Agape Hotel & Restaurant

The breakfast barely counted as breakfast for me. They didn’t have plain yogurt, and all I ate was a hard-boiled egg, probably cooked for 30 minutes, with some toast. The towels smelled odd, and the two drinking glasses were wrapped as “sterilized,” but one was clearly used and hadn’t even been wiped. I wouldn’t drink from them without washing them first, and preferably wouldn’t use them at all. The bed was brutal on my tricky lower back. The carpet looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in maybe six months, and the floor wasn’t properly fitted. The TV looked like the first one my parents bought after the Romanian Revolution in 1989. You can hear everything from the other rooms and outside through the walls, door, and windows. There was also a strong cat urine smell from the fourth floor all the way down to the lobby, and the place felt unbelievably filthy. Finding a parking space took 10 minutes of circling, then I had to carry a lot of bags 300-400 metres because the hotel has no parking. At the “lobby,” the receptionist didn’t really understand me, even though I’ve spoken Romanian all my life. I repeated everything twice before he sort of got it. The elevator was hard to find too. I don’t know how they got four stars on the front. Maybe two, if I’m feeling generous. Welcome to Romania, where apparently if you know who to pay, you can have anything, including a two-star hotel showing four stars and charging four-star prices. Still want to try it? Don’t come, even if it’s free. You’d need to buy towels and a decent camping mattress for a good night’s sleep.

The location downtown is lovely, but the bathrooms need much better cleaning. The building is quite old, so the pipes and electrical system may be a bit rusty. During our stay the lights flickered often, and the sink pipes broke. They moved us to another room the next day, but didn’t offer a discount even though we couldn’t use the bathroom sink for a day. At this price, there are better places to stay.

The staff were polite, helpful, and pretty nice. The food is generally good quality and reasonably priced, though vegetarian choices are limited and there are sometimes no vegan options.

There’s a nice outdoor area in the middle of the building, and the view is pleasant. Markets, coffee shops, and restaurants are close by. The elevator smelled a little moldy, as did my bathroom, and the mattresses weren’t great for sleeping. Still, it’s not a five-star hotel.