Hotel Cardinal

A nice hotel in a really quiet spot. Just watch out for dogs if you're walking or running outside the neighborhood at night or early in the morning.

At The Cardinal Hotel, Anca at the front desk made us feel right at home. We had such a memorable stay and will always carry Romania in our hearts. The spa was wonderfully relaxing, with a modern sauna, steam room, and jacuzzi overlooking a charming little chapel. At dinner, the food was delicious, organic, and sourced from local farms. The meat and cheese were especially tasty. Alex explained Romanian food to my wife and me, paired it with a great wine, and was kind, knowledgeable, and clearly proud of his country. The service was impeccable. The hotel itself was comfortable, quiet, and wonderful. It's a little gem!

This was the worst hotel experience I've had so far. After we'd booked two nights and driven for hours, we arrived to find they had no room for us on the first night. They sent us to a pension instead, where the surroundings made it impossible to rest, then asked us to pay their hotel's rate for it. The staff were very unfriendly and blamed each other for the booking mistakes. Reservations were written by hand in an agenda, at a 4-star hotel! The two stars are for the well-maintained location itself. Definitely don't recommend.

We came back for a second visit and were disappointed this time. The location is beautiful and spacious, the rooms were clean, and the bed was large and very comfortable. The staff were friendly and as helpful as they could be. They were especially nice and accommodating when we ordered food to our room after the restaurant had closed. But the food was completely tasteless, unlike the menu pictures, and some ingredients were missing. The spa water had so much chlorine that it irritated our eyes and airways. I coughed for two hours and could barely fall asleep. I told reception, and they said they knew about it and maintenance had been informed, but the same amount kept being added. You could smell it from the hallway. The dry spa was also missing the spoon for the water bucket. Breakfast was the poorest I've seen, with very few choices, and cheap ones too, like tea from Fares. Even 3-star hotels offer a better selection. There was no shampoo, and the shower gel came in such a tiny amount it was enough for one finger, so I had to use the sink soap. The thermostat didn't work at all. At our request, the receptionist turned the heat up to 23°C from her computer, but when we got back from the spa, it still hadn't worked. The temperature reached only 20°C. On top of that, a group made loud noise in the middle of the night, as if they'd rented the whole hotel.