Rikli Balance Hotel — Hotel in Bled

This will be honest review of a 4 star hotel. We stayed for 3 nights. Ok, first of all this is not a "newly fresh cool renovated" hotel like they say in advertising. The main problem are carpets, they are dusty and dirty and you feel like its 1980. They cover the floors of the rooms, hallway, stairs, breakfast/dining area and children playroom(which is horrible, no toys at all and the things inside are for garbage,also really spooky mirror wall with a room on the other side so somebody can watch your kids)! Only positive about playroom is girls who work there, they are amazing. Now imagine more than 250 people going to eat dinner walking on dirty carpet(you can NEVER have a clean carpet with that many people!) in dirty shoes and all that particles going in the air and on the open bife food! Also bife area is to small and people are bumping in each other. Very good guys, person who designed that and the owner who said "great job" deserves a reward! If you are allergic to dust don't even think about going here. All the inside spaces of hotel are closed, hallways have no windows, air quality is disaster. Dining are has windows but they don't open them. Also pools are oudated and in bad condition with water slide from 1980. There is fungus on tiles. Dinner is very average nothing that blew my mind, lots of frozen defrosted veggies, side dishes and fried croquettes from instant mash potato(avoid shrimps). Breakfast is great. Dinner dishes are not seasoned, waiters are attacking your plate if you just move your eyes from it one second. One thing is a disaster and that's desserts. Of course you can go to the bar and buy Bled cream cake for 5,60€, its like they say we will serve you 1 star dessert so you must buy the most famous cake. While having dinner waiters will come and ask you for a drink, don't fall for that and pay for overpriced tap water! Reception staff are warm and nice people, cleaning lady also. Iron and iron board is garbage. Also very important to say that from the pictures you get the feeling hotel is on the coast of the lake, its not, it is on the hill and you have to take at least 1000 stairs to go down to the lake so beware if you have health and walking problems. This hotel could be a real gem on a great location, but the real truth is that its OVERPRICED CARPET PLANET. Lake Bled is Slovenian No.1 tourist attraction and this hotel is the example of bad managment and poor design solutions surviving because of great location, message to managment-its time to burn...

I have been to bled 6 times and 4 of those stays have been at the Rikli Balance what was the ‘golf hotel’. I’ve always regarded it as one of my favourite holidays especially when staying at the Rikli Balance. The last time I visited was in 2020 and that was great. However, this time was very disappointing. Everything I had previously experienced from the lovely food to the pool and the lovely rooms just seemed to miss the mark, which for the ever increasing price of a stay here was disappointing. The rooms and the rest of the hotel were ridiculously hot, which I couldn’t understand as it was about 12 degrees outside for most of our stay, which made it very difficult to sleep. There was some sort of cooling in the room but it does nothing and is so loud you have to keep it off to be able to sleep. We ended up sleeping with our balcony door open all day and night. The rooms themselves were nice and clean but the pool I found needed some serious maintenance. The staff were pretty rude particularly the reception staff, when I tried to raise a concern when we almost got shut in the pool as we were told it was late night swimming when we checked in. Despite the lifeguard coming round the pool many times he never said anything and started switching the lights all off. It wasn’t until we scrambled out and went to find him was he shocked to see us and said late night swimming hadn’t started for the season yet. I found the reception staff to be very rude and dismissive and not a single apology or acknowledgement that it was their error. The dinner was nice enough although they could do with turning the lighting down as it felt very canteen like. The breakfast was okay but disappointing for the money. There were a number of big corporate groups and tour groups staying at the same time as us, so every evening all the tables with a nice view were reserved for them and for us just a table of two it was like we were an after thought and stuck on a table in the corner. The drinks at the hotel were absolutely ridiculously priced almost €5 for a 220ml bottle of Coke Zero and they charged you for water which should be included for the price. The location of the hotel is great but unfortunately they have got lazy and stopped trying as lake bled is such a popular destination now compared to 15 years ago when I first started coming. Overall I will not stay at the Rikli Balance again or any Sava hotels for that matter which is such a shame because I have such fond...

Overpriced. Overrated.

Our stay at the hotel was far from what we expected, and we left feeling quite disappointed after spending 4 nights at an average of €350 per night.

First off, let's talk about the elevators—well, actually, the lack of one functioning elevator! With just one working for the entire hotel, it was a real challenge, especially with kids or older guests. Imagine having to take the stairs every time!

Now, onto the pool area—it felt more like an aquatic theme park than a peaceful retreat. Everything there is floppy with a high risk of falling down and having a serious issue. As for the hammocks? They were incredibly stiff, making it feel more like lying on the floor than enjoying a comfortable, relaxing spot.

Breakfast had some variety, but quality seemed to take a backseat. It felt rushed, as if the focus was on getting people served quickly rather than providing a thoughtful dining experience.

The hotel presents quite a challenge when it comes to accessibility. With stairs at every turn, both within the hotel and in its surroundings, guests will find themselves navigating a steep climb just to reach the beautiful lake nearby. Be prepared for a workout on your way back to the hotel, as those dozens of stairs will definitely make you sweat!

Cleanliness in our room left much to be desired. Dust seemed to have made itself at home, and don’t even get me started on the bathroom amenities. The only product available was a combo shower gel, hand gel, and shampoo, and conditioner 4 in 1,—no body lotion in sight! Plus, the shower water fluctuated wildly between scalding hot and freezing cold, which was quite the surprise.

Even with all these issues, things could have turned around if the staff were attentive and well-trained, but unfortunately, that was not the case during our stay.

Is all of this truly worthy of a 4-star rating? I would argue it’s nowhere near that standard—more like a poorly executed 3-star experience at best.

Overall, I can't recommend this hotel. It was not what we hoped for, and we certainly won’t...