Botel Gracia in Bratislava

I had only one day in Bratislava and was looking just for a place to sleep and get a decent breakfast before heading out. I also wanted something a little unique and I got exactly that with Botel Gracia. The check in person was friendly but be forewarned they do not take American Express. I, and he, did not know this but after he called his manager we switched to Visa card, so make sure you have another form of payment than Amex. The hotel is on a decommissioned boat. It has a certain "charm" - is quite basic and old fashioned interior. The room key is huge - the room was small, bathroom tiny but you had the basics. It was fine for one night but I definitely would not have been comfortable staying longer. I was exhausted so fell asleep pretty quickly, though the pillows were big uncomfortable foam your head bounces off and the "mattress" is a couple of inches on a wood platform. If you are really tired, you'll sleep - if you need soft comfortable bed and pillows, not so much! The view was really nice. I awoke at sunrise as the curtains were really thin - I prefer blackout ones. Breakfast on the upper deck was nice - had usual suspects. eggs and bacon, coffee, etc. Was certainly adequate and had what you need. All in all this was a fun one night stay, the location was good and if you are looking for something a bit different and you are not expecting luxury, this is a fun place to try.

Where to start? Right the first thing is that this is a very basic hotel. The room had no air conditioning but did have a portable fan and an air conditioner unit. The paint around the windows was flaking off, and the were very stiff to open. The bathroom was tiny and I had to sit on an angle as there was no room for my legs to sit normal on the toilet. There was also a dirty toilet brush by the side. The shower was very small and the shower head wasn't very clean. The beds were very hard but on the plus side had clean bedding on them. There is no tea and coffee facilities or a hair dryer and the TV didn't work. Breakfast was a selection of pastries cereals and cold meat/cheese. There was no fruit juice but four flavors of pop and the coffee was instant. The odd thing I found strange is that every time you leave the boat you had to hand your room key back to reception. If you don't there is a fine! There are some positives after all, the location is near to the town, the staff were very friendly and helpful to me, and towels were changed and the bin emptied every day.