Name: Birdsong Hotel
Address: Zalaszentlászló, Ady Endre u. 28, 8788 Hungary, Zalaszentlaszlo, Zalaszentlaszlo, Zalaszentlaszlo, 8788, Hungary
Rating: 2

Location

Sarmellek International Airport

Birdsong Hotel

Zalaszentlaszlo

The last drop before I decide to leave the hotel was when I found a terribly stinky, rotting dead mouse under the couch cover.  The hotel manager did not believe any of my complains, he sent for the guy who came to clean the mouse and wanted to see it personally. After the hotel staff confirmed that there was a mouse in my room, I was lectured about having to understand that the hotel was in the countryside hence dead mice may happen in the room. The manager did not even apologize till I asked him to.

My to be idilic vacation in the countyside was totally ruined.

LIST OF COMPLAINS about the Birdsong hotel: 

1) After I personally talked to the chef about my food requirements (low cholesterol, no sugar) we agreed he would make me chicken and mushrooms in the coming days. Instead I was served a starter salad, boiled rice and boiled vegetables for dinner, and no soup  - for the same price and other guests who got a 4 course meal. From all the food served for breakfast, I could eat only bread and margarine – as the rest was either eggs, cheese, pork or containing sugar – which I could not eat.

2) The heating and warm water broke on the first morning. I was offered one day  free usage of hotel bike as compensation. Later it turned out that heating broke more than once in the last 10 days. After it was fixed heating was still weak, hence I was given an electric heater which basically had to run whenever I was in the room.  

3) The room I booked (standard room) was not the same as in the pictures. I did not have the beautiful view from my window, but thick green bushes in front of it which blocked not only the view but made the room very dark. 

4) The room I book was advertised with a kitchen. The room I got contained no cooking facilities (stove) and no microwave.  It consisted of sink, fridge (which would turn anything into ice), water boiler, 3 plates, 3 cups, 3 glasses and  cutlery for 3 which were all terribly stinking (like mold). There was not even a proper knife or a cutting board or a salad bowl. After I complained kitchen was taken away from the room description on the web.  There was also no terrace furniture – even though it was listed in room description.

5) Bathroom had a very rusty shower head, there was only hand-wash soap and no toiletry (even though listed on the web). The shower gel container was empty. After I complained complementary toiletry was also taken away from the room description on the web.  Shower gel was never refiled.

6) Before arriving, I called to asked if I could get a hairdryer. I was told I could not. When I arrived it turned out could and they had several hairdryers at the reception. 

7) The reception did not have a phone. The mobile phone given on the web was the only official number the hotel had. Two times, I called in normal business hours it the phone not answered. Even hours later, none bothered to call back (even though my number was displayed and I left a message).
8) After the mouse accident I was transferred to an other room, and it turned out that the hotel was aware about the condition in my previous room. The new room had better heating, a not-rusty shower rose, there was shower gel, and the kitchen was equipped with micro and a properly working fridge. There was terrace furniture too. The hotel staff who helped me transfer to the new room tried to justify with explaining that the fridge in my previous room was old, that the hotel re-opened after 5 year and that they now needed to catch up. Several times I was told that the experience was just bad karma. 

9) After I reported the dead mouse accident happened, the manager of the hotel wanted to talk to me. However he did not come to me (which would be something expected and polite according to Hungarain standards), but he sent a staff to bring me over. He asked to hear about my complains, after I said literary 5 sentences he interrupted me in the middle of the sentence and started to justify- with ough letting me finish. He did not believe any of my complains, so he sent for the chef and the guy who came to pick up the mouse to ask if what I was saying was true. The chef lied about our food agreement. The other guy approved the existence of the dead mouse in my. After this I was lectured about the hotel being in the countryside and mice being normal. I just asked how comes the hotel cleaner did not notice the terrible smell in my room – after all a dead mouse was rotting in it. After this the cleaner was sent to my room, to check if it was really stinky. It also turned out that when booked my accommodation- I was supposed to get an info package. Even though I told the manager, that this info package had never been sent to me, the manager brought a printed version  of it and was quoting paragraphs in it as justification . He was repeatedly saying that I should have received it.   

As a compensation I was offered to a free dinner that night and 2 extra nights to stay in the hotel. I refused the offer – who wants to stay in a hotel where dead mice are considered normal and chef is serving boiled vegetables for dinner as a low cholesterol meal! The manager then asked me what he could do for me. I said: “For a start apologize to me and let me go home the next day”.  Even though all the staff apologized many times and were unconformable about what happened to me, the manager of the hotel did NOT APOLOGIZED even once till I asked him to. 

Since the hotel is in the middle of nowhere, daily there are only few buses running. Since I was without a car, I had to spend one extra night till I left. I was given an other room (see above) which was better in many ways than my previous one.

I was asked to pay for 2 out of 3 nights I stayed in this hotel, and my 2 meals and 2 coffees were given to me as complementary. I paid total of 17 200Ft. (around 56EUR) 

(I was a single femele guest in November 2014 . I originally booked 4 nights)

Birdsong Hotel

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hotel

What other amenities are there?

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Payment