallway. Apart from a badly placed soap dispenser by the sink, there was no shampoo or soap, which seemed strange for the price, though not outrageous. One other issue for me is that in summer, when it gets really hot, the lack of effective AC would be a big problem.

Even though it was late in the evening, we were treated very well. As a Dutch person who doesn’t speak the language very well yet, I really appreciated being able to explain our situation in English. The building is luxurious, with spacious rooms, neat finishes, and everything super clean.