Hotel Izvoare — Hotel in Calimanesti

We’ve visited here with our two small kids (now 6 and 9 years old) two times, in the winter of 2023 and the winter of 2022. |The Caciulata resort in general is very quiet, great place for a getaway and relaxing holiday at the hot pools with family. ||This hotel specifically is probably the best in the town/resort. Privately owned, built up new more or less from scratch in the 2010s, heavily renovated with EU funds, it is quite modern and well designed inside and outside. |It is a noted contrast (in a positive way) with the other huge, communist-style mega-hotels that exist in this resort town.||There are 3 floors and the elevator is small, but you won’t feel the need to use it except the first and last day, for heavy baggage. ||The front desk/reception staff is professional, attentive and ready to help and explain all the details (such as the new green bracelet system introduced this year to which was a bit hard to understand at first). They are also prompt in organizing the optionals (such as massage - more on this later). Also we are Romanian so we didn’t need it, but I’ve seen them speak very good English with foreign guests. ||The rooms are a good size, quite big for a hotel which, on the overall, is on the small side compared to other hotels in the area, as mentioned before. |We took an appartement and were very happy to see that the extendable couch can easily fit our 2 kids (and even 2 kids+1 adult). |Also the bed in the “master bedroom” was big and comfortable. |The very modern flat screen TVs available in both “main rooms” were much appreciated, especially for already installed Netflix, available for movies and kids shows. Also there is a good variety of “standard” TV channels, local and foreign, really nothing is missing, like a Bucharest (big city/capital) hotel. The furniture is all modern and new.||A nice touch was also the tea-maker in the living room, we could always prepare fresh warm tea for the kids after a long walk outside in the January weather. |Another nice touch is that, both the living room and bedroom have small balconies where you can step out and enjoy the quiet and fresh mountain air, and just enjoy the view of the mountains on the opposite side of the river. (through be aware this could be because we had a “premium suite” or something, not all apartments/suites have balconies). |The bathroom is clean and fully equipped with all amenities, big bathtub for kids, modern/new hairdryer, good sanitary stuff.|As usual, glass cups for the bathroom, bad idea for kids, but we’re used to it and removed them quickly. |Since it is a bath-oriented resort there are a lot of towels readily available, you get a set of 3 towels with big and 2 size of small towels and the cleaning ladies can replace them every day or whenever you ask. |Speaking about cleaning, the rooms start out clean, and cleaning ladies are every day prompt, serious and very kind. ||Another 2 small things to improve for the room: the closet (Dulap) for clothes is not big enough for 4 people, with warm clothes and bath clothes. perhaps find additional storage space? |Then, the bath robes provided by the hotel comes only in “L” size. For myself it was too small, for my wife a bit big. Maybe have some XL available ? Same with the interior shoes, too small. Hard to fit everyone….but maybe have a “small and big” option at least? ||Finally the pool of the hotel itself is very nice and warm, even hot at some hours. It is crowded but it’s worth using it, even in winter when it’s under 5 degrees C outside it’s very pleasant to use, including for kids. Friendly advice, the kids should always have water goggles on, the water has some minerals inside and it’s safer this way. ||And the last thing is the restaurant. The menu has few items, the cooked food is generally good (such as salmon, snitzel, beef, pasta for kids etc, I also tried the noodles which were good) but sometimes they can be hit and miss (we found 1 snitzel with hard edges that could not be cut, and |In the final day my wife ordered a salad which came to the room spoiled, with bad cucumbers and bad tomatoes - to be fair they did refund it) ||Overall a...

The room was clean when we arrived.||A well appointed room, that lacked the vision of a western designer.||Basically, our Junior Suite could have been better, but it was comfortable and served it's purpose. A little more planning and thought would have seen it competing with Western Peers.||||The facilities are above average for a Romanian owned and operated hotel.||||What excelled, what made our weekend enjoyable, was the service.||||Firstly, the reception staff;||||Elisabeta Marinescu||&||Stefan Popa||||They make your arrival and check in smooth, simple and enjoyable.||Our thanks to them for ensuring our stay started with a smile.||||And if we thought that would good;||||Vlad (Whose surname I did not catch)||||Vlad runs the restaurant.||Having arrived at 15:30 hrs on Friday, we headed straight to the restaurant for a late lunch.||||From the start, Vlad made us feel welcome.||||Vlad has a gift.||He knows how to engage his clients, and he knows everything his restaurant has to offer.||||Vlad has another gift||||He knows how to sell, without being too pushy and always making it feel like everything he offers was your idea.||||Of course, the food and drinks were exceptional, which makes it a little easier for Vlad to encourage more sales.||None the less, the gentlemen makes your whole experience enjoyable from start to finish.||||Finally;||||Alex||||Alex runs the terrace bar by the pool. Although not as proactive as Vlad, Alex serves promptly and with a smile.||||||The service team do their jobs wonderfully. They are a credit to the hotels owners.||||I would definitely recommend a visit, enjoying the restaurant while you are there and a chat...

I'm gonna write an honest review as always. I visited restaurant not the hotel. Being for the first time I get triced by interior design. Cause from outside you can see inside which was nice. I was evening time and there was no much to see as a view but I think at daytime it's gonna be better. Tables and plates were clean which is good. Stuff was okay at first. Menu was big and need time to choose but also not big options they all the same things. But I chose Cheeseburger and it looked good . Meat was some parts salty, kinda burnt and only you can taste was tomatos not even the meat. It had only one slice of cheese which looked not good quality. Potatos and small salad came as side dish . Potatos had no salt at all and doesn't looked fresh even salad leaves. I don't know what's going on in the kitchen and how freshly they make them but this meal wasn't the worst but not the best one also. It's really sad that with this quality of food prices were extremely high. I'm not saying that you don't have to go but choose what you order carefully. Stuff was okay but when we asked for a check it took almost 10 minutes. Bathroom was clean but they didn't had napkins...