Transylvania is in a time warp. Think rural UK in the 1930's. This agricultural area is strip farming by horsepower. Count Kanaolky has several cottages and inns in the area between Brashov and Sighiasoira. We stayed at Miklosoira in the 'Serf's House' which is adjacent to the inn. It was entirely comfortable with an adequate bathroom, clean,and furnished with antique furniture. The style is rustic not flashy five star but you have everything you need. Dinner is taken around a large table collectively at 8.00pm in the inn where the company changes every night. The guests are predominantly English so conversation is friendly. The food is a very satisfying home cooking style typical for the area. Good wine is included.
The property arrange daily trips and activities but we preferred to go our own way. The roads are very poor in parts and we were glad of our SUV although the locals seem happy with their old renaults. It is a good centre for seeing the local sights. This is a very unique venue and highly recommended, you should book well ahead.

My partner and I have just returned after an amazing honeymoon in Transylvania, most of which was spent at Count Kalnoky's Guesthouses.

We spent 7 nights at the guesthouses in Miklosvar - the first 3 in the spooky old manor house and the rest in the lower guesthouses - then went up to the guesthouses in Zalanpatak.

The Manor House (at Miklosvar) is in the process of being refurbished, but it's such a lovely atmospheric building that it doesn't matter that it's not completely restored yet! We were warned that it would be spooky but I'm not sure we were prepared for how spooky it would be to walk back from dinner through the pitch black to the big old house! (Luckily we took a torch.) I'm glad we didn't find out about the old hidden passage until we'd moved out of this room... (we didn't move because we had an issues with the room, only because we could only book 3 nights here at the time of booking). The lower guesthouses were also lovely. Our room was comfortable and spacious, and overlooked a shared garden. The room we had at Zalanpatak was a little smaller, but no less comfortable - and it overlooked the apple trees which was nice!

We also visited the guesthouses in Viscri when we were on our tour to the village - they looked nice, and it seems like a good location if you want peace an quiet.

We booked on Full Board, so all our trips were included as well as our rooms, food, and drink. The tours are very good and the guides are all very knowledgeable. We were taken on a new tour each day, including Bran Castle, Sighisoara, a walk through a gorge to a bat cave, and a visit to a traditional wood carver's family. Neither myself or my partner drive, so choosing this option meant we were taken to all sorts of places we would never have been able to get to if we'd booked everything separately and gone on our own. We also got more of an insight into Transylvanian life than we would have done otherwise, as we had the privilege of meeting residents of the villages - and our tour guides were all from the surrounding area so they could tell us a lot about life there too.

The staff were all wonderful. Monica, Georgie and Gabul were brilliant hosts/guides - they had so much knowledge of the places they took us, and were happy to answer any questions we threw at them. They are lovely to talk to and will go out of their way to make sure you're having a good time!

The kitchen staff also really impressed us. We had let them know in advance that I'm vegan (my partner isn't - he said the meat dishes were great), but I wasn't expecting them to go to such lengths to provide for me! We had three course meals every night - soup, main, dessert. The soups were mostly vegetarian but when they were not, I was brought a separate one. The mains were all meat, so each day I would have my own little portion of something exciting to try - ranging from stews through to stuffed peppers through to soya pieces (a note to any vegans going - the first night that I was given the soya, I couldn't work out what it was and so asked my partner to test it. We thought the texture was quite meaty and so I didn't eat it but it turns out it was soya and I had it again later in the week (it was nice!). The kitchen staff know what they can/can't give you so don't worry and trust in what they give you!). I was also given separate sides, when the side dishes had animal products in. They even bought in some soya milk and margarine for me to have at breakfast, and cooked special veggie options to take in the packed lunches.

We were really pleasantly surprised by our visit to Transulvania. We weren't really sure what to expect but it definitely ticked all the right boxes - the landscape was absolutely beautiful, the areas around Count Kalnoky's Guesthouses are so unspoiled, and the people are very friendly. I will definitely be recommending this to everyone, and would love to visit again.

I was expecting a lot since the place is very well promoted within the expats community in Bucharest, but the reality stroke me.

I've travelled around Romania quite a lot in the last 6 years or so. I've been to Transylvania many many times, on my own or with visiting friends. So, spending some time in a typical Transylvanian village was not the reason why I decided to come for a few days at Count Kalnoky's Guesthouse.

I was looking forward to Hungarian stews, paprikás or goulash.
However, what we've got for lunch was some watery soup with peas and - as main course - fried pork with French fries. And as desert - a slice of some cheap chocolate roll that you can get at BILLA / Carrefour / Metro, for 5 RON.

I was dreaming of fresh vegetables grown in their own garden, everything 100% natural / bio / eco... And the truth is that it was NOTHING LIKE THAT.

For dinner we had the same soup, with some meatballs in it. My wife - who's a vegetarian - got the same soup, with the meatballs removed. :(( And some cheap soy stew?!?!?! What about a vegetable stew or a salad?!?!?!

Then, when we wanted to take a shower, the water was only dripping. AND IT WASN'T HOT. I had to wash off the shower gell with some wet wipes I brought in my bag.

When I approached the rep in the morning, he told me that this is part of countryside life-style.

Well, I could live with that if I wouldn't have to pay the same price / room night as i would in the heart of Bucharest, in a 4 stars hotel.

I will never go there again. And will NOT recommend that place.
If you want to experience true Transylvanian countryside, just get your backpack and look for PENSIUNE type of accomodation.

Kind regards,
Klaus

We spent two weeks in Romania, following an itinerary from Frommers, and our only experience that I would not recommend is staying at Count Kolnoky’s guest houses. The back of my leg still hurts four weeks later from the wild cart ride we experienced, but I feel fortunate that it didn’t break my neck!

We had two nights at Count Kolnoky’s, joining two other families already there. For our only full day of local activities, we were told that two of the four autos were being repaired, and one was needed to pick-up other guests, so we would need to join one of the other two families for either a visit to Sighisoara in the remaining car or a visit to see shepherds and have a picnic, transported by horse and cart. Because we were already booked to stay at Sighisoara as our next stop, we agreed to the horse and cart ride strongly favored by the children of the other family. Unfortunately, rain greeted us on the morning of the outing. The guide postponed leaving, saying that he may be able to rent a small bus in town to go to other cultural sites if the rain did not let up by noon. We encouraged this, however, we were soon told without further explanation that we would leave on the horse-drawn cart at 11 am, even though the rain remained steady. After a 20-30 minute ride up the hill with ponchos and umbrellas, the shepherds’ dogs came out to meet us with fierce barking. Before we knew it, the horses ran uncontrolled, chased by the dogs, while the cart swung violently side-to-side, and the ends of the plank seats slipped into the cart, throwing us all to the cart floor. All that is, except for my husband who has farm experience, and who dived out onto the mud. This turned out to be fortunate for the rest of us, as the dogs turned back to check-out my husband without biting him, but we still had 150 to 200 meters of terror with horses galloping uncontrolled right up to the edge of the hill. The guide apologized, and assured us that this had never happened before and that he would not charge us. The driver went off to try to calm the horses for about 60-90 minutes. However, despite cell phone calls and my hope for a rescue vehicle (what would have happened if our injuries had been more serious?), the guide and driver took us back down the hill with the same cart and anxious horses…and my husband preparing to jump again. Although the guide speculated that the animals had been upset by our umbrellas (which had been used all the way up the hill), we learned later that evening that our loaded cart had approached the shepherds’ and dogs’ area more closely than when the another family had gone on a clear day.

The next day, we toured the small Saxon town of Viscery, nicely led by Monika, who then delivered us to Sighisoara in one of the two working cars, which had a crack running completely across middle of the windshield. This car gave us several moments of anxiety when the ignition would not start in Viscery for about the first 30 tries. We later heard another horror story about the Count’s cars from another source in Romania.

I won’t be back and cannot recommend this place. Count Kolnoky, shame on you! Fix your cars!