I had selected this hotel as I believed it offered excellent service coupled with grand designs. I was greeted by a short (I'm not very tall, but was taller than him) doorman in an enormously high top hat and grey coat wearing sunglasses. The entrance is up a long flight of stairs surrounded by mirrors. There is a red carpet going up the stairs, but it is stained and full of dirt, it was never changed. If they must have carpet, it should be cleaned every other morning at the very least. At check-in, despite their having my address and other details, they insisted that I fill in a lengthy form (I've never had to do this before). After doing so I was informed my room was not ready for another half hour, I was not offered any drink and decided to go for a little walk. The room I was shown to was small - there was an armchair, long desk and beds in the bedroom, and floor to ceiling windows a few feet from a brick wall which had been covered up with ivy print perspex panels. One double wardrobe comprised the storage space. The bathroom was very small, and unusually had a plastic bath, no separate shower. The air conditioning fan was very noisy, and if I opened a window I had the noise of more air conditioning, so requested a change of room. I was shown to a similar room which had exactly the same problem. Again, this wasn't good enough. The manager dealing with my problem was patronising ?if you are a light sleeper we are furnished with an excellent bar?, and then he asked ?are you from America? in a condescending manner. I remembered how patient and polite the manager at Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens had been in making sure I was happy with the room - he offered me suites and junior suites at no extra cost. Here, I realised that he had no intention of offering me an upgrade, ?we are 99.9 per cent full?, with invisible guests perhaps. Finally I was shown to a larger room on the top floor, again with a small bathroom, and only skylights set into the high ceiling so there were no views of anything other than the sky. Despite having no way to look out of the windows I decided to settle for this room. The bathroom had a bidet which took up unnecessary space, and without going into details, is now rather redundant with hand showers and suchlike. Toiletries were by Etro, very Italian, like the rest of the design of the hotel, incidentally the shampoo was absolutely hopeless at removing hairspray, I had to go to a chemist nearby to find something stronger. Carpet was very deep pile and patterned - so seventies (yet it was only a year old). The lobby is grand, but with no atmosphere, and awful piped pop music. The cigar bar was a small room that seemed to always be empty, and could've been combined with the well designed main bar which served well made and reasonably priced drinks. I didn't dine at the hotel, with so many excellent (and cheaper) restaurants nearby, I had no inclination to eat there. Breakfast buffet often had ?leftovers? from the night before, e.g. a red currant pannacotta. Fresh fruit wasn't replaced often enough, and there was no fresh orange juice on offer! Cheese selection was equally poor, and comprised mainly smoked cheese which seems a little strange for breakfast time. Service was clumsy with the waitress continually leaning across me to clear the table, also their standard of English was not particularly high. The basement ?spa? was dismal. Large changing rooms with the doors always left open (not very nice from a privacy aspect) felt cold and uninviting. The pool is surrounded by a few loungers, and some chairs and tables, very few towels are provided. Those that were, were very small bath towels, and on one occasion there were only face towels available! One day there were no towels out, so I walked into the storeroom and took my own, upon my exit I was confronted by the employee shouting at me waving a broom, not the way you address a guest. The pool itself was beautifully tiled, but the water was so cold it seemed as if they didn't want you using it - there are various jacuzzi style sections, but in cold water it's not much fun! A massage room comprised a corner by the pool screened off with wooden screens - again very little privacy. There is a large sauna which was pleasant, and a steam room which would've benefited from some form of scent.

The hotel looks good, but isn't very functional and lacks high standards of service. Out of curiosity I asked to see a deluxe room - these had very high ceilings and huge windows, but once again only a very small bathroom which seemed very strange indeed. If you can get this hotel at a price well below the rack rate then you won't go far wrong - it has a central location being a leisurely ten minute walk from Wencelas Square.