:: Panoramic Views

•  SPECIALITY RESTAURANT •  POOL AREA, WITH THERMAL POOL STILL FILLING •  RECEPTION

This corner of Hungary is close to the Austrian border, placing the hotel within easy reach of two major metropolitan markets, Vienna and Budapest. It is appropriate therefore that Radisson SAS have made this hotel a five star, given the sophistication of these two cities and the competition the spa will have from established operators such as Danubius.

Like the five star Radisson SAS resort at Schloss Fleesensee, Bük has a championship golf course as part of the attraction, whilst the spa uses natural thermal springs and builds in a full range of spa, health and beauty treatments. The developer continues to build the range of timeshare apartments that are a part of the Resort. Like Fleesensee, the hotel is only a part of a larger holiday complex.

Bük is built over natural hot springs, and their mineral rich hot waters fill two large spa baths, and there are four other swimming pools in the complex as well as treatment rooms, sauna facilities, a full range of health and beauty treatments, gymnasium, and an aerobics studio. With 208 bedrooms and suites, together with restaurants and function rooms, the hotel opened in spring of 2004.

Operationally I expected the hotel to meet the standards of sophistication that the five star rating implies, and with the experience of the group’s hotel at Fleesensee I was confident that it would do so. What is it they say in selling stock and shares? “Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future profits” – so it is with hotels. Radisson SAS have bravely pioneered investment on a large scale in Eastern Europe since the opening of the region in 1990 and I have commented before on some of the problems that have arisen where standards are concerned, and the problems are evident again here.

Maybe the idea of having a design concept formed by one practise and then trying to carry it out with another was the first misjudgement - or maybe the concept was never allowed to be worked up fully before being taken away and the commitment to build being made - I can only speculate. However the building fails to match the quality of other Radissons in architectural layout or planning. My experience of recent Radissons, especially the delightful four star in Krakow (see the Review Archive) may have intensified my disappointment, but some of the design appears to work against staff and hinder the achievement of the competitive quality this hotel needs to attract its target clientele.

Bedroom and bathroom appears to meet exacting Radisson standards - but there is little drawer or wardrobe space. Rollover to see the bathroom

Bedside table swings to the side to away from the bed (rollover to see)

Bedrooms are as stylish as one would expect from Radisson. Past research has shown that guests staying in Resort hotels stay longer than guests in business hotels - on average more than double the time. In a business hotel a guest is quite likely not to bother to unpack so drawer space is not critical. However in a Resort guests will unpack - and they also bring more clothing with them as their stay is longer. Drawer space here is inadequate (the hotel admits it as a cause of complaint), and wardrobe space too is constricted - which may not matter too much for hanging ball gowns in a spa, but is quickly filled with coats, trousers and shirts for which there isn’t enough drawer space, and doesn't leave anywhere for bags to be stored.

The bedrooms are generally non-smoking designated, and the smokers are given the rooms with the view over the car park rather than sharing the view of the golf course enjoyed by non smokers. Most rooms have balconies which are large enough for a table and two chairs and provide a good alternative relaxation space. There is only one easy chair in the bedroom in addition to the upright desk chair, and the desk is tapered to allow easy access to the balcony door, which somewhat constricts the working area available.

There are three main bedroom schemes which carry all the sophistication that one expects of Radisson SAS, and the rooms are generally well up to the corporate standards, quite funky in fact.