Hotel Vienna Ostenda

I agree with the previous reviews about breakfast. The choice is very limited. Don’t take the five-star reviews at face value. I’d rate the hotel 2-3 stars. One member of the dining staff is from Tunisia and has only been in Italy for two years. He doesn’t know how to serve, and he and the dining manager seemed rather miserable. During breakfast, he picked his nose and then served food without washing his hands. That was disgusting. The others were just okay. The hotel needs updating, especially the very small shower, which has no towel rail. The towel is placed on the bin lid, so you have to use your hand to open the bin. That’s unacceptable. They call it a four-star hotel, so the tourist tax is high. The balcony door has shutters, which is worrying, and they’re very hard to open and close.

Breakfast was really tasty, and the coffee was the best I’ve ever had in a hotel. The rooms didn’t meet our expectations, though. We moved to a better one, but it was still very small, with a small bathroom. The hotel definitely needs a refresh.

The outside looks nice and the staff were okay, but the place was dirty and not worth such a high price. There was chewing gum on the wall and the bathroom shower was rotten. At least the sheets were clean, though the covers weren’t. I wouldn’t come back even if it were free.

Breakfast on the final morning was an awful end to an extremely terrible stay. I had an early meeting, so at 7 a.m. I grabbed bread for only 2-3 minutes and left. I came back at 10 a.m., before breakfast ended at 10:30, because I needed to check out and catch a train without time for lunch. I wanted to use my second breakfast entitlement properly. A male staff member accused me of having eaten already and said I’d have to pay extra. I explained that my booking included two breakfasts and showed the confirmation. He said he’d check with reception. When I asked if it was verified, he said that two breakfasts for one person allowed only one entry. I told him reception had approved bringing a friend, which meant two entries, and he walked off. Another staff member made the same accusation. Then an old man came over and loudly demanded €30, even though reception had quoted €15 and the website said €10. He ignored my explanation and walked away angrily when I offered to show the booking. All three staff accused and humiliated me in public. I left my food and went to confront him. He told me to come to reception. The woman who had checked me in snapped, “I don’t know why you always have so many problems.” After I explained, she finally said I could go eat because the restaurant staff hadn’t known and now they did, and that I had two breakfasts. There was no apology. She was still rude, telling me to eat and check out quickly. I said it wasn’t fair to blame me for “having problems”; this was their fault, and I’d shown proof. She exploded, saying I could have breakfast now, she didn’t want to talk, and asking when I’d check out. I’d already had trouble at check-in on day one, when I was the only guest and still waited forever. The staff member kept answering calls and making several outgoing calls while processing me. I thought one call was understandable, but personal calls could wait until my check-in was finished. Then she left without explaining or completing it, and another staff member took over. I asked if they could hurry because I’d waited a long time. The new staff member called her back, and she yelled that she was busy, alone, and I had no choice but to wait. I was abroad by myself, so I didn’t escalate it. She said the booking included two breakfasts for one person. I confirmed, since the booking site didn’t offer a single-breakfast option, and asked if one breakfast fee could be deducted. She refused, and I said fine. I remembered two friends staying nearby without breakfast and asked if I could bring one. She said yes. When I asked the extra fee for two friends, she snapped that my breakfast couldn’t be refunded and only one friend was allowed. I repeated the question, and she barked that it was €15 per person. I agreed. In the end, my friends never came, and I ate alone for the first three mornings of my four-night stay. Having two breakfasts in separate time slots was my right. My first visit lasted two minutes and wasn’t really a finished meal. I left for a meeting and came back, as you might with an unfinished meal. For the previous three days I’d eaten only once a day. There was no written one-entry-per-person rule, and reception had verbally said I could bring a friend, meaning two entries. Even though they were wrong, they sent three staff to harass me, shamed me publicly, and demanded double the fee, €30. Unforgivable. The receptionist blaming me with “always have problems” was vile. This was my worst hotel experience.