I really like this property and was eager to return after staying last February. While this stay showed the hotel still has some kinks to iron out, I nonetheless rate it quite highly.

The key thing I noticed this stay was similar to my previous stay: young staff. As I noted back then, I'm all for giving hospitality's next leaders a flying start and the overwhelmingly young team here largely appear eager to please and offer a decent level of service. The problem, I think, appears to be insufficient training, insufficient oversight or the inability to make decisions when needed. A quick internet search revealed that both of the managers I'd corresponded with around the time of my last stay have both moved on.

The young gentleman who checked me in, Aleks, was the epitome of professionalism and has a future in the business whereas most of the others, seemed lacking. Aleks thanked me for my loyalty and gave me a voucher for four complimentary drinks at the bar. For some reason, the hotel doesn't accept mobile wallet transactions for guarantees, only for charges. That caused a problem when Aleks inadvertently charged my credit card rather than pre-authorising it, leading my bank to block it. Aleks couldn't work out what the problem was and suggested I return the next day to give a guarantee. On a subsequent night, when I tried to charge a meal at the bar to my room, I was told I couldn't because there was no guarantee.

There was a 700mL bottle of wine waiting for me in my room and I was given a voucher for four complimentary drinks at the bar. My king no sofa bed room was perfectly comfortable and actually felt a little larger than the room I had a few months ago, possibly because that room had a sofa bed. The television is large but immovable. Twice it turned itself on during the night. The shower is large with good water pressure and I had no issues with hot water. Despite being close to the elevator, I only occasionally heard noise in the hallway. In fact, the room was largely a zone of tranquillity. At check-in, I had a simple request to Aleks and really one that shouldn't need to be made for a stay of just a few nights: do not change any linen. Day one, linen changed. I put the DND sign up for the rest of the stay.

As has been noted, breakfast here is well above Place standards in the US. It's an excellent spread. It was here that I really noted what I think is a leadership issue. It was not at all uncommon to see as many as four young waitstaff congregating around the entrance, leaning against the furniture and generally gossiping away. Meanwhile, on my first morning, my used plate took a full 50 minutes to be cleared. That all changed when breakfast time ended when the buffet was promptly cleared. The troublesome toaster I wrote about in my earlier review seems to still be an issue. While it was out for my first couple of mornings, it was subsequently broken for the next several. Made to order omelettes are available but were never proactively offered. In fact, I noted only one A4 sign near the kitchen advertising them. Some items on the buffet were often slow to be replenished.

I think I also noted in my earlier review that the gym was good but a bit sparse. There's been a big improvement there with more equipment, including a barbell.

The courtyard immediately adjacent to the restaurant still hasn't been developed.

While the location isn't immediately near anything, the usefulness of the tram stop just three or so minutes from the front door is a big help and you can be in the Old Town in under 15 minutes. Public transport also isn't expensive so while there are certainly more central locations, rates around EUR70-90 per night mean the hotel is still an attractive option.

I took a Bolt to and from the airport for about PLZ34 each way. The journey time were less than 20 minutes.