With two nights in Brno, I took the advice of Hubs and booked a hotel he had already stayed in, in this case, the Barcelo Palace Brno. While the location was excellent, had I done a bit more research, I might have chosen another place. Fortunately, the rates were cheap, so in the end, it was simply a decent stay (just not an amazing one).
Pros
- Location. Brno is an accessible city to maneuver. Stepping off the train, after taking the ‘scenic’ route (i.e., uphill, dragging luggage in a fair amount of heat rather than cutting through the mall and train station – d’oh!), we arrived at the hotel. In reality, almost everywhere in town is roughly a 15-minute walk from the train station, and all points of interest are easily accessible by foot. The Palace is near enough to everything, while at the same time affording some privacy.
- Natural light. While I imagine winters get quite dark in Brno, the massive skylights (both in the lobby and our suite) provide tons of light from outside. Best of all? The skylights in our room on the top floor opened and allowed something of a decent breeze, which was good because our aircon seemed stubbornly set to 23C.
- Value for money. Really, it was easy to book a higher category of room, because the rates (versus the UAE or the rest of Europe) are quite affordable.
Cons
- Cheap fixtures/furniture. Starting with the furniture in the lobby, which was somehow both plastic and lit by LED lights (?), the floor in our room was also questionable and didn’t match or elevate the suite
- An uncomfortable sleep. I could show you my sleep app, but I can assure you it was quite sad. Perhaps it was coming from our stay at the Four Seasons in Prague, but neither Hubs or I were able to get a decent rest while in Brno.
- A lack of a proper restaurant/room service. I’m not about to demand specific items, but when we were straight exhausted on our first night, I would’ve paid an obscene amount of money for any form of bread and cheese (pizza, whatever). Sadly, there were none to be found. Also, while I usually find on-site restaurants to at least be tempting, the Palace offered very little in the way of anything appealing – for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It seems strange they wouldn’t want to get a larger spend from their guests.
- Uninterested staff. From check-in through check out, the Barcelo team had nary a ‘good morning’ or anything else to offer. While this could very well be because of the language barrier, because of some recent fantastic service, the gap between true five star and four-star levels were quite apparent (even if the Barcelo lists themselves as five stars — I’m not buying it). I don’t need someone to hold my hand, but something more than a perfunctory transaction is always appreciated.
- Lack of connection with the brand. On the hotel channel, the Barcelo brand appears to have a lot of tropical destinations and quite honestly, the Brno property has literally nothing to do with the rest of the portfolio.
Would I stay in the Barcelo Palace again? Probably not. I spotted a few other hotels in the area worth checking out.
Do you have any recommendations for hotels in Brno?
