Nice place,spa village,built during the cummunist period as a workers holiday resort , know for its natural healing and hot springs, theres also the largest travertine crater lake in solvakia where you can go for a swim, you'll feel great after it.Not for everyone, but interesting to see the architecture and we'll worth a walk around, cool hotel, good restaurant.
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Me and my family we were staying in hotel for 3 nights, price per night included breakfast, dinner and unlimited entrance to spa facilities. Rooms were nice and tidy, cleaned every day, very good connection to wifi, good choice of TV channels. Breakfast and dinner were buffet style, means eat as much as you want, breakfast very good choice, for dinner was cooked few (5-6) dishes you could choose from, then salads, veg, desserts, we were very happy with the choice. Spa was amazing, big swimming pool, jacuzzi, 3 saunas to choose from, we went straight from our rooms just with the lift in dressing gowns down to swimming pool floor, that was amazing, and then after straight back to rooms, this was very comfortable and convenient. Staff was very helpful and friendly both on reception and in dining areas. Hotel is not far, 5 min drive from ski lifts, there is park around hotel you can walk, not far is castle Stara Lubovna (15-20km), very nice place to visit as well. Overall, we were very happy from our stay, and looking forward to come back next winter.
It was our 3rd stay at this hotel and first in summer (previous 2 were in ski period). Hotel is perfectly located both for summer and winter vacations. In winter - you are less than 1 km from Ruzbachy Ski Park (regular free shuttle to slopes and ski storage room are available) Need to mention that Ski Park is small one. Definitely not for upper intermediate/professional skiers. At the same time due to this fact ski pass prices are much-much cheaper than in neighbor Tatranska Lomnica or Strebske Pleso, and ski school is quite good. So definitely great place for newcomers and those who do not feel comfortable on "black" courses yet. In summer you are in the middle of Thermal recreational complex - with 4 outdoor pools (2 of those with thermal water) and both in winter and summer season Isabella indoor thermal pool is available - which makes the difference. It is filled with thermal water of 35-37 C which is very relaxing after skiing in winter and also equally nice to have in summer (especially when the weather is not that good which happens frequently in this region). On all 3 visits we did have HB (breakfast+dinner). Breakfast is really nothing special (I would even say for 4 star hotel it can be better), dinner - is buffet style and was always very good (with good variety of choice). This year we visited with our 2 sons (6,5 years and 3 months old) and did book Family Apartment. Tip: if you not obligatory need separate room for children this is a type of room to book. It has only one room, however the size of the room is huge (it is more than 2 times bigger than standard room) and is divided into to zones - living room and bedroom. all rooms have quality wooden furniture and carpets on the floor. Also apartment has huge bath and 1 huge balcony/terrace with table and chairs facing the pools area and mountains - great view. All other apartment types although have more rooms (2, 3 or even 4) are located in Mezzanine level -meaning that they do not have balconies at all and have standard windows only on the lower floor of the apartment and then roof windows on upper floor. Also they are in 2 levels - which can be a bit difficult/dangerous when you travel with small children. However the choice of course is all yours. Rooms at the hotel have central heating (heated floor - very smart decision), while do not have Air conditioning - however you definitely do not need it even in Jul-Aug. In rooms you have bathrobes which is very convenient for use of Izabella Thermal pool - you can enter it w/o leaving the building. Access to Izabella and Sauna/Steam bath is free for Strand hotel guests during whole day. Pool can also be used for a fee by guests of nearby hotels - so the most calm time to use it is morning before 10.00 (as outside guests are only allowed in after 10, while pool is open form 9.00) and also during lunch time. At other times pool can be a bit crowded depending on the season.Wi-Fi is free both in rooms and public areas and of acceptable quality. Nature around the hotel is really beautiful - it is surrounded by hills/mountains and a lot of greenery. For very small additional surcharge you can have horse riding. Therapeutic building is linked with Grand Hotel Strand, so you can have all medical procedures if you prefer w/o leaving the buildings (especially convenient in winter). They do have free parking if you arrive by car (preferred way as without car you virtually will not be able to leave the hotel and small village near it). Staff at the hotel is very friendly, although majority of them speak very limited English. Just wanted to mention that we visited first time in 2006 - at that time everything was crispy new, second time was in 2013 and this stay Aug 2014 - general impression hotel is still well-maintained, however some areas definitely need additional refurbishment. Saying this we did enjoy our 3rd stay as much as first one. So can definitely recommend the hotel to all those who wants peaceful holidays in great setting.
We stayed at the Strand Hotel for two nights June 1-2, 2014. The hotel underwent major renovations in 2003-4 that are excellent. But, the furniture in our rooms may have been from the 1970's. I suspect that the 2008-10 recession hurt the timing of additional upgrades. They are in the process of a complete renovation of the outdoor pool area which will help the external appearance of the grounds greatly. The long road up to the hotel is in need of improvement as is the office building next door to the hotel, so the first impression is poor. The included breakfast and dinner food was just adequate. It was odd that their bar ice maker was broken for the two days as well. What is a bar without ice?
The staff was friendly and attentive.
The thermal pool was quite impressive. If that is primarily why you are there, you should feel pretty good about your choice.
When we were there, just two days, it was a client base almost exclusively over 60 and up. We will likely not be back to Slovakia ever again but I would not be going back to Vysne Ruzbachy if we did.
We spent 3 days there. The hotel is not a beautiful one by any means and it needs attention, but the thermal pool made up for everything else. It was Spring, weather not very warm yet to use the outside pool, which really needed cleaning. But we spent the entire time ( literally) swimming in the inside thermal pool. Few times every day I submerged myself in the ice cold bath they have there as well ( really ice cold !) It was absolutely wonderful. We all felt great. My son took a horseback ride. At night we had wonderful drinks at the bar. This hotel is some good walk from the train and bus station, so be ready for that. We would not come back , but do have nice memories.
We spend in Hotel Strand a weekend of New Year. The hotel is nice a building dated 1930 and nicely re-furnished in 2004, however it is marked with various significant scratches since that time. You can feel the lack of maintenance at every corner. We got a very nice maisonette room – the main floor was large with sofa, chairs and table, another separate table with stools, small room - wardrobe, some other furniture and a washroom with bath. A large wooden stairs led up to the second floor with tho single beds, a room with a double bed and furniture incl. desk and a small washroom-toilet. There is a floor heating in the room, but actually it was very over-heated, so we had to let the windows open very often. The sleeping quality was very good and we were completely satisfied with the room and accommodation.
A part of the hotel is a large thermal pool (33°C) with dry sauna, stream bath, infra cabin and a whirlpool. For hotel gusts is the entry free, open from morning until 22:00. All wellness area seemed to be neglectful and unattended, surprisingly there were no attendance at the pool. We missed for example deckchairs for resting after sauna or even some clothes-hooks. You can also get various types of massages.
We took a half board, the breakfast as well as the dinner were adequate to a 4-star hotel, but nothing more. We were surprised with the time limitation for the dinner – only from 18:00 to 19:00.
The hotel is a part of a health resort placed in nice nature and park, however a lack of finances for maintenance is to see everywhere.
The staff was friendly and generally helpful.
