Dhsr Hvezda Skalnik

The hotel does not have sufficient parking, alternatives were reluctantly mentioned. The numerous spa offers are not usable without long advance notice, The sauna is tiny and so perhaps expectable in a residential building of the 80s. The room service did not come , nor could towels be dispensed at reception. In this vast hotel complex, there is supposedly not a single fresh towel to be found. The high room rate of almost 300,- Euro is absolutely not reasonable

Never been to spa hotels, so this was a first. Did homework, comparing what different hotels and locations have to offer. Basically had to chose between Marianske Lazne and Carlovy Vary, and once picked Lazne, had to pick a hotel based on the website sanatoriums.com. Booked Hvezda ( not Imperial sister hotel). The transportation from the airport: a driver from sanatoriums.com promptly met me when I landed in Prague. He had to drive 3 groups of people arriving from 3 different locations and deliver us to 3 different hotels. Two groups in Carlovy Vary, and myself to Marianske Lazne. I reached my hotel over 3 hours after landing because he delivered people to Carlovy Vary first. Kind of sucks after a long trans-Atlantic flight, but at least the driver was a nice chap and we had a great conversation on the way. Arriving at the hotel: front desk check-in was fast, but noone to take you and your luggage to the room, so had to look around before I found my room. No problem, in general, but was expected a bell-boy to be present. The room was spacious and modern, and I even got a balcony. The bathroom very well appointed and modern. The bed comfortable, but the pillows could be updated because they were just flat with chunks inside. Pile up two pillows, and it sort of solves the problem. More - later in this review. The hotel : Spectacular building, old charm with modern twists here and there, linked by underground tunnels to other two sister hotels nearby. You get a map of all the amenities and it takes a day or two to navigate the maze.. Walking never hurts your health. And talking about walking .. the promenade where all the mineral waters are located is listed as 500m from the hotel. Didnt measure, but it seem father considering that the hotel stands on a hill. Not a Mt. Everest to climb, but still a challenge for some, including myself. No problem to go down, its the way back to the hotel that is a challenge. Helps that the surrounding areas are just plain beautiful, so taking a break to catch your breath climbing the hill, gives you the chance to enjoy the views around. The treatments: Saw the doctor the following morning, seem to be knowledgeable, prescribed a bunch of treatments ( I pre-booked 28 treatments when booking the room). The only conventional treatment was massage, but in all honesty, it was not worth it. One treatment I couldnt handle, so I stopped it and changed to something else. Not because there was something wrong with the treatment, its just that I couldn't handle it. Have to give special kudos to Ira, the nurse at the electro treatments at Hvezda. Fast, very friendly and very efficient and overall a real pleasure to deal with . The food: I had a booking that included 3x daily meals. As many pointed out, the windows of food availability could be larger, missed dinners a few times, as they close at 8pm. When it comes to food, everything is a matter of taste. Literally . I never left the restaurant hungry, but at the same time grabbing a fruit or something baked to take to the room was a good idea. Again, this is my personal 'thing' because sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night hungry. I am not used to have dinner early. Helps that there is an electric cattle with a bunch of tea bags in the room, did it for me . The selection varied from one day to another, and during my 2 week stay, they never repeated the same menu twice. There are always salads available at the salad bar and cooked food at the hot station. Overall, there is choice of meats, fish and side dishes, so no one should leave hungry. The staff is very fast and some are friendlier than others, but overall - efficient and attentive. One very surprising negative - lots of chipped dishes, and the cutlery is at par with a cheap Chinese fast food joint !! In a grand environment of Franz Joseph's dining room .... Said all this, some UNplesant surprises: The room: As I said in the beginning, the room was spacious, bright comfortable, had a balcony and a well appointed modern bathroom. Also mentioned - pillows must be updated, no question about this . When it comes to room cleaning, Huston, we have a problem ! While the bed was made every day and the cleaning staff seem to use a wet mop on the floors, crumbs and small pieces of dirt were shoved from one side to another, day after day , and me lifting the chair by the desk onto the desk didnt help either. The tea cups from having tea the night before were cleaned occasionally, but not always, and sitting on the bed you could clearly see dust under the table and the chest of drawers, and it didnt look like fresh dust either... Yes, the washroom will be cleaned, and towels replaced if you throw used on the floor, but .. Also, when I moved in , the exhaust fan in the bathroom didnt work, nor did the towel dryer/warmer. I called the front desk, and a handyman was dispatched promptly. It took him 2 days, but everything was finally working. More importantly, hearing about hot weather in August last year, I explicitly asked for an air conditioned room. My room had an air conditioner alright, except that it didnt work . So when I needed it during some hot and humid days, it was a bust. The front desk sent Ivan to fix it, but he coudnt, and the control panel on the wall just went dead. Ivan saved the day by bringing to the room a floor standing fan, that helped the situation. A medical emergency: Half way through my 2 weeks stay, I got a severe problem with the sciatica nerve. Those that k now, will appreciate the pain from hell it can create ( and those that dont know, I sincerely wish you never to know it! ) . I could barely move, and no pain killers were helping for more then 2-3 hours. I could not go down to get the water from the Promenade, so my next door neighbor was kind enough to bring me water every day. When I went to see the nurse, she suggested to go to the hospital. I do have a comprehensive medical insurance, but I thought that going to a hospital was an overkill, so she gave me some painkillers that helped for 5-6 hours, and that was IT. I went to see the doctor, and she suggested the same thing - go to the hospital. My response was - you should be able to help me here ! After some (VERY polite) conversation with the doctor, and applying some serious pressure, I was given a needle, and it helped, no pain for 2 days ! But when the pain began coming back just 2 days before my trip home ( a 9.5 hour flight ! ) , I went back to the nurse, and despite the fact that the doctor wasnt there, she gave me another shot. All well that ended well, but I wasnt impressed by the attitude of sending people to hospital when they can easily can be helped locally. Going back to the airport: I booked via the sanatoriums website a ride to Prague airport, and had a fascinating conversation with the driver, which made the time to the destination fly fast. Overall : Great hotel, generally the complaints are minor, the way I see it. Some people complained about some staff that are not friendly and dont smile ... let me tell you , show some friendliness and crack jokes with them, and they are yours ! Just human nature ! Did the treatments help ? I dont know. Didnt see any changes or improvements, but people say that you cant expect any changes after one time. May be, not sure. What I can say for sure, it was a very relaxing two weeks infused with interesting procedures and lots of mineral water !

A great hotel, which is also the 5th Stern would have deserved that service staff in all areas very polite and courteous, the rooms (we had 2), clean, bright and modern furnishings, the bathrooms clean and up to date, in the spa area everything iO, even in the catering (we had half board), there were no criticisms, huge selection, everything tasty and in the drinks everything was also priced in the frame. We will definitely visit the hotel again.