Orea Spa Hotel Palace Zvon

Upon arrival we were met by a fantastic receptionist, who was friendly and really helpful explaining everything. He spoke at least 2 languages, and made us feel very welcome. We were luckily upgraded to a suite, which although unexpected was a nice surprise ... they'd made a small error regarding guests and available double rooms. From the outside, the building looks very old and attractive. Almost every window has a balcony, which looks great. The hotel itself is made up from 4 adjoining buildings which seem a little complicated to understand at first, but quite simply, choose the entrance with the receptionist desk. It is located at one end of a Main Street, close to many tourist attractions, and although some have said the 'Singing Fountain' to be too loud and disturbing, we found it to be 'not-so-loud' and actually a nice change to the norm, and reminded us that we were on holiday. There is no 'Parking Onsite', however you can unload your bags up to 30 minutes in front of the building. The pay-for parking, is located 5 minutes drive around the corner, and 2 minutes walk back to the hotel. Regarding car safety ... the car park is shared with the local Police, so it is safe.

Sadly the advertisement for this premises was/is still incorrect. It is 'not' a wellness hotel, and it is 'not' a Spa ... what it is however, is a Rehabilitation Hotel for the older generation. Day to day : Without going into too much detail as there were a couple of staff members who were friendly ... the guests however, sadly were not. With ages ranging from 60-90 they were just unacceptably rude. From funny looks as they walked by as we waited for the lift to arrive, to, not replying to our ‘good morning/good evening’ as we passed in the corridors, just looking past us and pretended we were not there. Food/Dining : I did compare one even buffet meal to 'ants around an animal', as the older guests were not waiting in a civilised line, but just pushing in front of each other and grabbing at the food as if it was to be never refilled. The food itself however also did not appeal to us as the 4-stars on the advert was not what appeared before us. School dinners would be a very close approximation ... before Jamie Oliver arrived. The Clinic : We were 'told' to attend a Doctors Appointment on the first day, and then we would be given our ‘set timetable’ of the weekly treatments we would be receiving. We asked about the appointment, and were told that ‘if we did not attend, we could not use ‘any’ of the facilities. The down side to this is … when on holiday we want to relax and do what we want, ie, walking / eating / sight seeing etc. If you have something that you want to do, but then have to be back in-time for a treatment, then you end up cancelling the thing you wanted to do … that’s not a holiday, that’s a rehabilitation clinic. This was a major issue for us, and in all honesty ended our stay here prematurely. The 1 week booking was shortened with the assistance of the reception staff and everything was sorted out with complete friendliness and understanding.