The Golden Star is a okay establishment in a good location but in general overpriced.

Pros: Excellent location in the center of town, under the Melk Abbey. Easy access from train station. Rooms are clean and comfortable.

Cons: Rooms are crowded with too much decor, bathroom very small, no toiletries provided, breakfast is good but same menu every morning (and they charge for extra OJ), owners personalities seem to vary wildly from helpful to surly. The bicycles are quite poor in quality (very heavy, 3speed leisure bikes, no tools, no lights -- fine for around town but not well suited for the typical 50 miles/day tourists would put on going to Krems) - plus they charge twice as much as the city bikes in the racks in town and charge you the full rate whether you use the bikes for 1 hour or all day. There is no car parking (they direct you to the public spaces down the hill).

If you are traveling by train, you can't argue with the location and convenience of Golden Star. But, if you are traveling by car and you aren't determined to stay in Melk, you are better off looking for an inn or guest house with a spare room somewhere along the Danube, particularly in the quaint town of Durnstein.

We stayed for two nights in the Orange Room, which was well kept, and the beds were nicely made up - the duvets were made into heart shapes. Breakfast was nice, staff were friendly, location was great. We hired bikes from the hotel and cycled along the Danube to Krems and back, about 70km round trip on fairly flat cycles paths along the river valley. Beautiful scenery, easy cycling, lovely villages to stop in en route.

I was travelling alone in Austria and wanted a nice place to rest after a few nights backpacking in hostels. I called from the train station in Vienna and they guaranteed me a room at a certain price. When i arrive I was so happy. The room was clean and big. Although there were no bathroom in the room, the bathroom was just next door and was very clean. I had a very nice night. The next morning I enjoyed the breakfast, typical austrian. But when the time to pay came. the price was higher than was the manager told me on the phone. The receptionist called the manager and told me I understood wrongly. Bad way to end my trip to Melk. Overall very happy though.

Our room was large and comfortable, and the pension has a great location. But we had problems. We decided to eat at the restaurant, and walked into the dining room, which was full of cigarette smoke. We said "too smoky" and started to walk out. The proprietess, who was standing behind a low counter, said "but this is the non-smoking section". She was smoking a cigarette when she said this. This is just an example, I could tell other stories, but this place would be good only for smokers.

I should also point out that the breakfast was pitiful: cold-cuts and breads only. (Eggs available at an extra charge.) And check-out time was a surprising 10:00 am. I'm pretty easy to please; if you look at our other hotel/pension reviews, you'll see that they are overwhelmingly positive. This is the only place we stayed that I would strongly recommend against.