Mala Garden — Hotel in Siófoki járás

We chose the restaurant based on the assumption that foods, that are vegan anywhere else are vegan here, too. For example soup made with coconut milk. The reason we had to assume because, sadly, most Balaton restaurants are still in the stone age and don’t bother offering or marking plant based foods on their menu. We expected such a prestigious place to be able to cater for plant based diets. We were wrong. There was one meal on the menu that could be made vegan but even that doesn’t come as vegan by default. All soups and starters are made with dairy or animals. For the restaurant manager: please consider not stuffing animals in every single meal. You travel 100km to Budapest and almost all restaurants have at lease 2-3 vegan options. You are only 100km away yet time seemed to have stopped 10 years ago in Siofok. What saved the dinner, and the restaurant from a one star review, is our server’s, Bence, professionalism. His job was world class, the design of the building and restaurant was world class, prices were world class but the food selection is somewhat mediocre. It can’t be that difficult to offer, say, two vegan options out of the 30 odd offers on the menu. Bence, if you read this, I once again thank you for such an amazing service and I strongly believe you have such a successful life ahead of you with your attitude and care for others. Probably not at this place though. :)

Edit: The bog standard response isn’t surprising. Check the menu before you come. Sure, the menu that has zero allergen and dietary guidelines. Dear manager, let me clue you in. Once there is a vegan in a large group they are the one choosing where to dine, not the omnivores. By not offering a single vegan dish you will lose an increasing number of group bookings. Also, vegans check reviews to see whether a place is vegan friendly. They will see this and simply not come to you. Imagine losing a 10 people group booking because you aren’t willing to cater for one of them. Your response, in a nutshell, is ‘if you don’t like it go elsewhere’. Please also ignore the point made about traditionally vegan foods that you, somehow, still manage to fill with dairy. Why? I understand coconut milk is more expensive than dairy cream but please, at your price point, you should be able to afford the extra 50ft/soup to make it how it is suppose to be made. I appreciate the response though and again, I recommend redesigning your menu so it indicates allergens as well as bringing your offerings up to the standards where this place is in...

We visited this hotel 6/2023 as it supposed to be suitable for family. After check-in (which was nice), we walked through corridors and restaurant (not climatized in over 30C outside) towards stairs. We had to go upstairs (elevator is not available) with to two small kids and luggage and then trough another non-climatized corridor and finally our room. Room has nice furniture and terrasse but was rather small. To our liking and experience from other countries and 4 stars hotels we have been to many times limited and warned by personal with no obvious reason. In restaurant kids had to take of shoes when played in kids-corner but another coming later on had shoes without problem. In swim pool area we were restricted to let kids even see second pool despite the fact no one was there just because it was written. Okey. Another warning that kids are making drops around the pool was not cool and pointless. Obviously, construction is bad if that is a problem. Moreover it was not excessive and son was just learning to swim not making any jumps. In contrary there was no problem to see women come out from steam bath and with sweat enter directly pool with our presence. At very end son had some medical issue but personnel was not helpful at all nor willing to help in any way.

In contrary I must highlight Restaurant with exceptional food and Mr. Zsólt service.

In summary we took feeling that we need to go...

If I could give this place 50 stars I would. Every single thing about this place was perfect from the moment we arrived. The staff are friendly, professional, accommodating, and always available for help or questions. They are definitely well staffed between cleaning, restaurants, reception, bars, etc and you never have to wait long for anything. The welcome drink upon arrival was a nice start to our trip here. We had an incredible room with 2 balconies, a beautiful lake front view, and an incredible deep bathtub and large comfortable bed. The outdoor lake deck private for hotel guests was really nice and relaxing. Because we were here before “season” starts, we had no trouble finding available lounge chairs. The fresh, cold towels were also a nice touch! We made use of the wellness area. The two saunas were very nice as well as a the two indoor pools. The layout was comfortable and again, lots of space. The massage services were top! Absolutely amazing staff here and my husband and I both enjoyed our massages. The breakfast buffet/made to order service was delicious and had a great variety. We never got tired of it during our 3 days stay. Overall, I can’t say enough good things about this hotel. When you look at the other hotels around, there is just absolutely no comparison. Mala Gardens is amazing quality and the prices are fair! Will...