I just checked in here this morning and had lunch in the main restaurant Essensia with a colleague who has been here a day already. So far I am very impressed, here are some preliminary thoughts. The hotel is really a compound, a good part of a block, a group of old buildings that have been meticulously redone. I am on the 5th floor in a standard room, paying 259EU x2 but getting 3 nights via the 3for2 opening special (so roughly 520EU). For this rate, the hotel is a tremendous value.

The building I am in is directly opposite the lobby area, so it's actually quite far from the lobby to my room (and requires finding a single elevator that's down several long hallways). I normally dont like this type of layout, but it is seemless inside, it looks like one building that was all built at the same time, the renovation is really top notch. My room is down a huge towering hallway, again I am impressed with the layout. The craftsmanship and materials are also beautiful throughout the hotel, and the hallways have wonderful natural and electric lighting.

My room is pretty decent sized for a basic room, but what is really special are the huge arch windows that let in lots of light. All of the rooms in this wing seem to have similar layout. The light wood floors and clean white walls really make the space look larger. The bathroom is travertine with a large shower and no bath. Again, not large but very efficient in layout and excellent craftsmanship and style.

Lunch was excellent, the staff are good, and still learning, but they arent as green as I expected. Food is a good mix, some nice asian fusion choices.

I'll report back more later in the week.