Simon-DNK
Copenhagen Region, Denmark
A very mixed experience, but generally too overpriced compared to what you get.
Jul 20, 2020
All in all: An overpriced two-star hotel with a fantastic location and the potential to become so much more. The Hotel Excelsior is perfectly located next to the beach. The seaside rooms offers a fantastic view of the bay and Odessa. The rooms have a large balcony with plenty of room for two. This is unfortunately where the value-for-money stops. Checking in was fast and we were able to get parking inside the fence. As only a few guests were at the hotel at the same time as us, lack of parking space can quickly become an issue. The staff speaks very little english - enough for checking in but not for conversations or discussions. We primarily used Russian for communicating. There is no direct access to the rooms from the gate/reception. To get to the rooms and the pool area a number of steps has to be negotiated making the hotel disabled hostile. So if you have problems with stairs this hotel is not for you. There is no porter so consider not bringing heavy or bulky luggage. The rooms were clean, big and spacious and the air-con was able to keep the temperature at a pleasant level. However, both our rooms had little flaws - in my bathroom the drawer was missing it’s front part and in my colleague’s room one of the windows was cracked. Flaws that did not matter that much but just little details that when added up gives a lower rating. The beds did not have duvets and uses bed sheets and blanket instead (UK/US style). The bed had a good medium-hard mattress and medium-hard pillows. There was a flat screen TV which I did not use. The room had a small mini bar fridge that could keep beverages cool. The rooms have free WI-FI. It is password protected but as with all complementary Wi-Fi use a VPN for protection as even password protected hotel networks are essentially to be considered open networks. The Wi-Fi in the rooms were fast enough for streaming, but the connectivity on the balcony and in the restaurant was very poor. The hotel has a restaurant which we used for breakfast and a lunch. The restaurant has the same great view as the seaside rooms and seems to be open to people that are not guests at the hotel. Breakfast was supposed to be available from 0800. On our first morning, after having waited for ten minutes, with no one there, we asked the receptionist for a waiter that then showed up and took our orders at 0825. Being the only guest at the restaurant the food came pretty fast and our meal was served at 0850, my coffee came at 0859. Day two seemed much more organized, despite first opening 0830 (half an hour late) the coffee arrived 5 min after ordering, breakfast after 15 minutes. As the day before small but tasty and well presented portions. In general the breakfast portions were tasty and well presented. However, due to the size of the dishes, the a la carte choices should all be characterized as “continental breakfasts” (light meals) and not breakfast. The english breakfast was certainly not a full english breakfast as it was missing bacon, baked beans, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, and black pudding. We were surprised, as the booking said “breakfast included”, that you only had one choice from the a-la-carte accompanied by tea or coffee. There was no juice and you had to pay extra for water. Therefore calling it “breakfast included” is a bit misleading and at this price range a descent sized breakfast (either a buffet or the option of several choices from the menu) is what to be expected. In general the service in the restaurant was way too slow (for lunch it took over an hour for the first dish and hour and a half for the main dish to arrive after ordering) and the waitress is generally unavailable if you sit at the rooftop terrace. It is a bit annoying that the service is so poor because the food (when it arrives) is generally very tasty and well presented. But, the service (and the time it takes from ordering to the meal being served) does have a negative impact on the whole restaurant visit experience. One of the criteria for booking the hotel was that it offered access to a gym we were therefore disappointed when we found it to be a small and sparsely equipped gym. The gym offered no heavy free weights and had only light hand weights and a few machines. The gym is too under equipped to be called a gym and you will get a better workout if you bring a THX system or similar and work out in your rooms. In the description of the hotel says that there is a SPA and wellness area. Be aware that is also says that you will be charged extra to use these facilities. The SPA cost around 4000 UAH for two hours which, to be honest, is an offensive price. Needless to say that we did not use these facilities. The beach in front of the hotel has an open sewer/drainages exiting at the shore making the West side of the beach unusable (and a bit smelly). This area is separated from the Eastside of the beach by a small bulwark making the water at the Eastside a little more inviting. All in all - A very mixed experience. The hotel was nice but far too overpriced for what is provided. The hotel is more expensive than some four star hotels found in Kiev and in the center of Odessa. Places where a la carte and buffet breakfast as well as free access to a SPA is normally included. If you dont mind the price and paying extra, for items that should have been included, the view from the hotel is fantastic and only a very short walk from the beach. We are however unlikely to return unless the Excelsior lowers their prices or up their standards to reflect their current price level.