Category: Reviews

Independent Restaurant and Hotel Reviews

Gostionica Restoran Purger – a Review

Independent Restaurant Review

Restaurant Name: Gostionica Restoran Purger
Address:  Petrinjska ul. 33, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

Looking for a place to eat serving traditional Croatian food, we quite by accident found Gostionica Purger.  We were hot and hungry, had our dog along and were wandering the streets of Zagreb when we spotted a simple restaurant accompanied by an inviting little patio with comfy looking chairs.

A dog bowl filled with water magically appeared immediately on our arrival, along with welcomes and smiles. We sat on the empty outside terrace (probably empty because of the heat); inside was full!  The waiters were traditionally dressed in white shirts, black vest and black slacks which I thought was a very nice touch.

We ordered the following:
– ICE coffee
– Beer house draft – Ozujsko Pivo
– Hashed Meat Dumplings / Ćevapčići na žaru 58 kuna / €7.83
– Mixed Grill / Miješano meso na žaru 105 kuna / €14.20

As soon as we ordered food, two tables were set up with white table cloths, cloth napkins and flatware!

OMG! Amazingly delicious. Hand cut fries, fried to perfection; meat barbecued with real full BBQ flavor. The Mixed Grill was a variety of BBQ meats with Cevapcici, pork chop, lamb, beef and pork loin.

When my coffee was empty, a big glass of ice water appeared, without asking for it!

The staff was excellent; observant, friendly, professional.
Our bill came to a total of 204.00 kuna / €27.54.  Expensive, but not for what you got.

Would I eat here again?  Yes!!! When can we go?
Dog Friendly?  Yes

Negative:  Shows they have internet, but it did not work.  Internet is so important when traveling…

Gostionica Restoran Purger
Petrinjska 33, 10000 Zagreb
Tel: +385(0)1 4810713
E-mail: [email protected]

Open:  Monday to Saturday: 7:00 am to 11:00 pm

Where NOT to stay overnight when in Zagreb.

Studio apartman, Zagreb, Croatia – a Review

Independent, Motel Hotel Review

Name:  Studio apartman also goes by the name Niko
Address:  Aleja Pomoraca 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Why did we book this place?  Well, it had a wonderful array of offerings, including  dog friendly, close to attractions, washing machine and so much more.  Additionally, the 9.7 star review average on booking.com is practically unheard of!

We arrived at 12:30 pm.  The address is an apartment building, so we phone the guy – and then the problems started.

He informed us he would be there in half an hour to an hour to let us in.  We told him that would be fine, we could go grab a bite to eat in the meantime.  Then he asked if we still wanted the place to which we replied of course, we would go for lunch and return. He said ok and then questioned us a second time if we wanted the apartment. Nervously, we asked why. He said the hot water did not work, so we would only be able to have cold showers.

After a quick discussion between ourselves, we suggested a discount was in order and then we would still stay. He refused. So we told him no thank you and he instructed us to contact booking.com to get our money back.

Booking informed us that he had indeed contacted them and was requesting (demanding?) 50% of the booking cost!  We proceeded to explain to them why it was completely unfair and incorrect.  They graciously agreed to cover the difference and give us a full refund.  I do not believe this to be fair or correct, but it was certainly very courteous of them.

Now, when we were ready to settle in, eat lunch and do some sightseeing, instead had to start figuring out where we would stay.  Due to the time of year and short notice, we were unable to stay in Zagreb.  It was a huge disappointment, but an excuse to return!

Would I recommend staying at Aleja Pomoraca 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia?  No, based on our experience, no.  That being said, it seems like we are the only ones who had such a horrible experience and maybe it is almost perfect?!

How much would it have cost for 1 night? €40

We have possibly spoke with the one and only asshole in Zagreb when we tried to check in to our pre-booked apartment - thank goodness we met so many nice people.

 

Leander Haz 21, Keszthely, Lake Balaton – Review

Guest Apartment Hotel Leander Haz 21 in Keszthely, Hungary; independent motel review.

First Impression:  Beautiful, quaint, charming – clean and extremely well kept.   Bonus:  Dog Friendly!
Find out more about our experience in the area: Lake Balaton, Keszthely, Hungary.
Check In:  was uncomfortable and unfriendly
The lady who checked us in spoke absolutely No English or German, although the sign on the gate stated that “FLUENT” english is spoken.

The fully furnished bachelor style apartment is spacious enough for two people.  Our area was on the ground floor.

Accommodation:  Walk into a living / sleeping area with a small table with 2 chairs, book / shelving stand, small tv on a stand, wardrobe, big bed, 2 bed tables.

Through one door is the small kitchen with a small table with 2 chairs, stove, oven, small fridge, microwave, toaster, coffee machine, kettle, pots, pans, dishes, glasses, flatware, dish detergent, one tea towel, one sponge and a garbage can.

Through the other door is the bathroom with toilet, sink, shower and 2 bath towels. There is liquid hand soap and many shampoos. Not sure if these are included in the stay or left behind by previous guests, so perhaps not in every accommodation, nice touch in any case.  There was also a hair dryer and a bucket with mop.

Outside is a beautiful garden with flowers, fruit trees, grass, sitting areas (too bad they do not make the smokers go there) and a huge vegetable garden in another area.  The woman who checked us in is constantly working in the gardens.  There are seating / relax areas in the inner garden as well as tables along the guest apartment fronts.

Our Experience:
– Dripping shower; solution: lay it on the floor
– No fan or air conditioning.  The heat is drastic and in combination with mosquitos and other guests intruding on privasphere, there should definitely at least be fans.
– Lots of mosquitos at night – must close the window. No fan or air conditioning so very hot.  Our only relief was to open the window after turning out all the lights and electronic devices.
– Woke up in the morning to people sitting at the table directly outside our window, smoking and yakking. The table is right outside our window – look at the picture of the bedroom – it means they may as well have been sitting in our room! We get up, put some clothes on (who knows how long they have been getting a free show), and close the window. Hot again!
– The woman is a total bitch.  Really, I do not understand why she is in this business…
– Need a car to go everywhere

Would I stay here again? NO
It is really unfortunate, because the place is gorgeous, clean and for the most part relaxing.  However, the above mentioned problems combined with a thankless, rude manager / owner? is an absolute reason to not go back and not recommend it to anyone else.

Motel DOJO, Budapest, Hungary – Review

Destination:  Budapest, Hungary
Review:  Motel DOJO, Budapest, Farkastorki út 21, 1037 Hungary

We arrived in Budapest, Hungary and by 2pm we pulled into the dog friendly Motel Dojo – our hotel home for the next 4 days.

Our First Impression: horror – the outside of the building was dull gray, indicated a sports business and seemed very untended.  We walked into a dark, drab building where we found someone who could speak a little English.  That person asked us to wait and disappeared, reappearing a minute later with the owner.  He was a very friendly man who spoke German and immediately showed us to our room.

All doubt melted away when we saw the room, it looked awesome! Everything was brand new, never used.  Apparently, he ran a DOJO sports hall and decided to repurpose a portion of the building for a motel.
Our cost was 12,000 ft HUF per night / €39.50.  It is Formula One (F1) weekend, not sure if that was reflected in the price.

We plugged in our computer to charge, and when we tried to unplug it, the entire electrical outlet fell out of the wall!  It was a little scary trying to get the plug out without getting electrocuted…

Although the advertising stated internet was available, it did not work the entire stay.  Extremely frustrating.

Dogs barked all night, half the time, right under our window. I guess they were protecting the property, so whenever anybody walked by, the barking would start.  The sad part is the dogs were owned by the motel, not neighbor dogs.  Sleeping in was not possible.

Unfortunately, nobody was available to explain the problems to.  I guess because the DOJO school was closed on the weekend, and they lived off premises, other than phoning (language barriers…) there were not any possibilies.

Although nobody was available, or to be seen, on the 3rd day while we were gone somebody came into the room and left 2 garbage bags and a roll of toilet paper; they did not sweep the floor, or clean the water from the leaky shower or change the towels (from the leaky shower) or make the bed….

The shower sprayed water all over the place, but we removed a sealing ring from the shower head and then it worked great.

It is very a very unfortunate bumpy start for the Motel DOJO. Too bad,  as they seem like genuinely nice people; hopefully they will get it all under control. A beautiful new room is a definite asset, but it can not make a good nights sleep.

In fairness, he only charged us for 3 nights instead of 4 and we hope he is able to get his hotel in order.

Positives:
– Beautiful, fresh, new room
– dog friendly
– easy to find
– walking distance to restaurants
– walking distance to mall
– friendly

Negatives:
– Dogs barking
– Internet does not work
– Very small shower towels (they were hand towels)
– Leaking shower all over floor
– Slow shower drain
– Several Receptacles not working

Would I sleep here again?  I would ask if the negatives have been fixed and if yes, definitely.

Pizza Paradiscom, Budapest, Hungary – Restaurant Review

Roadtrip: Europe Destination: Budapest, Hungary, Restaurant Review: Pizza Paradiscom

While on our European road trip, one of the cities we stayed in was beautiful Budapest.  In addition to seeing wonderful sights, we had the fabulous opportunity of attending a Formula One Race at the Hungaroring.

On our first evening, while looking for traditional Hungarian Goulash, we saw a busy restaurant on the side of the road.  Curious, we found a parking place behind it and went in to check the menu.

Oddly, although we had not seen the name of the place, it was called Pizza Paradiscom.  Now, I, as a foreigner visiting Budapest would say this is a completely misleading name.  The menu had a wide array of food, including many traditional Hungarian dishes – in addition to pizza.

Open 24 hours round the clock, we were surprised at the large amount of families, couples and friends eating and drinking while socializing.  Always taking that as a sign of a good restaurant, along with the good prices on the menu, we took one of the last tables for two on the patio.

A server with a smile was came almost immediately to our table asking in very broken english what we would like to drink.  I ordered a Radler (lemonade and beer mix) and my husband ordered a beer.  Within a few minutes, a beer was plopped on the table and a lovely, fresh looking minty drink.  I tasted it and confused, asked the server what it was, to which he replied with a smile something I did not understand.  He then took the menu and pointed to a name; I quickly google translated it and discovered it was a Pear Lemonade. Naja, close enough to beer lemonade ?.  Travel is great! The drink was good.

For dinner we ordered Szegedi Gulyasleves which is Goulash Soup.  A big bowl filled with a hearty stew arrived, along with a wonderful spicy paste and a basket of country style bread.  It was delicious!  Yum yum ?

The food left such a great impression, we went back 3 more times!  In addition to the goulash, we tried the Pork Knuckle baked with sheep cheese.  It had a wonderful flavour and texture, however, it was far too rich for my palate and I could only consume half of the serving.  I would recommend a salad with it to cut the richness.

We also ate a breakfast Club Sandwich on a morning when we met up with a friend along with double espresso lattes.  The sandwiches were huge – had to be consumed in layers – and very tasty, the latte perfect.

Great prices, great food, great service!!! Fabulous Place!

Information, current prices and an extensive menu are available on their website: http://www.pizzaparadicsom.hu/

Address:  Pizza Paradiscom – Budapest, Vörösvári út 13, 1035 Hungary

Let us know in the comments below what your experience was!