Spa Resort Sanssouci — Hotel in okres Karlovy Vary

While the majority of international frontiers is still under a strict control and the very situation with COVID is not clear it's high time to remember the moments admired at the very beginning of this strange year.

Staying at Sanssouci was a real pleasure since:

its location - situated at the end of the main walking route and aside from all other touristic hotels it genuinely provides you with a so quiet mountainous environment that you feel what it means to unlax; it possesses a very good territory and spa-amenities; nice restaurants and all necessary services at place; the cuisine at place and especially the quality of its dishes on some festive days is definitely amazing - many thanks to their chefs and cookers; everything was in abundance, indeed; it offers not bad basic medical treatments - not excellent at these prices but really not bad - initial medical examination was a very professional one and the very physician made her best to tackle your issues; yes, it would be an exaggerated statement that these procedures could substantially improve your health :) - however, you, at least, really feel your renewed moods :); and besides, all water treatments were prescribed correctly; its spa complex is very despite very unsuitable intervals of its work - it doesn't function within day hours?! - not a good decision in relation to its guests.

Concerning its objective weak points:

awful, really awful internet connection with the world... well, it's high time to invest in that...; prices... they are high enough and cannot be considered as appropriate having in mind the very details; cleaning services in rooms are too average.... and the explanation is so simple - they pay too little to their personnel (just talk to them with empathy and you'll get it) and thus, their interest in the service is the same; bad taxi services at place and with the highest prices ever!!! - do that through the Internet and not with assistants; offered fitness proxies to the Imperial (now as a temporary free benefit) are at skyrocketing prices - keep modest, dear owners :)).

Overall, if you'd like to stay here just follow simple rules - reserve your rooms only in the BLUE building - the Green one is worse despite all "internal" recommendations, and ask for higher floors to be among the mountains and admire views; - stay, at least, 7 nights to relax really and feel the results of procedures prescribed; - select real procedures - water; - mud; - wax, etc. - massage and some inhalations are just a waste of time :)...

But apart all - simply be healthy at the moment and hope one day we'll have opportunities to be there without any hazardous...

Rundown Hospital Vibes

This place has certainly seen better days, and some of the amenities listed are incorrect. To start, they charge $6/day for parking (listed as free) and there is no air conditioning in the rooms.

Much of the staff does not speak English or German, though most of the guests here are from a variety of places with the default language being English for many. The staff consistently seemed uninterested in helping in any way.

The rooms are very small and outdated. There are tiny showers with no tubs. It’s hard to fit a suitcase anywhere in the room because it’s so small.

At a resort, one thing I was looking forward to was room service, but there is none. I also look forward to healthy fruits and veggies, and the buffets are pretty much just processed meats and very heavy foods. As a nutritionist myself, I find it hard to believe a dietician on staff had anything to do with the buffet which no vegetables or fruits in sight. They do not cater to a healthy eating crowd.

While in the buffet, the hostess did not speak any English or German. She was very stressed about our interaction, and she wanted to see the sleeve for my room key. I tried to mime and use Google translator to ask if I could look at the buffet before I paid for it to see if there were any healthy options. She didn’t understand, and when I held up my finger for the “one minute” sign, and pointed to say I would just look, she followed me and started yelling at me as though I were going to steal food from the buffet without paying. It was incredibly frustrating and embarrassing.

There is a coffee shop located in the hotel that opens at 10 AM. I’m not a coffee drinker, but my husband is, and I found this to be particularly amusing. It’s my belief that most people like to drink coffee in the morning. There is no coffee maker in the tiny room, and we were told that if we wanted a cup of coffee from the breakfast buffet, we would have to pay the $15 just for the coffee. Please believe, that cup of buffet coffee was no Starbucks.

It’s also a bit of a trek into town down a mountain and back up after. It’s about a 20 minute walk up and down hills to get into the very edge of the central area of town with most of the restaurants, and you will want to venture out for a restaurant because the food is very overpriced and disappointing at the hotel.

All in all, it was a really...

Overpriced hotel with equipment from 1980s - maybe back then it could have been a 4*. Beds are horribly uncomfortable with old matrasses with wires inside that make squeaky sound. I paid extra because I wanted a comfy double bed - it turned out to be two singles put together and when you laid in the middle, you would fall through in between the beds, so that was a waste of money. Internet is acceptable, I was able to make longer video calls as well. To my surprise, access to spa means a small 40yo pool, whirlpool and sauna. You can only access the pool 7AM-9AM and then 2PM till maybe 9PM. As these times are matching the times when breakfast and dinner are served, I never got to go to even try it. All other spa treatments are extra but noone informed me of the offer even though I was interested.

Staff was not rude but not helpful either (even though I speak Czech). I was not given information about spa or what is included in the price and instead was told to just ask someone else. I was neither given information about which building I am staying in beforehand, and I struggled to find the entrance to the other one. No information about dinner either, I had to try and call reception to find out, then I had to go through two tunnels to get there only to be told that I need the paper wrapping my room card to be able to enter, so I had to run all the way back and then back again to the other building to finally have dinner. Rooms are very clean but I was one day woken up by a cleaning lady banging at my door at 9AM to clean the room. Before I could wake up and get out of bed, she simply entered. I have never seen such rudeness - entering rooms of guests before 10AM. The rooms have a non-working minibar fridge and kettle but no coffee or tea avaliable. I received some shampoo packages but for less than my stay was. There is no AC either.

Breakfast was very varied but every day 95% the same so not ideal if youre staying for longer. Dinner options were good enough, but most importantly, extremely delicious! Generally not too much of healthy "modern" options as the target audience are people 60yo+. Unfortunately, if the waiting staff has nothing to do, they talk leaning over the buffet tables and talk, "spitting" on the clean dishes and food which I find very unhygienic.

Overall, I wish I had read the reviews...