Shkodër Grand Hotel Europa, Affiliated by Meliá

The Expedia listing for the hotel showed a Spa and Pool. On arrival at hotel however the entire Ground Floor, Spa and Pool were torn apart for renovations. Access to the rooms was through a small side door, not well marked. If I had know amenities were closed I would have booked a different hotel. Should have gotten a discount for the room considering.

Location

When we got there the property was undergoing a major renovation. Because of the the pool and other facilities could not be used. We had booked the hotel because there was a pool. There was no indication from either the hotel or Hotels.com that the pool was not available. So be aware. One other minor detail televisions are not smart TVs which for a large modern hotel chain is a bit disappointing. Staff were very helpful and friendly.

I've now stayed at Grand Hotel Europa twice, and unfortunately the experience has been consistently underwhelming. On both visits, the hotel was undergoing active construction. I don't recall this being disclosed upfront during booking. For a property presenting itself as a hotel of this caliber, that's a meaningful oversight. The air conditioning in my room was problematic, it never quite did its job, which made for an uncomfortable night. What stood out most, though, was the staffing situation. The hotel appears to be significantly short-handed, and the staff who are present seem overwhelmed. Simple requests went unanswered or took far too long, and there was little sense that guest satisfaction was a priority. I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt after the first stay, but the issues weren't isolated. If you have any expectation of decent service, functioning amenities, I'd look elsewhere. There are better options at this price point.

The room was very good - clean, spacious, renovated, excellent bed. The internet was bearable (20/10 MBS). But the lobby was undergoing renovation, so there was noise during the day. In the bathroom (spacious and clean), the shower was great, except that the water from it was flowing all the way into the room, so I had to keep a towel on the floor to keep it from flooding the room. The breakfast was OK. The staff (except for the cleaning crew - they were great) was dismal. It took us ages to check in (I was with a colleague on a business trip); the parking was on the street; the payment took ages, and worst of all, on Sunday, as we were leaving, the staff was trying to convince us that we had not paid for breakfast (which we did), and there was no breakfast available anyway. (Note: on Saturday we did have breakfast). Upon leaving the hotel, we were not allowed to leave until someone checked the minibar- they would not take our word for it. And I paid for the hotel the same price as I did in Podgorica for the Hilton. Needless to say, I am not going back unless I have to.