Pensiunea Tohanu Vechi

To caveat this review: we visited during a week day in the off-season so this will likely be an uncommon experience for guests considering this property. When we arrived, we had a bit of a hard time checking in. Instructions weren’t clear that the “room key” code is used to access the main gate, the lobby, and the room itself. It took us awhile to figure it out and get our car in. When we got in, the entire place was dark with all lights off and all doors locked. We finally called the manager for assistance as no other workers were onsite. Thankfully, he was responsive and helped us get into the space. We then had to figure out all the light switches ourselves, despite being told later that the owner is able to control them remotely… The property itself is beautiful & we ended up having the whole place to ourselves which was a nice perk. However, we were not aware that we needed to give the property advance notice if we wanted to use the spa/sauna facilities. It is not specified in the property listing. We were also not told that the restaurant is closed for dinner in the off-season so we had to drive to a couple places to find an open venue for dinner. Because there was no one onsite, we couldn’t enjoy a welcoming environment or some of the listed amenities like the fire place. The one positive was breakfast in the morning was very good. Overall, I would recommend staying here in the on-season if possible for the best experience.

Great place to stay while visiting Bran and Zarnesti. Staff were incredibly friendly, and took very good care of us. Even played me and my friend off, as we left, with our new favorite Romanian song, “Lady” by Sandy Ciorba… which we had been dancing to out on the balcony :) Food was also excellent, and the lamb stew with polenta was one of the best dishes I had in Romania. Getting in the driveway to park is a bit of a pain, but we did finally make it. Trick was to swing wide and to turn in from the opposite side of the street.

It is an older property but every necessity was taken care of. It was very clean and felt like home and family. The chef was also excellent. The presentation and quality of the food was on point. I travel the world and stay many places but rarely leave a review. I’m not even from the same country of this property but it was quite clear somebody takes a lot of pride in it. It really did make me feel like home.