Hotel Victoria — Hotel in Cluj Metropolitan Area

I and my friend booked 2 nights at Victoria Hotel, room 201, March 3-5 2017. A buffet for breakfast was included in the price. We announced prior to our visit that we are vegetarian.

1 star because staff attitude, atmosphere, WiFi issues trump all other good things + the current rating is bigger than what it deserves.

PROS: The hotel and restaurant is very clean. We had enough towels, blankets etc. - the basics were covered The hotel receptionist was great and helpful

CONS:

They offer WiFi (that is why we chose the hotel), but the speed is not great overall and frequently goes to 0 mbps; not ok if you are planning to actually do some online work or watch a clip. Romania has great internet speed overall, as a country. As a hotel in the middle of Cluj, this is unacceptable.

Nobody wanted feedback; nobody asked if we like the conditions and are feeling ok. This is the first rule of the hospitality industry.

Room 201 has a faulty WC. When you flush without closing the lid, the water shoots out on your feet.

When you first enter the buffet room, you feel like an intruder. The staff asks you for your room number and writes it down. She also seemed to guard the fried eggs and omelettes. Never saw this in other hotels or even hostels with buffets.

Because the Easter Fast had begun a couple of days earlier, the only things that we could eat from the buffet were bananas, oranges, apples, tomatoes, cucumbers, a little bowl of a traditional vegetable spread (1 bowl for all of the customers), a little bit of soy spread, bread (2 types) + coffee, tea, non-natural orange juice. We told the restaurant staff ( a female) that they should have more Fast-friendly products (Romanians pride themselves with being Orthodox Christians). The next day, there were less items from which to choose: bananas were gone, the multi-cereal bread was also gone. Even the vegetable soy spread was missing My friend asked the staff (a male) for some bananas for me. The staff said that he will bring some. We never saw him again during the meal. When we wanted to leave, I saw the staff and asked him where are the bananas. He said they don’t have any. I asked for his name and position, because I wanted to give some feedback to the hotel. He just said that he is a waiter. I asked were can I give some feedback about this experience - he said that they don’t receive feedback anywhere. The other female waiter joined the discussion also. They became more agreeable only after I mentioned that we were going to leave feedback on the internet and that we have travelled in other places (USA, Europe), so offered them service comparisons. At this point he even told us that we should have asked for a salad or something and they could have brought us - after they couldn’t even deliver some bananas.

Seemingly, not wearing formal attire and not looking like you have money is an excuse for the staff of this hotel to offer...

If you plan on spending more than a night in this hotel, then you'd better think again. It posesses only one quality: it's situated in the very heart of the city. Everything you would need to see is within walking distance. You have lots of restaurants and nightlife spots all around the hotel.||||But the hotel is in bad need of a total makeover. The carpets are so old that they simpy can't be clean anymore. The furniture, although seemingly younger than the carpets, is also quite ancient. My guess is early 2000's. TV's are old and small. The bathroom is quite clean, but also very old.||||I've stayed at this hotel many times as my employer has a deal with it, but for one night only. There was one time where I had to spend three nights there and it was a nightmare. Twin beds are very small, matresses are old and lumpy. I've only eaten breakfast once and it's below average for a 3 star hotel, but it's edible. Whatever you do, don't try the coffee....

Rating two star to reflect the true quality of this hotel—dishonest to call themselves 3*, frankly. The venue is lovely and the location perfect for the centre of town and university, but the hotel is not maintained to its historical standard. The rooms are minimalist, barely furnished, and almost clean, the staff are dismissive, and the advertised free Wi-Fi is almost entirely fictitious. I would recommend paying slightly more elsewhere for a decent stay.

Editing to report even worse service by the end of the stay (sadly): hotel breakfast was terrible—stale bread, lukewarm tea and coffee, no fresh food. No shower curtain in the bathroom, and cleaners refuse to clean the floor. Hot water went off for an entire day—front desk staff denied there was a problem (as they did with the Wifi, which never worked). All in all, the crappy service was even more disappointing than the dismal facilities. One star. Would not...