XO Hotels Blue Tower

"In my opinion, this hotel is definitely not a 4-star hotel – at best it is a 3-star standard. The rooms are extremely small. In our room there were huge pillars taking up a big part of the space – you couldn’t even properly open a suitcase. The carpet smelled unpleasant and didn’t seem clean. Positive point: the bathroom was clean. However, the toiletries (soap, shampoo) were very mediocre – okay for the body, but not really suitable for washing hair. The location is okay: about 20 minutes to the city by bus. There is a supermarket and a gym right next door. However, the area directly outside the hotel is quite dirty, and in the evenings there are often people standing in front of the entrance drinking and hanging around – not very welcoming. When we asked for an upgrade to a bigger room, they offered it only for an unreasonably high extra charge, even though the pillar in the room made the space extremely limited. Checkout was at 11:00 am, and exactly at 11:00 someone knocked on the door already wanting to clean the room. Very punctual for that – but not when it came to other service matters. At breakfast, there were dirty plates and dirty spoons. Cleanliness was clearly not a priority. The selection was okay, but there was only pork. There were no meat options for Muslim guests who don’t eat pork, and vegetarian options were also very limited. What was especially disappointing: breakfast was served until 10:30 am, but around 10:15 a large part of the cleaning staff came and had breakfast there as well. They were very loud, and it completely destroyed any hotel atmosphere. It felt more like eating together with staff in a canteen, which is not what you expect in a 4-star hotel. Also, they were mostly speaking in a foreign language, which made it feel uncomfortable, like you were part of the conversation. The fridge in the room didn’t work, which was very frustrating. Whenever we raised concerns, the reaction was mediocre at best – no real apologies, more like “that’s just how it is.” Overall, I would not recommend this hotel at all. The photos online look very different from reality. It was not as described, and for the price, it is absolutely not worth it."

"Staff on the desk were helpful and on first glance everything looks clean and decent. A couple of days in and we notice dust on the table lamps and sides not cleaned, but beds made. Then on check out we searched the room for any loose items like we always do. There was rubbish under the beds and down the back of bedside table that didn’t belong to us. Gross! They really need to up the cleaning standards. Otherwise not a bad hotel. Bit far out but just a 20min bus ride to central."

"Worst hotel I've ever stayed in. Staff threatened and verbally abused me for smoking OUTSIDE the building. When I made a complaint, the person in charge of complaints Angela Motzo lied through her teeth. Claiming I verbally abused the staff and threatened them. I suffer from autism and anxiety, neither of these are things I've ever done. I asked them to check the cctv image to prove my innocence and find the staff member who threatened me, butr Angela refused. Room was filthy and falling apart, with the smoke alarm hanging from the ceiling. Avoid like the plague."