A downwards spiral punctuated by disastrous service

I stayed at the Metropol Palace twice in July 2018 and had two very good stays, particularly with regards to elite recognition and experiencing high levels of service. As work brought me back to Belgrade in July 2019, I naturally chose the Metropol Palace based on my past experiences, only to leave extremely disappointed.

The hotel is located on Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra in the heart of historical Belgrade, surrounded by faculties of the University of Belgrade, restaurants, shops, historical sights and parks. The environs are central and safe, with activity at all hours of the day and with accessibility to conveniences as grocery stores and bookshops on the same street.

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport [BEG] is approximately 20 minutes away by car. The hotel offers a car service for 20 euros, while a taxi from the airport will cost you approximately 1800-2000 Serbian dinars [RSD].

The hotel is a historic Serbian monument, opened in 1957 and a favorite hotel of Josip Broz Tito. It has a storied guest list, having hosted luminaries as Haile Selassie, Jawaharlal Nehru, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren and many more that I can’t remember [a glass case in the basement features photos of many celebrities who passed through the property’s doors]. After falling apart in the early 2000s, the hotel underwent a comprehensive renovation and reopened in 2012 under Starwood’s Luxury Collection banner, transitioning over to Marriott following their acquisition of Starwood in 2016.

The lobby is an airy, warm space decorated in beige stone, with tapestries, murals and soft furnishings. Thanks to large windows and conservatory-style ceilings, there is abundant natural light to open the space up. Check-in, located at desks to the right of the entrance, was conducted quickly by friendly agents who acknowledged our elite status with Marriott and proactively offered an upgrade to a junior suite on the ninth floor of the hotel. We were informed that the executive lounge, a feature of the hotel we greatly enjoyed last year, was permanently closed by the owners.

I had stayed in a junior suite on my last stays, and this unit was no different. Unlike most junior suites, which are traditionally open plan rooms with more space and a couch, this suite has separate rooms for the living area and bedroom. The living room featured a dining table with two chairs, two-seater couch and armchair, desk and television. The bedroom, a bit of a tight squeeze, had a queen-sized bed, chaise at the end of the bed, and counter running below the second television.

The suite contains one bathroom in the bedroom, and has a curved bathtub embedded in the wall, shower stall, toilet and sink. I have to criticize the bathroom design, as the sink is embedded halfway onto a marble countertop and sticks halfway out despite an abundance of counter space. The shower stall is also not deeply indented into the floor, so flooding the bathroom floor was recurring event. Worse yet, the wall the bathroom shares with the bedroom is frosted brown glass, and half of this wall forms part of the shower stall, so beware sharing the room with someone you are not intimate with as silhouettes are as clear as shadows allow.

Toiletries are not Byredo as is brand standard with The Luxury Collection, but instead are a mediocre, heavily-scented brand I came across during my last stay here. Wi-fi is free for members of the Marriott Bonvoy program, but despite decent speeds, we found service spotty during our stay as the connection frequently went in and out. If you’re a fan of strong air conditioning, watch out - the flow in the bedroom, despite having its own control, is extremely weak.

Food and beverage was a major disappointment of our stay this time around. The breakfast buffet consists of essentials like breads, hot dishes like eggs, meats and vegetables, cereals and such, but the standard to which things were prepared was very poor. Eggs were all prepared sunny side up and poured into a covered dish, and many yolks were popped and runny upon opening up the covers. Any buffet dish that was depleted was seldom refilled, and if it was it was done so at long intervals. Sparkling wine, a fixture of our last stays, was on the buffet on the first day of our stay in one half-empty bottle, and when it was depleted and I asked for another, a staff member literally yanked the bottle out of my hand and begrudgingly brought another out twenty minutes later. I did not see any other bottles out at any point during the rest of our week-long stay.

A major faux-pas I encountered while dining in the restaurant was when I poured milk into a bowl of cereal, only for the milk to pour out of the bottle in a thick, chunky and smelly form. While I showed this to a staff member who cleared it away, I was shocked to see this slip by. I also noticed that when other guests would messily get items like peanut butter spoons mixed up in cereal bowls on the buffet, staff members would leave the area in disarray rather than clean it up. Tables were also poorly cleaned or lackadaisically laid out, with some place settings missing cutlery, no napkins laid out or a mix of the two.

We ordered room service several times during our stay. As a vegetarian, I would clearly inform staff via phone or on the room service card that I did not want meat in any of my dishes, yet two sandwiches on two separate breakfast dishes and one entree both had meat on them despite the clear instructions.

The hotel has a gym and spa with indoor pool, jacuzzi and separate changing areas for men and women. While they looked nice, we only used the pool once during our stay and found the facilities to be well kept. Elite members are offered one complimentary twenty-minute massage, so if you’re more than one to a room, pick who gets the perk.

The hotel has several meeting rooms, ballrooms and a casino. As a major hotel, the hotel frequently hosts many conferences, weddings and events and as such, guest traffic is quite high.

Service is this hotel’s biggest downfall. Last year, we found most staff to be extremely friendly, enthusiastic and professional; this year, most were nothing short of rude.

I would be remiss if I did not clarify that the front desk staff were consistently professional and delightful to work with, with everything from elite recognition to tasks as breaking change and preparing documents. The same cannot be said about any other staff I came across; in the spa one evening, my friend and I went to the spa reception to inquire about operating hours and the spa attendant was taking a call on her cell phone. Rather than hanging up and seeing to her guests, she turned the phone partially away from her ear and said “yes?” The interaction, despite being quick, felt like we were annoying her and taking away from her conversation. Housekeeping frequently did a lazy and heavy-handed job of servicing our room, leaving the bed done with corners sticking out or the duvet ruffled.

I also encountered the worst service I have yet experienced in a luxury hotel in the hotel’s restaurant. The hotel caters to many groups and many staff members are clearly exhausted by the flow of guests, yet take this out on the guests themselves: requests were met with huffs, I received several eye rolls when asking for items as extra cutlery and staff would outright ignore if flagged. I had a particularly nasty experience with the hotel’s dress code: a sign outside the restaurant mentions a smart casual dress code at all times that disallows clothing as bathing suits, shorts and sleeveless shirts, yet I always saw guests in those items. On one day, I wore a pair of shorts and upon arrival at the restaurant, the surly agent informed me of the dress code and sent me back up to change. After changing and returning to the restaurant, I saw other guests in shorts, sleeveless shirts [some with expletive language] and flip-flops, and decided to escalate the matter with a manager at the front desk.

After speaking with the manager, who apologized at first, he asked me just how short my shorts were as shortness of a certain length could be inappropriate. I was completely taken aback by this frankly ridiculous response, as any hotel - especially one purporting to be of a luxury standard - should enforce their rules clearly and without room for interpretation. Seeing that this hotel arbitrarily enforces their rules at their whim and fancy, and without professional conduct from their management, guests who come seeking a premium experience are the ones ultimately left with a sour taste.

While the physical bones of the hotel are alright, luxury is ultimately served by the people delivering it, and this hotel has failed hysterically. I do not recommend the Metropol Palace at any rate [even though it frequently has rates under 100 euros], and will not stay here whenever I am in Belgrade. The city is upping its game with new entrants like the Saint Ten, Hilton and forthcoming St. Regis and W hotels - try any of those instead and save yourselves the nightmare.