Review of Margutta 19 - Small Luxury Hotels of the World 5*

This is a new boutique hotel, and it shows. There are many glitches that need to be worked out, and the emphasis of the management seems more geared toward staging a beautiful photo shoot than in making sure guests are comfortable. For example, it has some of the worst bathroom lighting I've ever seen. I kept reaching for the light switch, only to realize that the lights were already on maximum. There was no lighted magnifying mirror to help offset this poor lighting, so it was nearly impossible for me to put on make-up or for my husband to shave. Forget about plucking your eyebrows. I could hardly see my eyebrows. The lighting in the room itself was impossible to figure out without an advanced degree in electrical engineering. When I'd turn on the overhead lights, the lamps would all go off, and vice versa. Or all the lights would go off, leaving me in the dark to figure out what button I needed to push. There were also LED lights everywhere on light switches and TVs that lit up at night and made it very unpleasant to try to sleep. In addition, the temperature in the room was very cold, even on the warmest setting. The only way we could make it warmer was to have the front desk turn off the air conditioning, which made the room extremely stuffy. We were forced to choose this option because the hotel had no additional blankets. When I asked for an extra blanket, I was brought 3 sheets and told that this was all they had. Other issues included the fact that the front desk people could not make change for a 100 euro bill. I've never experienced this in any other upscale hotel. The night turn-down service did silly little things like putting a cloth next to the bed in order to wipe your feet, but it was unnecessary and just got crinkled up and tripped over. I didn't need a cloth under my feet, I needed an extra blanket! Everything seemed to be there for show, not comfort. I would not recommend this hotel unless they miraculously get their act together and make guest comfort and convenience a priority.