Before I booked a hotel in Bucharest, I doubted between the Doubletree and the Hilton in Bucharest but my decision was quickly made when I checked the rates. The Doubletree was less than half the price of the Hilton Athenee hotel.

After I booked my two night stay I emailed the hotel, actually I only could find the email of the general manager, Mr. Saleem Sarieddine. He was extremely friendly and answered my questions promptly. I also asked for a airport transfer, the price for it was 25 euro one way and that was quite reasonable for me because it is still a distance.

We arrived around 20.00 in Bucharest Henri Coanda airport, the main airport for almost all international flights. In 10 minutes counted form the plane I was already in the arrival hall. Our driver awaited us with a logo from the hotel and with my name on it. The driver was very friendly and apologized for the fact that it took him 5 minutes to pay the ticket.

The drive to the hotel took about 30 minutes from the airport. Once arrived the driver helped us with our luggage.

We went to the reception and checked in with Mr. Vlad. He gave us the typical Doubletree cookies, still hot. The check in went fluently and Mr. Vlad was extremely friendly and very helpful. One of the most friendly check in ever in my life. He also explained us the hotels location on a map and explained us some sights in Bucharest.

There is also a concierge desk but there is no concierge. Maybe only in high season ?

We booked a double room but the only rooms with two beds are standard rooms. He gave us the choice of keeping the double bedded standard room or to have a Superior room with one King bed. We opted for the superior room as it was bigger and probably better.

We received our keys for room 507. We booked under Diamond Hhonors card and we received an upgrade from a Double room to a Superior room on the fifth floor. We took the elevator left of the reception to our floor. Our room was almost the first one left of the elevator on the right.

We had room 507 for two nights. On the left side was the bathroom. It had a big bath with normal shower in it, on the left a toilet and a sink together with some toiletries. There was also a big hairdryer which looked already older.

Opposite of the bathroom was a closet with safe. The bedroom had one King sized bed, an LCD TV, desk and a separate smaller table and two chairs. On the table were two complimentary bottle of water. There was no additional welcome like some fruit for example.

There was an air conditioning but it did not work at all no matter how I tried, it did not work. It was over 25 degrees in the room so at the end I just opened the window. We had a very small terrace with a view on the front side of the hotel with the Parliament building in the distance. It was already late so I did forgot to call reception for it.

There is free internet in the hotel and the access code could be find on the rooms desk.

I had one of the worst sleeps in a hotel ever. There was so many noise from the streets and even the glass was not resistant enough to keep out the noise of cars, trams, sirens and car hooters. It was almost too loud to sleep. Keep this in mind that it is a big problem, especially in the early morning when the klaxons of cars are used. The bell of the trams were also extremely irritant.

As Diamond members breakfast was included. Breakfast was served in the restaurant on the 9th floor. The main restaurant covers the whole floor. There was only one table occupied and it was very calm. The breakfast buffet was extensive and looked very good. They had everything the better 5 star hotels have, even smoked salmon. There were many kinds of bread, hot dishes and eggs could be made on order. I do find it hard to describe breakfasts so if you look at the pictures of it you can see it yourself. The quality of it was excellent. Our waiter was Mr. Mihai and he was very friendly and service was great.

After breakfast we received a bill of it and he told me it was not included in our rate. I told him it was but he needed to check it with reception but they did not pick the phone but at the end they forgot to add our room to the breakfast included list.

Just before leaving the hotel I asked to Ms. Steliana directions to the Parliament. I asked her also for tickets and she told me they require reservations but she could not call them. She also said there is a slight chance we could purchase tickets at the parliament but she was not sure. She was not very friendly and calling all the time even though I was waiting she did not hang up or told to wait a minutes to the speaker on the phone.

We went to the parliament and we were the only one for the visit. No problem at all buying tickets there. The closest metro from the hotel is located at 20 – 25 minutes walking from the hotel on Unirii Square. The parliament was a 35 minute walk from the hotel.

The metro is very convenient to reach the north side of Bucharest and if there is no metro stop you can just take a cab. It is so cheap that in some cases it is cheaper than the metro.

In the evening I asked for a late check out at Ms. Steliana but she told me 15.00 was impossible but when I told our room number it was suddenly possible. Maybe I had to ask it to Mr. Vlad to receive a friendly answer.

We were hungry but could not find the menu for room service. We called reception and some minutes later someone brought us a menu from the restaurant. We ordered two pastas and deserts. The food was served quickly and was quite cheap. Penne Arrabiata was good but on our bill was added 20 % service charge. I have no problem with that but then I find it normal to tell it to the guests or at least write it on the menu.

After our in room diner I tried to take a bath but the water pressure was very weak for a period of 15 minutes. It was even too weak to activate the shower.

Next morning again breakfast and this time no problem with the bill. Mr. Marian was our waiter and he too was very friendly. Breakfast buffet was very good unfortunately the white baguettes were empty and Mr. Marian told me it was still in the oven. 20 minutes later he brought the baguette hot and freshly out of the oven. The restaurant was more busy so there were two waiters at that time.

After breakfast we went to the reception for asking a taxi. That night it snowed and there felt around 20cm during the night. It was hardly possible to walk so we asked a taxi. Ms. Maria called us a taxi, she too was very, very friendly. The area in front of the hotel was made almost snow free by some staff members that morning but it was still difficult to walk and try to not fall.

Once we were back we took our luggage and checked out with the friendly Ms. Maria. I paid the bill partially with Lei and Euro, it was no problem.

We asked her to call a cab for us as the taxis are very cheap it was ridicules to take a hotel car.

Then after we checked out the rather unfriendly Ms. Steliana came to us. She could not understand why we booked for three persons but were only two. I told her we booked for two persons so I could not understand what she was talking about. She told me then somehow that she discussed that matter with the front office manager. I said we did not knoew the front office manager and that we did not talk to her/him so that I do not know what she was talking about. She said then that it is normal that we did not speak with the front office manager as he/she is working in one of the offices and is not standing at the reception. I was rather shocked by such a reaction. Well I probably stayed in more hotels than she did and then I can tell her that I have seen many front office managers working or helping at the reception.

I was very disappointed with the post check out talk with Ms. Steliana. In comparison with all other staff ; GM, reception staff, bellboy, restaurant staff and room service staff Ms. Steliana was clearly less friendly that all other staff members.

She gave her business card and next time I had to contact her and not someone else in the hotel when I have questions.

Fortunately all other staff was very friendly. Breakfast is very good but I hope they can do something about the noise and air conditioning. Because the good value, only 70 euro / night I will rate it with a four even though it normally should get a three out of five because the problem with AC, noise, not excellent location and the post-checkout experience.

There is a lot to like here: very comfortable rooms, helpful staff, solid internet, decent breakfast. No problems. I agree with the others that the location is not so great, since there isn't much within easy walking distance. If you can deal with that, this hotel seems like a good value choice in Bucharest.

Unirii square is about 1 mile away and it's a pleasant walk down the walk/bike trail. Or you can take the bus two stops for just under $1 (but you have to buy a ticket first at the booth on the other side of the street). i was told that any westbound bus along BLVD Unirii would work. Can be a little crowded. According to the staff, taxis don't like short distances so they are likely to refuse your or at least be annoyed (this was in fact my experience, so I took the bus).

Here's how to get there from the airport: The easy-to-get taxis at the arrivals level are the expensive ones, as you can see from the 3+ lei per km written on the door (maybe $25-$30?). Apparently, you could get a taxi to the hotel for under $15 if you grab a cheap one (would state a rate 1.39 or so on the door) from the departure level. That's what I'd recommend unless you're traveling by yourself. But since I was solo, I took the Airport Express Bus 783 from the arrivals level (it stops right in front of the exit from immigration). I was told to just pay 5 lei to the driver, which worked. It would be better if you could get an actual round trip ticket at the airport, but I wasn't told where to do this (if you find, I'd also get some bus tickets). On the way back on the 783 you will definitely need a ticket (or so I found out). It took me about 35 minutes to get to Unirii square and at least an hour on the way back, so I'd allow for 1 hr 15 minutes with traffic. Get off at the "Unirii Square 2" stop (maybe they call it "piata unirii 2"), which is the last stop, at the south side of Unirii square on a little side street. You'll see a mall (maybe 4-5 stories) with a McD's and KFC on the NE side of the square. From the Unirii square 2 stop, walk towards that mall and then turn right (east) along the wide BLVD Unirii and after ~1 mile turn right just past the open lot onto BLVD Nerva Traian. It's easy to see the hotel from pretty far away. If you're traveling light, it's a solid 20-minute walk but doable (I survived it). Next cheapest choice is the bus, but you'd need to get a pass before boarding - the closest ticket station I know of is on the wrong side of the square, at the tram station. You can see that taxi would be much more comfortable and simpler (there are many of them parked at the mall), though you might have to bribe them well over the fare (would normally be just 3-4 lei).

By the way, don't expect any English to be spoken or understood outside the hotel. You might get lucky with that, but I didn't.

Nice and clean hotel. Rooms to the streat are quite noisy. Breakfast on the 9th floor is fantastic. Walkable distance to the center. Some rooms could be smaller, but nice. I will stay in this hotel again.

Stayed one night late December in this hotel and the 3 month old facelift was worthwhile. The hotel is not really in Unirii Square but the location is still convenient.
Also, great price for quality and service. Great value. Good sized room.