La Vila Maria — Hotel in Bucharest

I had actually booked three nights next door, at Vila 11. The address showing at this place however (9/11) and the welcome (I was even picked up off the street as I was looking for the place) all made me think I'd come to the right place. I W's told that though I'd booked a single room, it was still occupied so I could have a small dorm to myself. I didn't have an attached bathroom as I'd booked but a shared bathroom that I was told would be exclusively for my use. It wasn't great but the excuse seemed valid. What I didn't relies till I returned at the end of my trip, having again booked for a room at Vila 11, was that they were misleading me into believing that this was their next door competitor! When I asked for breakfast which was supposed to be included, and having been given a dorm room and shared bathroom again for the price of a single with attached bathroom breakfast included, I was sent away - the guy laughing his head off as he pointed next door. I had shown his wife my booking the night before when she'd said she had 'list all the bookings' and she had seen I'd booked a room at Vila 11 and not at their place. Fortunately I had only paid the one night. When I got a bit exasperated at the deception I was ordered to leave very rudely (I've never been insulted like this before). It was with great relief that next door I found the true Vila 11, a complete contrast to the place next door. It seems that this is a common scam, and I'm not the only person who has been misled.||Vila Maria smells of cigarette smoke throughout. The bathroom and rooms are clean enough, but no bins make it difficult to dispose of rubbish. There's no kitchen or means of making tea or coffee. It's expensive for what it is and it's only saving grace is its proximity to the station. ||I wouldn't recommend the place especially for less next door, you have a much nicer room and...

I first book a reservation through Orbitz and paid with my cc. When I arrived there the guy (owner) asked if I wanted to pay € or Ron in cash. I was a bit confused bc I thought I already paid for a night, but I paid him anyways and he showed me a room in the muggy smelling basement. I paid for a single room and the owner took me to a 4 bed dorm room. I had the spot to myself but only because there was literally no one there (wonder why). I then checked my cc to see if Orbitz already charged me for this room and to my surprise it was! I called Orbitz right away and Orbitz called the front desk and the owners wife gave them some excuse that she did not "refresh" her invoice and she did not see the payment. Luckily, I ended up getting my cash back. After this, I started to feel even worse being in there. The room smelled bad and little dead bugs all over the window and on the linen of all four beds. The place just started to feel really weird and I called orbitz back to see about getting a refund. Orbitz called the owners and they obviously refused to give my money back and said MAYBE in 10 days I'll be able to get my money back. I just left because these guys were so terrible at running a business and treating their guests like crap. ||||If anyone is considering this place for even a night bc of their low prices, don't be fooled. It's only to lure you in and take more from you and provide you with a bad room and...

La Vila Maria has one plus - it's really close to the train station. So if you have to catch an extremely early train this might still be an option. But be very careful and cautious, the owners will try to trick you into paying more. They told us that our room wasn't available and that the only other option they had were the suites (just big rooms really - no towels, no air-conditioning (terrible in summer)), which of course cost twice as much. The old lady who stays at the house, and who seemed very charming at first, made us pay right away. She didn't speak any English, which of course is fine, but after a while we were pretty sure, that the owners used this to their advantage. At first she understood us just fine but every time we actually asked for anything all of a sudden she had no idea what we were talking about. The actual owner only showed up to collect our money. He told us he didn't have any change on him, but that he'd give it to us later. We never saw him again and the old lady kept pretending she didn't understand what we wanted (we tried in several languages, including Romanian and gestures). That way we lost another 20€. |The "playground" for the kids btw is just an old broken...