De Luxe

The staff were kind and ready to help, and breakfast had a decent range of choices. My room was clean, roomy, and nicely furnished, with what I needed for a comfortable visit. Hotel De Luxe is a pleasant, reliable option in central Nitra.

In room 21, the mattress had a big dip in the middle from years of use. It was only fit to sit on, not sleep on, and badly needed replacing. The lampshade by the right side of the bed was moldy and had what looked like dried mucus on it. That was unhygienic. I’ve stayed in damp rooms and places with poor furniture before, but staff yelling at and humiliating a guest for asking a question about accommodation is inexcusable. I’ve stayed in more than 100 hotels, from Latin America to Mumbai, and this is the only one where a receptionist screamed at me for politely asking about a fee. I was traveling with my assistance dog, a certified service animal for people with disabilities. I offered to show all the documents and only asked if she could check the policy or call a manager to clarify whether there was a charge. Instead, she shouted, “I won’t call a manger! I’m not blind — I saw you have a dog!” When I explained the dog was a service animal, she raised her voice again, called the manager, and falsely told them, “She doesn’t want to pay for the dog.” That wasn’t true. I never refused to pay. I was asking what the policy was. I asked whether she knew what an assistance dog was or if the hotel had hosted one before. She said, “No.” I asked her to google it so she could understand my question, and she said “No” again. I spoke English the whole time, while she kept answering in Slovak. When I asked, “Why are you yelling at me?” she said nothing. I also asked if anyone with an assistant dog had stayed there before, and she said “no”. This went on for several minutes. I eventually paid just to end the confrontation. No guest should be treated that way. I urge hotel management to review the security camera footage and audio from reception during this incident.

The room had separate bedroom and living areas, plus a spacious bathroom. It came with toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, milk, shower gel, body lotion, shower caps, and bath salt. There were robes and slippers with proper soles, not flimsy ones. The paid minibar was there too, and I received champagne as a gift. Breakfast was included, and parking at the hotel was free. There was a cigarette smell in the room, as if smoke had come in from the balcony, perhaps from a bar downstairs. The pillows were large and not soft at all.

We had a great weekend in this quiet, cozy place in the city center. The view was beautiful, and there are cafes and bars nearby. We loved the huge balcony, warm floor, and jacuzzi, which worked really well and had strong jets. The apartment was clean, though the armchairs had white dirty spots, and cigarette smoke from other apartments came through.