Hotel Lebed

“Reasonably comfortable stay in good location ”

A reasonably comfortable stay in this mid range hotel situated across the road from the lake in the city centre. Short walk to restaurants and bars and about 20 minutes walk to old Town. Room clean with large reasonably comfortable bed and pillows. Bathroom clean, but small. No shower head, hand… more

A reasonably comfortable stay in this mid range hotel situated across the road from the lake in the city centre. Short walk to restaurants and bars and about 20 minutes walk to old Town. Room clean with large reasonably comfortable bed and pillows. Bathroom clean, but small. No shower head, hand held only plus no soap holder or space to put shampoo etc. Good hot water and water pressure. Good lights and powerpoints. No fridge, room safe, tea or coffee. Small balcony. Lift and bar. Wifi good. No light blocking curtains at all in room. Breakfast was pretty average.

less

“Average hotel in Ohrid…”

To say this is a 4 star hotel is widely misleading. Hotel Lebed is hardly a 3 star hotel, perhaps more appropriately rated between 2-3 star. For ease of reading, I will separate my review into pros and cons. Pros: The room was spacious, with ample luggage storage. The room was furnished with a wr… more

To say this is a 4 star hotel is widely misleading. Hotel Lebed is hardly a 3 star hotel, perhaps more appropriately rated between 2-3 star. For ease of reading, I will separate my review into pros and cons. Pros: The room was spacious, with ample luggage storage. The room was furnished with a writing desk with chair, a small table with stool, a bench, a bed side cabinet, and a large cabinet with two compartments for luggage storage. There were also hangers. The hotel has a bar which offers an excellent exchange rate on beverages (1 Euro = 61) should you want to enjoy a nice drink on the premises. The hotel is essentially lakeside, only 1 block in from the lake front, providing easy access. The hotel location is decent in that regard, though, it is not fully central (the hotel is about a 1 km walk to the centre of Ohrid, and a 2 km walk to the Old Town and hilltop Fortress). Breakfast buffet is offered with the room, and it starts at 7:30 am. There was sufficient selection, including hard boiled eggs, fried eggs, pre-prepared omelettes, hot sausages, sliced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, olives, a small selection of cheeses and cold cut meats, cereals, whole fruits for takeaway (oranges and nectarines), cold cereals, cold milk, plain yogurt and fruit yogurt, a good selection of pastries, cakes, muffins and breads with jams and butter. There was a canister of coffee (which was terrible, hot water with colour, essentially) and hot water for tea. There were also some juices available. Wifi was secured, password-protected and wifi signal was strong in the room and throughout the hotel. There was a flatscreen tv with limited channels, but some channels available in English including news and 24 kitchen. My remote control did not work, but I could change the channel on the top of the television set. Ample towels were provided (2 hand towels and 2 bath towels), but no floor mat curiously. So I used one of the hand towels as a floor mat. There was clean glassware in the room, should you choose to indulge and purchase a bottle of wine from one of the nearby supermarkets. Many mirrors in the room, and sufficient lighting in the room. Blackout curtains for keeping the room dark at night. Staff were professional, friendly and helpful. Cons: The air conditioning was non existent. I had the air conditioning set to 5 degrees Celsius and it was blowing hot air all evening long. The room was very warm both with and without the air conditioning. It felt more like a fan blowing warm air. Other guests complained of a similar situation. The hotel in general but especially the rooms are very dated. The carpet is dirty, stained and old, there were signs of water damage in the walls, ants crawling everywhere on the carpet, the room was furnished with old wooden furniture, and the bed frame sunk. Cleanliness left much room be desired. I found little black hairs all over the bedding, in the shower, and all over the sink. It was an "ick" factor for me knowing these belonged to other guests (I have blonde hair, so I can say with certainty these were not mine). The room didn't feel clean... The layout of the room in some aspects was extremely bizarre. For example, the bed was cramped in between a large cabinet and the wall, which meant that you had to crawl to the mid of the bed to get out of the bed. The toilet sat directly in front of the shower wall, making sitting on the toilet and getting in and out of the shower an awkward experience. Although the shower was mostly enclosed (large walk-in shower), the water pressure was dismal, a trickle of water at best coming out of both shower heads. Temperature was great, but water pressure really needs to be fixed/adjusted. The toilet has seen the end of its days. The flush mechanism barely worked, and there was a lot of mould around the toilet, and in the bathroom generally. I overheard other guests complain their toilet flush mechanism wasn't working. A major con is that there was no fridge in the room, which would be expected if this was indeed a 4 star hotel. Power sockets were in short supply in the room, only 1 power bar by the television providing access to 3 sockets. None bedside, which would have been nice. The bed wasn't very comfortable. The mattress sank when you sat or slept on it and the firmness was off. The pillows also didn't provide much comfort. The bedding was fine, but the little black hairs scattered on the bed really put me off. I appreciated having breakfast included, but the eggs were pretty oily/greasy, and the coffee was awful. It was like hot black water which made me long for even something as basic as Nescafé instant coffee. No kettle of coffee making supplies in the room, which, again, for a self-proclaimed 4 star hotel, this should be a provided amenity. There were exposed electrical sockets, again, hinting at the need of renovations and overhaul. The hotel is quite dated and is in sure need of complete renovation. Travel tips: Samuil's fortress located in the Old Town is well worth the visit. At the time of writing, it closes at 4:30 pm. Leave 1-1.5 hours for your visit as the fortress is large and offers impressive views of Ohrid! For me, this was the highlight. Entrance was 120 denar for 1 adult. At the bottom of the park are two churchs (St. Clement and Panteleimon and St. John Kaneo). Both are worth visiting after the fortress! Entrance to St. Clement and Panteleimon cost 150 denar for 1 adult. St. John Kaneo is free to enter and offers spectacular views of the church overlooking the lake! Nice spot to catch the sunset and watch all of the passing boats and paddle boarders! Overall impression: Overall, I would say that Hotel Lebed is an average 2-3 star hotel. A far cry from the 4 star standards the hotel holds itself to. I think for a similar price, one could locate better quality accommodation nearer to the city centre! It was fine for one night, but I would not return on choice, opting for other accommodation.

less