A street in Bucharest
Staying at the Hotel ibis Bucharest Gara De Nord in Bucharest, Romania wasn’t my idea. As you may know by now, I booked the Dracula Tour and the accommodation was part of the tour; hence, we just prayed for the best.
Since I’ve written in more detail regarding the tour and my experience of that four-day adventure, in this post I will try to be as focused as possible on hotel ibis Gara De Nord. So, if anyone needs a place to stay in Bucharest, check out this review to know what to expect.
By the way, in Bucharest there are two ibis hotels: Hotel ibis Gara De Nord and Hotel ibis Bucharest Palatul Parlamentului City Centre. Don’t get them confused. As the name states, the latter is near the Parliament building, while Gara De Nord is a bit up north.
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We were so tired when we arrived after more than 13 hours spent on a bus that the ibis hotel was literally a palace in my eyes. I noticed that there was a nice parking in front of the building and nobody interested in helping with our bags. Nonetheless, the hotel seemed nice on the inside and the receptionist was trying to be welcoming and helpful.
When we got to the room we were pleasantly surprised to find one double and one single bed even though we were only two persons staying there.
The bathroom was nice and clean, the room was reasonably furnished and clean, plus the wardrobe seemed fairly new. However, I definitely didn’t like the old and dirty-looking carpet that covered the entire floor and even some parts of the walls.
I guess it’s just a standard-looking building. It doesn’t seem old or dirty, so that’s a plus. I honestly liked how it looked like on the outside and it was fine on the inside as well. I was happy with the bar where smoking was allowed, but maybe they could invest a bit more in decorating the place.
This was the worst part of the hotel and Bucharest in general. All streets surrounding the hotel were dirty and somehow dark and creepy. We went to find an exchange office around 7 pm and soon we regretted it because everything was so scary and abandoned. No shops, no nature, no nothing.
A nice asphalted parking is found right in front of the hotel. However, it’s not too big and I suppose that may be a problem during busy times. We came with a bus thus we didn’t pay too much attention to it.
The room was an average one. I can’t say it was bad, but it wasn’t too good either. It seemed clean and simple, nothing fancy. It was quite functional though, with useful wardrobes, a desk, and a flat-screen TV. As I remember, at the time of our visit the wi-fi signal was terrible, but things could be improved by now.
I don’t remember anything special about the staff. They were trying to be helpful, but not all of them knew any languages other than Romanian. You guessed it – that can be frustrating since you are hoping that the staff will help you get information.
Also, it seemed at night there was like nobody in the hotel, it was quite hard to find an employee if you need help or assistance with something.
Well, truth to be told we spent most of our time on the road, exploring Romania and enjoying the Dracula Tour with the rest of the group. Therefore, we didn’t really have the time to properly experience the hotel. We noticed that the main train and possibly bus station were nearby and the Parliament Palace wasn’t too far away either.
Since you can’t smoke inside buildings in Skopje, smokers were happy to be allowed to do that in the hotel’s bar.
The bar itself was fairly nice and affordable. We had coffee when we arrived there and it was tasty, served with cookies and all that.
We also spent the second half of the New Year’s Eve at the bar drinking beer and chatting; the employees were nice and festive. No complaints there.
If memory serves me right, the exchange office at the reception worked only in the morning, so if you need cash better have that in mind and don’t wait until it’s too late. We did that mistake and then went to the train station to exchange money and were ripped off even though we went to a regular exchange office.
So, my final conclusion regarding Hotel ibis Bucharest Gara De Nord isn’t quite black or white. I must say that I was overall happy with the accommodation, especially since bus tours tend to accommodate groups in terrible hotels.
This is a modern place with nice rooms, free Wi-Fi, and a great bar.
Naturally, it isn’t some luxurious resort, but it’s a great option for people that need a place to stay and don’t feel like spending a fortune.
I would definitely recommend it to travelers that don’t plan on spending too much time at the hotel, but rather want to explore Bucharest and its neighboring cities and towns.
We were overall happy with the accommodation, especially since bus tours tend to accommodate groups in terrible hotels. Hotel ibis Bucharest Gara De Nord is a modern place with nice rooms, free Wi-Fi, and a great bar.
