ARCOTEL Kaiserwasser Wien — Attraction in Vienna

I emailed very early on the day of arrival to ask if there was an iron available - I received a VERY delayed email response back from the hotel which was a ‘yes’ ( other aspects of my email re stress of being cancelled the day before stay by their sister hotel were completely ignored)|I then asked on check in re: an iron just to be sure and was told it was on level 3 in an ironing room, how exciting I thought- an ironing room - off to level 3 I go and find an ironing room with no iron … a holder for the iron but no iron in it.Back to reception I go and was told maybe it’s ‘gone with staff’ and they will sort it (which in fairness they did as we found an iron in our room the next day after returning from a day out) back to my room I head to relax and catch up with the news on TV and suprise, suprise no TV remote ( it took a while to work the TV without one) - back to reception I go … i had two days travelling on a train with little sleep so these absolutely unnecessary challenges are not welcome but I just dealt with them as was excited to be on a holiday I have looked forward to for the best part of a year. Just to share you do have a land line phone ( mine has a filthy dial pad ) in your room yet there is no clue how to call reception from it! - I did end up googling the hotel telephone number to save heading back to reception AGAIN at one point yet no one picked up when I rang that.|A cleaner I stumbled across said it was ‘ 2 ‘ that I dialled - er nope, absolutely no- that didn’t even offer a ringing tone.||The most upsetting experience was awaiting for my room cleaned two days after arrival ( I chose to save the bees and not have cleaning on the first day - what a great initiative ) yet by 11 am the cleaners had gone from my landing despite putting the notice on the door asking for the room to be cleaned so I popped to reception to ask if it could be done before we left for the day and explained I was keen to leave asap - the lovely chap on reception said yes i will ring the cleaning team and et them to sort it now ( which he did in front of me). An hour or so later I was still sat waiting and no sign of a cleaner so I took my dirty towels to reception to ask if I could exchange them for clean towels so to get out to make the most of my day to be met by a VERY, VERY, VERY rude young lady who basically told me it was ‘being sorted’ - no apology, no smile and the BIGGEST RUDEST attitude I have ever experienced in my life ( and we are looking at £200 a night for this stay) - if I was rude in my attitude and expecting things above the service provision I would have maybe considered her response as somewhat, in a slight way appropriate but this was absolutely NOT the case. She finally rang the cleaner ( with attitude) to chase up but only because i challenged her attitude/response - interesting a man in a suit came out from behind reception as she was on the phone , he saw my towels and no doubt saw my upset and I excitedly assumed he was a senior manager who would ask if I was OK - but oh no, he waited till the young lady finished on the phone and then asked if she was OK! |I felt sick at this ….. |I would suggest you think seriously about staying at this hotel if you expect your needs to be met, your voice to be heard...

I am usually not the one to write a “bad review” since I believe that even a business may have a bad day, but in this case all was disappointing from the start. Upon check in the receptionist was on the phone, once she had hung up I expected to be greeted (she hasn’t even looked at me at this point) instead she turn around without a word an leaves for the back office. She returned 5min later with a colleague, now I was surely to be greeted , at least with a slight nod and smile? Instead both employees checked something on the computer first. (Sense of Hospitality - ) While checking in I had asked if there was a bathrobe on the room, the clear answer: yes! The Room itself was of Reasonable size and overall clean, including the bathroom, but nothing special, a room from the 90s. (Cleanliness +) what was missing though was the Bathrobe. Back down to the reception, which was now at 14:30oclock completely deserted. Ringing the bell I waited 5min again to ask for my bathrobe, I wanted it right away, over all I had booked because if the spa, but that was an impossible task, I tried negotiating but it could only be delivered to my room, any one who stays at hotels often like I do knows this means now you’ll need to wait a more or less indefinite time. (Service -) Luckily I found a very helpfull Hausdame in the hall, she got me hooked up with a bathrobe within a few short minutes. ( Hausdame on the 1st floor ++) Now I headed to the spa I was looking so much forward to, I had booked this hotel after all to get some relaxation in between business trips in Vienna and Salzburg. The spas was only functioning partially. 2 of 3 saunas where turned of, including the steam bath which is advertised online. The shower world that promises relaxing water based massages was out of hot water. (Spa - ). I didn’t end up staying at the spa very long… The next morning, breakfast. Well at this point I was not expecting much overall anymore. But the platters of stacked cheese and sliced meats still haunts my dreams. Absolutely no love put into the visual part of the breakfast at all, everything else was what you would expect from a Eurostar 3 star hotel, but not from a 4 star like this one is supposedly rated. Over all the hotel is clean and surely you find a place to sleep, so by the definitions of the AAA or the Eurostar Organisation, it is a safe place to stay and may earn one star. Everything else though is a disaster, no sense for service or hospitality. I will not visit this...

Beware the cleanliness!!! When we entered the room, the first thing we noticed was the filth on the bathroom floor. There was some sort of brown splash that had not been cleaned, surrounding the toilet and sink. The carpets were filthy as well. We came back to our room at 4pm. the next afternoon to find that the beds had not been made, the dirty dishes were still there, trashcans had not been emptied, and a few of our towels were still on the floor. Housekeeping had replaced the coffee packs and water bottles, but nothing else. I called the front desk, and they sent someone up to clean. When they arrived, I asked if it was normal to leave the rooms in this condition. I wanted to be sure that my expectations weren't too high. The housekeeper (as well as the evening staff at the front desk) explaind that it was common to only replace the items used in the room (ie.coffee, water, towels, etc.) I WAS SHOCKED to watch as the staff member grabbed the sponge from under the sink that sits on the floor beside the garbage can and proceed to wipe out our coffee cups and spoons with no soap at all, then use the same sponge to wipe the countertops (later we noticed that the housekeeping carts had no replacement dishes or dish soap, so I wonder how the dishes are being cleaned?). The next morning I went back to the front desk to explain what had happened. I let them know that when I returned, I was expecting the trash emptied, beds made, towels replaced, bathroom mopped, floors vacuumed, and coffee cups to be washed properly. The desk manager assurred me that the problem would be resolved. When we returned, we still had dirty dishes, filthy floors, and a shortage of towels. To be fair, the beds were made, and the trash had been emptied. I'm not sure if there was something lost in translation, or just simply a lack of concern by the housekeeping staff. Whatever the case may be, we will not be giving ARCOTEL a second chance when there are so many other places waiting to make a good first impression. I don't usually fill out these reviews, and I am a well travelled person with a broad experience when it comes to hotel stays. This place left me with such a filthy and unsanitary feeling, that I wanted to warn anyone considering a stay here to proceed with caution (and bring your own...