Orea Spa Hotel Bohemia — Hotel in Cheb District

This was our third stay in Mariánské Lázně, the previous two occasions we'd stayed in the Palace Zvon up the top of the main boulevard. We fancied a change this time and stayed in the Bohemia instead. The entrance to the Bohemia is much grander with a nice lounge area, downstairs toilet and couches. The large chandelier gives one the impression of the grandeur of days gone by in the Victorian and Edwardian periods.

Our room was on the third floor and was spacious with a king sized bed. The rooms at the Zvon were smaller, but the bathrooms were bigger and much more spacious than this one at the Bohemia. The Zvon had baths, but this room only had a shower cabinet. Not an issue for us, but maybe for some. An inward opening door in a confined bathroom is slightly problematic and annoying. Also I have to comment, never any additional hooks anywhere for convenience. Not one placed near the sink to hang a hand towel, one always has to shove everything onto the heated towel rack. Also, and again a persistent niggle of mine with nearly every hotel I've ever been in. Why do the bathroom fitters always put the shower head holder in the most illogical place!? This room was slightly more comfortable than the one at the Zvon for me, with two large fairly comfortable chairs to sit in and one dining chair at the desk. Plenty of wardrobe space as usual and places to put one's luggage. The hotel television was the usual standard, still lacking in many domestic channels, but filled with pointless channels. Who the hell watches the business Bloomberg channel??

The restaurant was very good with the usual Orea buffet breakfast and dinners. I have found this to always be of a good standard with plenty to offer. We do of course always abuse the Orea incentive to take away items from breakfast to make a small lunch for later and it's great that Orea provides the bags. It helps them throwing food away and being less wasteful. The restaurant was just as busy at the Bohemia as the Zvon, but I found the lay-out a bit more accommodating and less of a scrum.

The Bohemia had a bar area for residents and non-residents alike. I found this one at the Bohemia a bit more lively than the one at the Zvon had been. We took advantage of it a couple of times and had some coffee and Maria Liquer there. The first occasion the bar-maid was more attentive than the second time. I think maybe they were under-staffed at times, because on the second occasion the bar-maid was having to attend the public bar area and help with clearing up the restaurant.

The staff were helpful and smiling as usual for an Orea and there were many pretty young waitresses, which is always nice.

The Bohemia was much quieter than the Zvon in the evening. Simply for the fact that it is further down the main boulevard in the town, and the Zvon was next to the duck pond, a fountain in the park across the street and nearer the singing fountain in the collanade. Not that a bit of noise bothers me, for Mariánské Lázně is as dead-as-a-door-nail by 10 o'clock in the evening anyway.

The thing the Bohemia lack compared to the Zvon is it doesn't have a swimming pool or the sauna; but it does have spa treatment rooms. Some of the activities do start at the Bohemia though, like yoga and Nordic walking; but you can join in any of these activities if you're staying at one of the Orea's in the town.

Overall I would recommend the Bohemia, just as much as I would the Zvon. The Zvon had seemed more family orientated to me, as it had a play-room for children and girls there supervising the play-area and dressing up as the Orea fox mascot. However, there were just as many families with young children at the Bohemia as at the Zvon. It had a play-area for children too, but not supervision or mascots. I'm not sure what the deal breaker might be really. If you really want the swimming pool and the sauna, you'll probably go for the Zvon. The Bohemia is very good though. Maybe we'll have to try the Orea Crystal next time to fully compare all three Oreas in...

The hotel building is beautiful and charming, and reasonably well-kept, inside and out. The rooms were clean, and the quality of the furniture and what was included in the room was high. The beds were delightful. The receptionists were acommodating, service-minded and efficient. The possibility to reserve the sauna was a delightful opportunity, and the sauna area held a high quality.||||What could be improved are a a number of things.||1. The balcony, although very charming, could use a scrub to get all the black spots off, or perhaps a stroke of paint.||2. The room was beautiful, and what was there of furniture held high quality, but it felt empty. There was almost nothing on the walls, and little furniture, which gave it the impression of being naked, including only the bare minimum. A bit more interior, art or just generally more things would have made it feel more homely.||3. The breakfast was simple, too simple in many ways. No fruit, few vegetables, tasteless cakes, water-y orange juice and multivitamin juice. And the fried eggs tasted like plastic. Offering omelettes, smoothies or something extra would also give the guests a feeling of luxury, which would fit the hotel's appearance better.||4. When we tried to book spa treatments, we did not find anyone who spoke English. This would have been a bigger problem, had it not been for my basic knowledge of Czech. English-language skills shold be considered mandatory in an international hotel which markets itself in English. The customer service when booking the treatments was also curt, not in any way trying to make up for the lack of language skills, instead placing the burden of communication on us. Apart from that, the spa-workers in the basement were polite, good-humored and approachable, especially the (only) english-speaker, Stanley.||5. The wifi connection in our room was basically useless. Luckily, we have a Czech simcard with 4G.||6. The biggest point of contention is the price. Although the price offered for the rooms reflects the general price level in ML, it does not reflect the value of the purchase. Due to the points mentioned above, the price for the room, even though it was bought with a discount,...

Hell's Kitchen.

Very friendly waiter, therefore 1 star. Handling feed back at reception desk 0 stars.

Chef de cuisine must learn about food allergy and cross contamination.

When one does have a food allergy, you're at the wrong place, the wrong Chef. Their kitchen is all mixed up. I've got three times in a row food with an ingredient that I have an allergy for. That is Parsley. The waiter did his utmost best, but the Chef lost control over his kitchen logistics. First time the parsley was all over, second time it was hidden in between the food! Third time it was still there, hidden even deeper.

What does this chef understands about severe food allergies and their consequences?!

The previous night we had dinner at the attached other restaurant, that chef went perfect!

So I went to their reception desk and told them that the food next door at Café Bohemia, was perfect for allergy people with food allergy. She said;" That restaurant is privately owned. I said I had a terrible experience with this restaurant right now. She said; This restaurant belongs to our hotel. So I said what are you going to do about it?! Because I thought; feed back can always help to improve a situation. But she said; "Nothing". (!?) I said; I'm going to wright a review about it. She said; I'm sorry. I said I'm also sorry for having to write this. So this situation is a typical persisting culture in their particular business.

Lucky for them I'm not Gordon Ramsey. My recommendation is to choose next door at...