Grand Hotel Continental Bucharest — Hotel in Bucharest

I stayed here on an extended business trip recently. Overall I enjoyed my stay and would visit again. The staff were very pleasant and made an effort to be helpful. Breakfast suited me. There was a decent choice of hot food and fruits/salads. You can ask the staff to make you a cappuccino or eggs benedict if you want. Room service was great which was good for me because many evenings after work I was too tired to go to a restaurant. The location is very central. Many things are within walking distance but the downside is that traffic can be heavy in the area at peak times. Because I am a light sleeper, I asked for a room not facing the street and this was provided. My window faced into a small courtyard between buildings and there was zero noise from there. I didn't hear any loud noises from the hall or other guests late at night. The bathroom was unusual. It has a waterfall faucet over the sink which looks very nice but if you're not careful you will spray water all over yourself. Also the bathroom door is just partially frosted glass. I was alone so this was fine for me but if anyone is in the bedroom they will have a good view of you.

I took away one star because there is some room for improvement. My shower had a large piece missing in the rubber seal around the door. If I was not careful I would flood my bathroom. I mentioned this to reception on my first morning and was assured the maintenance team would fix it. They did not. I get the feeling the staff member I spoke to made an effort to report the problem but the maintenance team just didn't/wouldn't fix it.

Also, the climate control in the rooms is a little odd. In Winter it is heat only and in Summer it is cooling only. Even with the temperature set extremely low the system kept blowing hot air. It was 25C (77F) which might be comfortable for some but not for me. Eventually I learned that switching off the panel on the wall allowed the room to stay at a comfortable temperature of about 22C (72F). Maybe the system should automatically turn off the blower if the temperature is set low.

I hope the management can address some of the issues because it really is a lovely place to stay overall. I hope to visit again in future and update my...

Tricky one this and one that I was hovering over the 5 star then the 4 then the 5. It's certainly a solid 4 but had a few issues hence the knock down. I would also mention that I would certainly stay here again

Ok so the good: The hotel is stunning, the architecture and the flow of the place is truly a 5 star experience. Its decadence in its finest, with large well kept gold and white adorning all the corridors and seating areas. High ceilings and textured sections as I say make it a truly "you have arrived in the Hotel" The bedroom followed suit, I had a "Superior room" which was nice and again al the things you would expect, the one use slippers, minibar, dressing gown, hair dryer and all those things were readily available. Large windows that looked out over the side of the hotel (strangely at my dentists which was perfect for me :-) ). A full sized bath and a good strong hot shower was also nice.

So the things that knocked it down: The room had issues with the plug staying down in the sink and just generally looked a bit tired, I think its endemic of any place with this much opulence . There were two duvets not one which was fine for just me (I was a solo traveller) but would have been less than romantic if it wasn't. The aircon was a manual wall based one without remote control and the fan stayed on full speed no matter what you did, so you could fry or freeze. Moving on from the room the breakfast was nice enough but lacked anything special. The service was Ok but far from attentive on the first day. I think it was just a continuity issue and possibly because I was a lone traveller.

As I said at the start I would certainly stay here again (and will as I am a regular traveller in Bucharest), the cost of it was really good and overall the experience was as I would have expected from a true 5 star it was just a few niggly points that...

To start, I must note that we stay only at 5* hotels and look for ratings over 9 (based on a well-known booking website). Starting with the positive sides, the location is top notch. In the very heart of the city, however cosy and quiet. Architecture is gorgeous, should you be in old style. Rooms are decorated in the same manner and so is the whole vibe. So, all in all very beautiful and classy. Prices are ok - room was 200 eur for both (me and wife), including breakfast. Now to the not so good. Parking is available, but at the Novotel underground parking which is across the street and you need to carry all stuff from the parking through the Novotel lobby, across the street and to the hotel. Sounds absolutely crazy, but it is. No one to just take your car and deal with all this...We wanted to have a dinner at the hotel, the restaurant OPENS at 19:00 and by 19:10, there was nobody in the restaurant (meaning staff), no one at the reception as well and as we decided to leave, we saw three guys from the staff at some back staff door by the side entrance having a chat?! You serious?!?! On this note, the breakfast was good. The rooms was clean and big, however the bed was...well, the sheets were so slippery, both I and my wife were about to fall off several times. Crazy stuff...the shower was broken, water was not so hot, and the coffee machine was broken. Should we have stayed for more than one night in the city, we would have called the problems, but still, for this type of property I think it is not ok. So, in short, if you are not travelling by car and care about dinner and hot shower, it's your place, else, look...