Leonardo Royal Hotel Baden-Baden — Hotel in Baden-Baden

When we arrived at this hotel, we drove 8 hours to discover it was a building site. We booked through Booking.com, and the hotel's management decided not to inform people that there was no pool, no front door, limited parking, and the restaurant/bar was actually a small meeting room. The rooms are OK but need updating. We met a couple who had been planning a 'special weekend'....but were bitterly disappointed. A Family had arrived with tired and grumpy kids....they had to explain that the promised swimming pool was closed. We met several guests, and the conversations all ended with 'Good luck' - which is something you usually state when discussing dental treatment, rather than a stay in an alleged 4-star romantic hotel.||Based on that - I would typically have rated the hotel as 'terrible'. However - here's why I rated it 2 levels higher: A lady called Sabina, from Namibia, had spent her entire shift in reception apologising to waves of disappointed, angry and frustrated customers. She handled the situation brilliantly, with charm, professionalism and a pinch of humour. She and her colleagues had been thrown under the bus by the management team that had been so short-sighted that they did not understand how damaging to a hotel chain's reputation their inept and apathetic performance could be. She persuaded distraught customers to stick around and did everything she could to dilute their disappointment. ||We had booked dinner - and we went to the restaurant, which is currently located in a rather bland meeting room. We were served by a gentleman from Turkiye who was a credit to the hotel. He was warm, funny and efficient. We didn't meet the chef....to be honest; the hotel was a war zone, the restaurant had the ambiance of a contra-flow system, and there were midges and flies in the room, so expectations were somewhere between prison and school food. Instead, we were treated to an excellent four-course meal that would have graced the finest tables in Baden Baden or any other city. A mushroom terrine was followed by a packed egg coated lightly in breadcrumbs with a homemade tomato ragout. The main course was some of the finest lamb I have enjoyed on the continent, with a superb dessert to follow. Sabina, our friend from Türkiye, and the man who made us dinner were excellent - way too good for a hotel run by management who are too lazy or ignorant to inform customers about renovations taking place at the hotel. ||Once it is finished, this will be a nice hotel, but were it not for the excellent individuals who looked after us so well, this would be the last time I ever considered staying at a...

Unfortunately, my stay at this hotel was a complete disappointment in terms of service and the quality of provided amenities.

Cleanliness and Room Preparation: The room was not properly cleaned. I found hairs from previous guests in the bathroom, on the bed, and even on the towels — which is completely unacceptable for a hotel claiming to be of a high standard. Housekeeping was poorly executed: towels weren’t replaced, bathrobes remained crumpled on the floor, and several basic items were missing, such as tissues, still water for the coffee machine, a shower cap, disposable toothbrush, and other essentials.

Reception and Lobby Area: The lobby itself was visually nice, with a good design. However, the reception experience was frustrating. Only one receptionist was available at all times, leading to long waits. It was clear that a second staff member could have been working, as the front desk had space for more.

Room Features: The room itself was spacious and beautifully designed, and I especially appreciated the large balcony, which added a pleasant touch to the stay.

Breakfast – A Letdown: I had high expectations for breakfast after reading positive reviews online. However, the quality and selection were shockingly poor. The food was bland, lacking seasoning or taste, including the omelet made on the spot. There was no variety — no syrniki (cottage cheese pancakes), crepes, waffles, or decent scrambled eggs. Even dessert options were disappointingly limited. This was genuinely one of the worst breakfasts I’ve experienced at a hotel.

Staff and Service: No staff member particularly stood out. The service felt neutral and impersonal, which is not what you would expect from a hotel with the word “Royal” in its name.

Value for Money: As someone who travels frequently and has stayed in both high-end and budget accommodations, I can honestly say that the experience did not match the price or expectations. The hotel’s name sets a standard — but the service and experience were far below it, closer to a budget hostel than a...

We have visited Baden Baden 20 or so times over the past 10 years and we have always stayed at The Leonardo and have nothing but praise for it but our recent stay was very underwhelming and bordering on the frustrating.|The plus points of the stay was the renovation of the hotel since our last stay. The spa and pool area is great and much needed. The rooms have had a much needed upgrade and are good|The minus points are the staff and the parking. ||Parking at the hotel has always been an issue as there are a limited amount of spaces and basically by 5pm all spots are taken with the only parking available on the street. Also spots are not clearly marked and some people block at least two spots .We mentioned this to the girl behind reception when we checked om and were amazed to find out that the parking was 25 Euros a night. We pushed back on this and said that this was an exorbitant amount of money as we had never paid for parking on our previous trips and for an 8 night stay this would have added another 200 Euros to our trip. We asked the girl if this guaranteed us a space but she said no. When we said we would take our chances she changed her mind and said if we gave our stay a positive 10 review she would waive the parking fee. This seemed very strange to us and we said we would only do that if the service justified a review of 10 points||We were checked in and given room 101 which at first seemed fine but it was overlooking the car park and directly above the staff loading bay and the area where the staff have a break.||8 days later when we went to check out we went to the reception and were told that the 25 euros a night had been charged ( despite having had to park on the street for two nights. Again I pushed back and this charge was withdrawn but grudgingly and again with a comment that the condition was we gave them a 10 review which seems...