Vikings Grigo Apartaments

The restaurant is the real highlight, the food is very good. At 145 lei a room, the place is fine for a night if you don't expect luxury. The mattress is comfortable and I slept okay, though the room had no view, cleanliness was only acceptable for someone who's not fussy, and the bathroom could use some renovation. Getting to the room is odd: you enter from a courtyard behind the restaurant, through what feels more like a warehouse than an apartment entrance. That's why I gave the location three stars. For one night and 145 lei, it's hard to complain too much, but don't arrive with high expectations.

The welcome was warm, and when I booked on Booking everything looked fine, including the room and location. But after we got inside, we found the only window facing a dark wall, while the door and bathroom windows looked into a dim inner courtyard. The wifi didn't work either. The cleanliness was much worse. There were cobwebs on the ceiling and in the corners, visible dust that looked like it hadn't been wiped for months, and plastic-feeling bedding that made us think it hadn't been changed. The bathroom looked awful, the tiles were moldy, and a terrible sewage smell filled the place. We're not picky, but this was the worst non-compliant accommodation we've had so far. I hope the owners take this as constructive criticism and fix it. All the best.

I reported this to Booking.com's customer service because the listing felt misleading, and I hope they'll take action. Consumers shouldn't be misled by false descriptions. The listing called it an air-conditioned studio, but it only had an ice-cube air cooler. It was noisy, made the room more humid, and did nothing for the temperature or comfort. The advertised “quiet street view” was actually a wall 2-3 meters away, with no road between. The window was defective and wouldn't close, and with no screen, mosquitoes kept getting in. It was also listed with a dining area, but there was no table, chairs, cutlery, or crockery. The room had a small minibar fridge and, at most, a kettle if you asked. There was a sofa and small tea table on the other side, but one leg was broken and only seemed to stay in place by balance. Move it a little and the leg would come off and the table could fall. The amenities claimed parquet and wood flooring and hypoallergenic solutions, but the floor was carpet. That's a serious problem for someone like me with dust allergies, especially since no cleaning was done during our six-day stay. I also found just one roll of toilet paper and two fingers' worth of liquid soap, apparently meant to last all six days. The small bathroom window had no privacy curtain and looked onto the courtyard leading to the apartments, where the property's offices are. There was no shower mat, and mold was visible. The walls were said to be soundproof, but I could hear everything in the courtyard and the footsteps of guests upstairs.

The mold in the bathroom made the whole apartment smell moldy. We had to leave the door open for an hour just to sleep for a few hours. We had booked three nights in advance on Booking. The morning after the first night, we tried to get the money back for the remaining two. At first he told me to submit a request on Booking, then he refused. My wife and I left and found another place for the next two days. I don't know if I'll get the difference back, and I don't expect money for the night we stayed, only the other two. Next time I'll be wiser about paying in advance.