Golden Horn Park Hotel

The staff were nice and came when we needed help, and the sheets were acceptable, though not completely clean. The breakfast was okay, but it was traditional food, mostly things I’d expect at lunch rather than breakfast. Our room had no window, so it was dark, and the lighting barely helped. The bathroom smelled rotten even with its door shut, the shower had mould, and the toilet didn’t flush properly. With three of us, two sockets in the room and one in the bathroom meant somebody had to charge a phone in there. My friends had an even worse room. Rain made paint peel off the walls and fall onto their bed. There was no bathroom light; staff tried replacing the bulb three times, but it still didn’t work. I’d avoid this place, though it might do for one night.

The breakfast was included, tasty, and had lots to choose from. We also paid a fair price, and there are plenty of shops and markets nearby. Staff were really friendly and gave us a free room upgrade, though the bathroom could use some attention because the toilet seat was broken.

The sewage smell hit us as soon as we arrived, and the room was so dusty and dirty that we wondered if we’d been given the wrong one. The street felt abandoned and looked like something from a horror film. There were bugs, people inside the hotel were loud, and nobody seemed to do anything about it. We stayed out late just to put off going back. The Wi-Fi didn’t work, the elevator was out so we had to use the stairs, there was no TV remote, and for some reason nobody came to clean our room. The owner admitted he went into our room while we were out, not to clean, but to store hotel pillows under my bed. Later he said he’d found a small tea spill and warned that next time he’d charge 15 euros. It was a little spill caused by my baby, and it could have been washed out. He spoke to me like a child, as if I’d done it on purpose. His hostile, aggressive manner left me feeling disrespected. He seems ready to charge for anything. If you spill something, it’s 15 euros even after you apologise. Parking was 10 euros a day, and cars piled up so badly that getting ours out could take about 20 minutes if we weren’t parked right in front. Driving there felt dangerous too, with rocky, broken streets and cliff-like edges. The breakfast tasted as if it had been recycled over and over. I’ve never stayed somewhere that made me dread returning so much. It left me feeling traumatised and unsafe, and I’d warn solo travellers away. I wouldn’t go near this hotel again. It should be closed to the public.

The place felt unsafe, and breakfast was repetitive and poor. There weren’t even knives, and anything we liked seemed to disappear from the menu for the rest of the week. We considered moving somewhere else every day. In Hungary, I think a place like this would be shut down and fined. During our week there, the room was never cleaned and the towels were never changed. We asked three times; each time they promised, but nothing happened. Day by day, there were more problems: the internet and electricity went out, and at one point we couldn’t get into our room. The reception desk was usually empty, so we had to track someone down. Once they sent someone who looked around 14 to cover it. The window faced a wall only 5 centimetres away, leaving the room dark even in daylight. Sound travelled so clearly that I could hear someone fart two floors away. The furniture was broken, mattress springs stuck out dangerously, and the bathroom was mouldy with visible hair all over. It felt hazardous to our health. Everything the hotel claimed on its website was false.