Sandra

The owner, an older woman, didn’t seem very welcoming toward young people. We’d booked for two, but there were no towels, and we weren’t allowed to use the kitchen. After 8 p.m. the lights went out, so we had to keep very quiet in the lounge.

The balcony has a fantastic view, and the rooms are cozy and pleasant. The kitchen could’ve been cleaner and better equipped, though it was still nice to have.

The stay was very expensive for what we got, and the whole experience was terrible. We’d booked through Booking two weeks ahead. The evening before arrival, we called the number listed on the site several times to say when we’d get there. Eventually a woman answered, annoyed, asked why we’d called that number, and told us not to call it again. We asked for a different number and said we’d arrive around 4 p.m. The next day at about 2 p.m., another person called in a superior tone, asking whether they should keep waiting or find someone else. I explained we’d already said we’d arrive in two hours, but she said the other host hadn’t told her. An elderly woman greeted us when we arrived, clearly irritated by guests. She was embarrassing, disrespectful, and insulting. There was no hot water or heat, and cold water came out in a trickle. When we complained, she said she wouldn’t turn on the central heating until mid-October. That evening, we saw a hot radiator downstairs and thought our room might be warm too, but it was as cold as outside. We had to sleep fully dressed under three beds’ worth of covers. When we asked for a hairdryer, she said someone had taken it before and they wouldn’t replace it. She seemed bothered by us being in the kitchen. The only clean areas were the bed, floor, and bathroom, and even there we found dirt. The towels were few and small, the soap was coin-sized, and there was no toilet paper. As we left, we politely mentioned again that there’d been no heat or hot water. The hostess, very uncooperative, said we were lying, claimed nobody else had complained, then yelled and spoke to us disrespectfully.

The room itself was fine: spacious, bright, with clean linen, a balcony, a view of the Caraiman Cross, and large, comfortable beds. The location also deserves five stars. But the owners make the rest of the stay frustrating. We were three people and got only one coin-sized bar of soap. The host said we couldn’t have large shower towels because previous guests had stolen them. Instead, we got three small, worn, thin towels. Water pressure was already weak, and if people downstairs used water, only a trickle reached the top floor. Even at its strongest, the shower was feeble, and hot water was available on a schedule. Showering felt like using a two-liter bottle with a hole in the cap. The host said she stayed active until 11 p.m. and then locked the door, but by 9:30 p.m. there was nobody to talk to. I called for the Wi-Fi password and got no answer. Mobile reception was weak there, so I had no internet. The kitchen light was a dim reddish bulb, almost like a candle. Downstairs, the buildings had a persistent smell of a house that hadn’t been washed or aired out, and the bathroom fixtures needed cleaning. Everything felt tightly controlled and stingy.