Casa Roma

Although summer season hadn’t officially started yet, the place was open and had everything we needed. We arrived late at night, and the host was kind and welcoming.

The mattress was painfully stiff and we woke with sore backs. There was only one sheet on the bed, so we were basically sleeping on the mattress. I don’t even want to describe what it looked like. The room smelled of mold, and the bathroom wasn’t cleaned daily. Housekeeping just took out the trash and left fresh toilet paper. There was no towel rail, the pillows were very worn, and the room had no hanger. The shower pressure was low too. The owner smoked inside despite the “Smoking is prohibited” signs. There was plaster on our room’s terrace, and nobody at the accommodation wore a face mask, including the housekeeping staff. We booked two rooms on different floors and they were the same, so we didn’t ask to switch. We booked through Booking and paid a prepayment. Then the property tried to cancel the reservation. After I messaged and called, I was told, “It must be a mistake from the receptionist,” though we never saw a receptionist during our stay, only the owner or owners. They tried to cancel the booking again after our vacation, which would have stopped us from leaving a review and them from paying Booking its fee. When we arrived, the owner first said we could cancel the Booking reservation if we accepted a 100 RON discount. We don’t think that’s normal. We believe in paying for the services that helped us arrange the stay, even when the accommodation wasn’t good. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone and wouldn’t stay again, even for free. It was overpriced and basic, with nothing to justify what they charge.

The room was on the ground floor, smelled awful, and was very dirty. We thought opening a window might clear the smell, but it didn’t. It smelled strongly of mold and felt really unhealthy. The air conditioner leaked water onto the balcony table. The toilet and seat were dirty, the shower spilled water onto the floor, and the floor sloped toward the room with no drain. The carpet in the room soaked up the water, so you can imagine the smell. The walls were very dirty too. It felt like you didn’t want to touch anything. The only things that seemed clean were the sheets and pillows. I don’t care about luxury, just a clean place that doesn’t stink. Those seem like decent expectations. We booked through Booking, but the property cancelled our reservation, saying we hadn’t paid in advance even though the booking process didn’t require it. When we called, the owner said we could come without using the booking platform, though I insisted on booking through it. They said they accepted holiday tickets, but also demanded an advance payment and offered no other option. I offered to pay the full amount in advance and use the tickets on arrival to get the money back. He rejected that too. Only when I said we wouldn’t book and our friends would cancel their two other rooms did he change his mind. On arrival, the owner offered us the ground floor room with a strange attitude. He later cancelled the booking for our friends’ two rooms too. Is that how he does business, to avoid bad reviews? He proudly displays an 8.5 Booking rating. We’ve never booked such a bad property. The owner acted as if he was paying us to stay, rather than the other way around. A very bad experience, and people should know what they’re booking.

The staff were nice, and the rooms were clean. The beach is farther away than the advert suggested. The furniture is cheap, and the bathroom could use a few more things, like towel hangers.