Hotel Vinifera Wine&Spa — Hotel in Balatonfüredi járás

In short: book this hotel. We actually booked this hotel without knowing anything about Balaton Lake or the area, we just wanted to visit Hungary and experience something other than Budapest. We made the right choice. The reception was very welcoming, giving us a glass of sparkling wine as we were seated and explained about the hotel and all the amenities. Let's start with the room; We booked a lake side view room, that had a view to the beautiful green hills surrounding the lake and the lake itself too. Bedding was great, with a pillow menu (what?) , coffee, balcony and very big shower. Beds comfy. We actually stayed in two different rooms, one of them the TV allowed casting Chromecast so we could watch Netflix, the other room had constant errors disallowing this. Breakfast: This is genuinely the best breakfast selection and quality we experienced in a hotel. Such a large range of options and all of them very thought out carefully. Just something small, there is one OK coffee machine and one capsule coffee machine. Im saying this only because this is a luxury hotel with a premium price : it is unacceptable that we have to wait in a line to get coffee. The staff needs to go around the tables and ask guests what they want to drink . They should not wait in a 5+ minute line to get one cup of coffee from a machine and not a genuine coffee machine. Secondly, if the breakfast is until 10:30, it is expected that until 10:30 all of the products that were available throughout the breakfast time should be available to guests regardless when they arrive for breakfast. At 10:10 they stopped making pancakes, and I know this is very petty but keep in mind I am reviewing a 5 star hotel that charges a premium price- the guy at the counter looked at me at a blank stare when I said no more pancakes and just shook his head. That is genuinely the only things regarding breakfast I have to say, and other than that it's fantastic. The spa and pool area are amazing, nothing to say about that - totally worth it. I would like to say something regarding the spa services though. They had a 20 minute foot massage treatment. I asked the spa reception " hey 20 minutes is short, is there an option to get a longer foot massage?" ,the response I got was a confused blank stare " no only 20 minutes". Now this is fine because that is what the spa offers, but I do expect some bigger thinking and service. She could have said " sir we only have the 20 minute option, but if you like we have a 40 minute foot tired treatment that might be relevant to you" but all Interaction with her seemed very small minded and I don't think the guest needs to push to find solutions. I think workers need to find solutions for what the guests request and have a little more motivation. This happened multiple times with interactions with the spa staff. Last thing, that actually cemented the fact that we will return to the hotel : complimentary wine tastings. Forget the wine and forget the hotel, the staff that do the wine tastings (we went twice , man and female somilians) are so passionate about wine and what they do, so down to earth and informative, just for that it's worth to return to the hotel. I recommend going to the English sessions as we had One on One sessions with them as English tastings are apparently in small demand. So shout out to the wine team, they made a huge impact. Thanks for the great overall experience, we will...

Well, I think I will start with issues we had during our stay - this should be a pet friendly and baby friendly hotel, but I am not sure about that. At first there was some miscommunication on the reception (we came earlier and we wanted to wait outside, take some coffee and drinks, jump in to swimming pool,etc., but they said that we can´t do that with our dog, so they practically sent us away). We came back after few hours, but this time they said, that we can go outside with the dog (...are you kidding me?). We were so confused about that two sided information. Maybe you should put some signs where the dogs can or can´t be... On the website it is said, that there will be also some food included in dogs price... well, it was not. We had to go to the grocery store to buy it. Reception check in should provide more information. We had a wine tasting included in our stay, so they should inform us how it works right away. But don´t get me wrong, girls on the reception were also very helpful and friendly. Welcome drink and chocolate in the room was also a nice gesture. The major issue we had with the restaurant (we waited for the dinner almost an hour every time...) I complained about that, but there was no reaction at all, no apologize, nothing, not even a word... Also the food they served us the first night was really bad, overcooked, dry and definitely not tasty...But we were so exhausted from waiting that we did not complain again (why even bother when there is no reaction to that). Another problem was a baby chair - no one cares about the fact that we have a baby. Everytime we needed to call somebody and ask for it, which took a really long time... The staff should be more helpful with that. And another problem was a plastic baby chair (they had only one, which was occupied all the time). This is not a small hotel, they really need more suitable chairs for all kind of children. This was really dissapointing. There were some other wooden chairs, but these were not okay for our baby (she was too big for that kind). But I highly recommend the breakfast. It was incredible! The Benedict eggs were sooo delicious. And also there was a lot of other various choices of everything, so we really enjoyed it.

I think this is a very beautiful hotel, super clean, well designed with amazing decorations and absolutely gorgeous wellness area. We loved that! A lot of pools, sitting areas, all kind of beds around. In saunas area is a falling snow :) I loved the outside swimming pool with such a nice surroundings and amazing pool staff (they provide a fresh cold face towels, smoothies, lemonades for free). There is a playground outside and very nice playroom inside. Rooms were spacious, modern, well equipped, beds were very comfortable and balcony has a nice seating area.

Despite of all the issues we had during our stay, this is a perfect place for a getaway trip (maybe more suitable for romantic couple weekend). But I hope that these things that I have mentioned will be shortly improved, so we can come back again and enjoyed a better stay. Wish you...

Vinifera unfortunately did not meet the standards of a 5* hotel at all. We have stayed a few nights in the other 5* resort in Fured, and Vinifera does not even come close to that hotel. There were a few pros to the hotel but mostly cons.

To start with the good… • The hotel staff was friendly and greeted us nicely. • The pool area was quite large and accommodated a large number of people • The breakfast selection was decent • The room was moderately decent

Now with the bad… • The friendly staff also spoke almost no English. As tourists (my partner speaks Hungarian but I speak English), this is not ok. A staff should be bilingual to accommodate all guests. • The outdoor service was nearly nonexistent. And when it was, we were signing multiple slips of paper (don’t even know if we were overcharged nor did we want to try and argue it). Also, we were served food outside without any utensils… very odd. • The location of the hotel is comparable to a 2 or 3* hotel. The pool overlooked the back of people’s houses, and the room overlooked other rooms and some greenery. The hotel lobby location is uninviting and felt cramped. You are not close to the lake and what’s the point of a 5* Balaton resort if you can’t look at Balaton? • The AC in the room was barely there… we tried to escape the heat by going to the room only to find that it barely pushed out air. (And yes, the door was closed - that is the only way the AC works). There is no separation or enclosure between the bed and the shower area? Weird. There is not much space for more than 2 people • The spa area (inside) is not temperature regulated and is HOTTER than the outside area. It was so uncomfortable that we started to feel like we couldn’t breathe. How can you advertise as a spa but not have a functional spa? • The price is NOT worth what you get for the room. At almost €400/night… this was a ripoff. We didn’t get any of our moneys worth at this hotel. At the other 5* resort, you can spend the same amount per night and feel like you are getting your moneys worth with the relaxation, the spa, the food, everything. • The breakfast was decent but overall the experience of the dining was chaotic. Seat yourself. Make your own coffee. Pour your own water. Not what you’d expect from 5* spot.

I’m well aware that this is a new hotel but to be paying the prices they’re charging and calling it a 5* hotel, we feel that everything should’ve been top-notch and it absolutely was not. We even checked out a night early so we could go back to the true 5* resort in Fured. Please do the research heavily when booking Vinifera, and consider your other options. I’d also take the other “high” reviews with a grain of salt, as there are FAR better hotels in the area (and in Europe, in...