Robe is against a full height mirror, doubling the apparent size. There is no full length hanging space and the folding luggage rack stored inside shows the actual size clearly

The lack of a second easy chair in a Spa devoted to massage and relaxation is a little difficult to understand. Admittedly the use of a single chair is more common than one would expect at this level, although in many other hotels it is a chaise longue or similar, but certainly the expectation of a five star should surely be that both partners can relax comfortably in their room?

England's Belfry Hotel and Golf Resort, host to past Ryder Cups, has a space in the bedroom for the golf bag and clubs, whilst some specialist Golf hotels such as Wales’s Celtic Manor, host to the Ryder Cup in 2009, have a dedicated golf bag store accessible from outside so golfers can collect their bags in their golf spikes from the porters. Here there appears to be no dedicated concierge space, nor space in the bedrooms – not being a golfer I don’t know what the etiquette is here – does one leave ones clubs in the golf club rooms?

Bathrooms have showers over the bath and here the pressure is a whopping 5 bar. So much power calls into question the towel storage at the end of the bath as the high power of the shower creates plenty of spray – almost its own weather system! These are definitely the most powerful showers I have experienced in any hotel, invigorating and if you have just had a massage, almost enough to turn flesh to jelly!

Good design in the sauna - here is the plunge pool. Rollover to see bedroom corridor...

Guests have access to a dedicated lift taking them to treatments in the spa area from their rooms and most walk the hotel in dressing gowns. The building is air-conditioned, and the zoning for the different activities works well. The spa reception is large and airy, leads to treatment areas on two floors and to the pool, sauna and gym complex complete with its own juice bar. The thermal baths are emptied and refilled every night, with water naturally coming in at 36º to 38ºC heat, giving a contrast with the exercise pool at a more normal 26ºC. The thermal water contains trace metals and is claimed to be suitable for treating ‘locomotive disorders’, but whatever the merits of that (and it is tested and certified by the Hungarian State), it is warmly relaxing, and moving briskly into the exercise pool is certainly stimulating with the temperature differential.

One of the three main swimming pools passes through the wall of the pool building which has glass walls that open up in the summer. The two other main pools are set with one as a formal exercise pool for lane swimming, the other a more fun pool with water jets etc. and a children’s area.

It is in the spa that I find the design most problematic. Staff and the range of treatments available are both very good, but the environment is almost spartan. Treatment rooms have no doors on, which is not a problem if all the treatments are the same, but here vigorous and noisy sport massage is going on in treatment rooms adjacent to treatments based in harmony and quiet - and conflicting with them. Adding doors will simply raise other problems as there are no call buttons to double as panic alarms, whilst individual lighting and sound cannot be controlled. Yet without them preserving privacy and creating and controlling an environment is a problem.

To appeal to Viennese sophisticates, or the international traveller, these facilities will need to become more luxurious, unless the spa market is very different in Eastern Europe from the pampering sold in Western Europe. However what I saw across the border in Austria seems to indicate that East Europeans will quickly want the same creature comforts. With luxury spa treatments readily available elsewhere, these facilities are not competitive, however good the staff are. The staffs themselves know this too, and whilst they deliver terrific service to the guests the tensions are evident. Greeting clients, mood music and mood lighting are all beyond their control in an area that at its worst is quite dysfunctional.

The self contained sauna area is by contrast well and thoroughly designed, with 2 Finnish saunas, steam bath, infrared sauna, tepidarium, frigidarium (complete with notice encouraging you to rub yourself with the crushed ice...) aromatherapy room, salted air inhalation room, herbarium and relaxation area. It also has its own smart card access control, an attribute that could also be used to enhance safety in the gym, which children are able to enter at will.