Mayburg Salzburg, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel — Hotel in Salzburg

TL;DR: This is, by far, the worst hotel I have stayed in. DO NOT STAY HERE! I urge you as a possible guest to listen to the video attached to this review (I hope that sound works). That buzzing is both crazy loud and vibrating the top area of the room. That's the hell you listen to in intervals of a minute during the night, and around every 3 minutes during the rest of the day. The staff is nice and helpful, and honestly, they cannot do much on the spot.

You might be fooled by the nice interior decoration and their product selection, but this hotel is terrible. The main problem with this hotel is the buzz that you can hear in the video attached. This sounds in intervals of 1 minute during the night and it is as loud as possible. After listening to that nightmare for an hour or two, I decided to go down to the front desk and ask what is this and what can be done, thinking that it could just be something wrong in this particular room. To my surprise, as I start to describe the issue, the person at the reception interrupts as she knows exactly what the issue is and tells me there is nothing to do. Proceeds to tell me that

IT IS THE SAME IN EVERY ROOM OF THE HOTEL!!

and the problem is the A/C. Particularly, I am told that while the hotel might not look like an old building, it is over 100 years old and that's why the A/C have issues. She says, the more people have their ACs on, the worst it gets. This is just crazy, first of all, there is no information about this anywhere (not in the website, at the front desk, when checking in, nowhere) which is misleading and negligent from the hotel's side. Second, I have stayed at hotels in way older buildings in other parts of Europe that have no sound like that at all. Maybe the hotel should do a proper check, installation, and fix rather than whatever sloppy installation they did to get to the facade of a nice hotel... Anyway, the solution provided was the good old ear plugs... Not that they could have done anything on the spot, but the ear plugs and not acknowledging that they were misleading from the beginning are red flags the size of the mountains around Salzburg. However, one of the staff informed me that I could turn off my A/C and that would stop the sound. I was a bit surprised since that is not what their colleague had told me, but anyway I went up and turned off the A/C. I want to emphasize that this is during the middle of August and the days are very hot - not that night though, because it rained, which is why I was fine turning it off. The sound didn't stop, if anything it got louder as the vent's noise from the A/C was not there anymore. Terrible night, like a torture. Loved Salzburg but this hotel was just... Do yourself a favor during the summer (which I guess is when the A/C is on) and stay somewhere else.

Now let's go with a couple of practical things that seem like there was just no design behind these or no one cares since this is a "Marriott Bonvoy" and that is enough to forget about these things. 1) the bathroom lights are turned on with two small switches next to the sink that on the night are impossible to see and reach without hitting a million things (see attached photo). the issue is that they are deep into the bathroom as opposed to have the switches outside or directly next to the door. 2) the bedside lamp is ridiculous, the light is too strong and it directly hits the face of the person on the other side so it always has to be off and you either are with no lights or with the entrance light. 3) The TV (and this applies to the Marriott Bonvoy at Vienna too) just doesn't work properly. We tried over and over to connect to the Chromecast and nothing works on the TV. Not necessarily a problem of this particular hotel, but definitely adds to the amazing experience we had... 4) even after turning off the A/C, it turns on again automatically after a while...

Think about that this is supposed to be a "Marriott Bonvoy" - not sure how Marriott assesses that they are having a minimum standard - and that the rooms...

Check-in was smooth, and as a Platinum Elite Bonvoy member, I was given the choice between 1,000 points or a free breakfast. I opted for the free breakfast. After receiving my key, I went to my room to rest after a long day of traveling.

About 20 minutes later, while I was lying down, there was a knock at the door. Assuming it was meant for another guest, I ignored it. To my surprise, a staff member entered my room uninvited. Startled, I asked, “Can I help you?” She explained she was checking if I wanted coffee or tea. I found it extremely strange that she entered what she thought was an empty room just to offer a beverage. I declined but requested an extra pillow. She assured me she’d bring one right away. Hours later, the pillow never arrived.

The room itself was spacious and comfortable but poorly lit in the evening. If you struggle with low lighting, you might find it problematic.

Breakfast was a major point of frustration. Over my three-night stay, I noticed the same pattern: one lone staff member attempting to manage everything. The tables were often cluttered with used dishes, and keeping the buffet stocked was a challenge—not to mention the scarcity of coffee mugs. When I inquired at the front desk about the understaffing, they admitted, “Unfortunately, yes.”

Adding to my disappointment, I was never asked to confirm my room number at breakfast—nor were other guests I spoke with. This lack of oversight led me to believe breakfast might have been freely available to everyone, regardless of their reservation type. If that’s the case, my decision to forgo the 1,000 points in favor of a “free” breakfast feels like a scam.

Overall, while the hotel has appealing aspects, the operational flaws make it hard to recommend. With better management and attention to detail, it could be a great...

I was honestly hesitant about staying at this hotel because of the numerous negative reviews, and unfortunately my experience confirmed that there are indeed real issues.

In my stay, the main problems can be summarized in two points:

Parking – This is a headache for both guests and the front desk. The hotel only has 8 parking spaces for 88 rooms, which means most guests end up struggling. I was given a space, probably because of my elite status, but I was harassed almost every morning with phone calls at 8–9 AM asking about cars that didn’t even belong to me. This ruined my sleep, and on one occasion, a staff member even spoke to me in an aggressive and rude tone, blaming me for a car that had nothing to do with me. Wouldn’t it be easier to simply record each guest’s car plate or model together with their room number instead of only focusing on charging the parking fees?

Connecting Rooms – This feature is important for families, but the hotel’s website is misleading. The website stated that connecting rooms are available only for Deluxe Rooms, so I booked two Deluxe Rooms (about €20 more expensive per night than Superior Rooms) specifically to guarantee this. However, upon arrival, I was told connecting rooms are only available for Superior Rooms. I had to downgrade, but I ended up wasting around €160 extra over my 4-night stay (about €80 per room), all because of the incorrect information on their own website. In reality, I should have booked Superior Rooms from the start.

There were, of course, some positive aspects about the hotel, but with these serious issues, I don’t feel they are worth mentioning here. But Now I understand why there are so many...