Golserhof Hotel in Scena

Appalling. After 35 years in the travel industry, having stayed in and assessed more than 3000 properties this was the worst and most insulting service I’ve ever experienced.

It seems one has to wear long trousers in the restaurant. Problem is I have a skin illness meaning everything I cover explodes in a rash from the heat. I must stay cool. So I don’t get to wear long pants, socks or long sleeve clothing. I’d like to but I can’t. But I do dress quite nicely, none the less. I have to take medication every day and use creams many times per day to manage. However here the rules are the rules. No medical exceptions. One must wear trousers because tomorrow someone may come again in shorts, and that would never do. According to the manager, gentlemen wear trousers.

Whilst discussing one’s medical conditions shouldn’t be necessary at a hotel, nor was this asked as I booked, I found his attitude so dumbfounding and rude I even showed him my skin and what happens with what I do keep covered. Not good enough for him. Rules first and rules only. Me and my bare legs may not be seen here. I would be allowed to eat in my room. Segregated. No other solution. Really? What sort of hospitality is this? What century is this? Imagine sitting here in 35 degree heat in summer being forced into trousers. I can’t imagine many guests would find that to their liking, let alone those of us with medical conditions that severely limit this.

And this was the manager and his rules.
So beware, 100% normal people only. If you are planning on staying here, it’s probably best to avoid the warmer months from May- October.

But back to the point, this is the opposite of hospitality and making guests feel at home. This is all about an unnatural host with brittle rules that he doesn’t understand when it’s appropriate and inappropriate to apply. No guests were put out by my legs. I had them under a table with a large table cloth.

I was so appalled by him I left at 8pm into the dark to find a new place to stay.

No doubt I will get a righteous and sanctimonious response from the manager. My retort is, you’re in the industry of making people feel at home and welcome. You did the total opposite. You’re not in the your rules industry. Nor are you in your element front of house in a hotel.

In the meantime I’ve overheated and have become very itchy anyway. Time for a cool bath in my new hotel, where I enjoyed a pleasant meal in my shorts unharrassed, if agitated from this encounter.

Update- we have a response from the manager which highlights his attitude and inability to understand only further. That I could wear his clean trousers- I can’t even wear my own trousers. It’s not that I don’t own any. It’s that I can’t wear them. That being forced to eat in one’s room is somehow a way to treat a guest because his rules are so brittle. And the pathetic little comment about me leaving and not paying for a half glass of wine or paying to swim in the pool. Send a bill for 4.5 euro and I’ll pay it. But I should never have been put in such a position that my only option after being treated so appallingly was, for the first time in my life, to leave a property due to such awful management.

The worst in 35 years.

The hotel itself is beautiful - the infinity pool, the jacuzzis in the rooftop and the restaurant with the views. The food is delicious and the waiters are very kind.

However, the rooms are not comfortable and are very outdated. We tried both the suite and a double room and weren’t impressed with either.

The living room in the suite has a very uncomfortable couch, small TV and poor decor. The room itself is also nothing special and very basic.

The balcony is nice and the view is great but not worth the price of the room as it’s the only highlight of the suite.

The double room is very small with a tiny bed against one side of the wall. I would definitely not recommend staying with 2 people as it becomes cramped and uncomfortable.

All beverages are excluded from the half board option so if you want a bottle of water with meals or a coffee at dessert you have to pay the extra.

The most unpleasant experience was when upon checking out we asked for 2 glasses of water at the counter (it was 30 degrees!), and the owner made a point to charge us €3.80! When we pointed out that we would happily pay but found it to be an absurd fee, she was very rude and sarcastically offered us the water as €3 “is nothing!”.

There’s plenty of offer around with more modern rooms and a less outdated experience. Given that there’s not much to do around the hotel/ area, it’s fundamental to have a comfortable room to go back to.