I got this hotel as part of a holiday package and to be fair, I paid very little for it and you know the saying - you get what you pay for, yup. I didn't pay much and I got very little. This hotel is very basic and I have no idea how in the world they can possibly claim to be 4 stars. You must be joking.

Firstly, the room is basic. They're of a good size but there is no wifi nor did I even get a kettle for making tea/coffee. The bathroom had some stains and there was even some peanuts on the floor of the bathroom which I had to clean up. Yucks. See the photos - it's nothing to write home about. It reminds me of the very basic hotels I've stayed in places like Slovakia, Russia and Czech Republic.

Secondly, the staff were glum. Goodness me, is it a cultural thing? We kept getting served by this woman who never smiled. I swear, not once. Not even when I greeted her in Croatian and made a valiant effort to engage her in her language (well, I speak Russian and some Czech so Croatian isn't hard for me) - did I even get a hint of a smile from her? Nada, niente, niechevo. We had problems with our room key one night and when I asked her for help - she looked so unhappy that I felt as if I was disturbing her. Any other hotel in Western Europe or North America would have staff who would not only be happy to help, but would apologize for the inconvenience caused. She demanded to see our ID and I produced my passport but my partner said that he had left his passport in the room and she scowled at us and said, "Okay, okay" in an angry manner. I felt tempted to complain but having spent some time in Croatia, I had come to expect this kind of treatment from older Croatians. I hate to sound ageist but the younger Croatians we have met always spoke excellent English and understood what customer service meant - whilst older Croats spoke far less English and were usually far more abrupt.

Thirdly, the location isn't great - but thankfully the tram and bus system is very good. You are a good 10 minute walk from the tram stop though, so bear that in mind if you have heavy luggage. There are plenty of bars and places to eat around the hotel and there is also a big Lidl supermarket nearby. You can just about walk into town but that will take you about 20 minutes depending on your walking speed. It claims to be in a business district but that is a lie - it is very much a quiet residential district. I did go out late on some nights and felt very safe in the neighbourhood.

I am giving this hotel a poor rating simply because the hotel is old and basic, and the location isn't great - this would have warranted an average rating from me usually - but because of the rudeness of the staff and the peanuts on the floor of the bathroom, I have to lower this to a poor rating. Goodness me, is it so hard to get your staff to smile and be polite?