New Helvetia

DISHONEST MANAGEMENT My stay was booked for two days at the end of July and was booked via booking.com in Feb 26. I have today been told there was a technical issue before they had admitted to booking.com it was due to an overbooking. At this late stage with everything booked i have now had to pay more than double to stay elsewhere with booking.com covering a very small amount.

It is very disappointing to see a hotel with such a great history decline to this level of customer service. I booked the hotel through Booking.com, completed the payment, and traveled for one and a half hours to reach the property. Upon arrival, I discovered that the hotel was completely closed. None of the phone numbers provided answered my calls for over an hour and a half. When the owner eventually called me back, he explained that there was a problem with the water supply. During our conversation, he was far from friendly. As compensation, he stated that I could return and stay for three nights at any time in the future. He promised to send a confirmation, but never did. He also promised several times to call me back, yet ultimately stopped answering my calls altogether. The complete lack of communication, failure to honor commitments, and disregard for paying guests made this an extremely frustrating and disappointing experience.

I chose New Helvetia Hotel for its historic charm and mountain views, expecting to spend time in the room and enjoy the balcony. However, the balcony is extremely small, and the room was consistently very cold. The heating seems to be turned on and off, so it never reached a comfortable level. It was so cold that we had to wear all our clothes just to sleep. Since this kind of hotel is meant for relaxing indoors and enjoying the setting, the lack of comfort, especially room temperature, really affected the experience. The building is very beautiful, historic and also very clean, but the stay was not comfortable.