Grand Hotel Stary Smokovec — Hotel in Vysoké Tatry

The Grand Hotel Stary Smokovec is a truly fantastic place, and we thoroughly enjoyed our winter holiday there. The heritage interior is stunning, the food delicious, and the staff and service exemplary. The SPA facilities were pleasant, and the spacious, elegantly furnished rooms with incredibly comfortable beds added to our enjoyment. Its proximity to the ‘lanovka’ and the breathtaking scenery of the Tatra Mountains made it an ideal choice.

Since I didn’t have the chance to share my feedback directly during our stay, I wanted to leave my thoughts here, as this incredible hotel has the potential to join the ranks of world-class hotels: Including hot tea or hot chocolate with dinner for half-board or full-board guests would enhance the experience, especially after a long day of skiing. This is a standard in many European ski hotels. Charging extra for tap water with a slice of lemon (€3.5) felt unnecessary and unwelcoming. Such details can detract from an otherwise wonderful.

The rock water fountain at the sauna area entrance needs repair. Consider adding relaxing music in the relaxation room to mask the noise of the jacuzzi engine. Address issues with the ‘Vonda Cesta’ shower and the ice dispenser at the cooling pool. These small fixes would significantly enhance the SPA's impact. Revisiting the policy on sauna use without swimwear might be worth considering. For many guests, especially families with teenagers, some ‘views’ could feel uncomfortable.

To make the Wilson Bar more inviting during long winter evenings, consider adding an entertainment programme. A pianist or singer, even students, could create a lively atmosphere. Storytelling sessions about the hotel’s history and its notable guests would be fascinating. A board game evening could appeal to families and groups. The space near the Wilson Café could be transformed into a small gym with a few basic machines for warming up before skiing.

These minor adjustments and enhancements would elevate the already fantastic experience at the Grand Hotel Stary Smokovec. Thank you for a wonderful stay, and we’ll happily recommend this charming hotel to...

The Grandhotel is lovely, especially if you enjoy historic hotels in their more-or-less original style. Our room with balcony was very comfortable with a good bed, ample space and nice bathroom.||The star of the hotel is the newly opened wellness centre, with a beautiful pool, jacuzzi style hottub and saunas. There's no gym, but then there are the ski slopes and places to hike. The ski slope with ground cable car is right behind the hotel. The train station for the Tatras electric train - that takes you to the other settlements - is a short walk away (and highly recommended). Good restaurants abound in Stary Smokovec and there are historic places to see all through town. The Grandhotel is on lovely grounds.||We were at the hotel at the half-board rate, meaning we had buffet breakfast and dinner included. This is a good choice -- and excellent deal -- if you don't want to spend time and effort looking for a dinner restaurant. Breakfast was excellent. Dinner consisted of good (not excellent) basics, typically with chicken, fish, beef and pork selections each night, with central European flavours, and less-than-stellar desserts, given what's available in Slovakia and surrounding countries. Restaurant staff were pleasant and polite and most spoke at least some English.||This couldn't be said of the front desk staff, who were disinterested and unhelpful, as if we were bothering them. Our door card kept failing (as did our neighbour's) and although staff made attempts to fix it, they showed no concern and just shrugged. Oh well....One person provided incorrect information about taxis - this is surprising, in a 4-star hotel!||If you enjoy staying at historic places and don't mind the little aggravations, as well as some dimly-lit areas, and furniture and carpets that are shabby and worn, this is a wonderful hotel in a perfect location. If you like your hotel to be modern and immaculate, with friendly, informed staff ready to please, the Grandhotel Stary Smokovec may not be the...

We chose the hotel because of its great location (close to the cable car to Hrebienok) and history. Despite the fact that it is a historical hotel, it is very nicely and sensitively renovated so that all historical elements are preserved. The hotel has been visited by many knowledgeable personalities - pay attention to the interior, you will find many photos with descriptions there - it is really interesting. We recommend making a reservation directly, because in addition to the discount, we also received free entrance to the cable cars and water parks during our stay and you can also use the points you get for booking as a discount on other services. The GoPass program from Tatry mountain resort is really very well set up. We arrived at the hotel shortly after lunch, a nice gentleman greeted us at the reception, the room was ready (room 120). The hotel has natural hotel cosmetics. After a late lunch in the lobby restaurant Wilson (you can read more about the restaurant in our next review), we went to the wellness area. The wellness is divided into two parts - a swimming pool, a large jacuzzi, loungers and a bar, and then in the next part there is a small jacuzzi, infra sauna, steam sauna, Finnish sauna, salt chamber (great thing), cooling pool and Kneipp bath. The wellness area was very well maintained the whole time and everything was cleaned continuously. The hotel wellness is really above standard equipped. We had booked our stay with half board, which we really recommend. For breakfast there is a cold and hot buffet and a chef who will prepare other types of eggs for you. Dinners are also served buffet style, but everyone will definitely choose something - there is really everything, from appetizers to meat, fish, vegetables, pasta to desserts and again there is a chef who comes up with a different specialty every evening. The staff throughout the hotel was very nice, friendly and helpful. The price-performance ratio is really great. More on...