Review: Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade

Ben Schlappig
November 13, 2016
12

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As Hyatt and Starwood loyalists we had two practical options in Belgrade — there’s the Metropol Palace, which is a Starwood Luxury Collection property, and then there’s the Hyatt Regency Belgrade. We ended up deciding on the Metropol Palace, given that it’s located in the old town, which seemed to be the place to be.

We were staying for three nights, and the nightly rate was pretty tough to beat. The hotel cost just 80EUR per night on a pre-paid rate, which was an even better value than redeeming 7,000 Starpoints per night, as this is a Category 3 property (I value Starpoints at ~2.2 cents each).

We took a taxi from the airport to the hotel, which took around 30 minutes, and we arrived shortly before 11PM. The hotel has a pretty bland exterior.

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade exterior

The lobby was gorgeous, much nicer than I was expecting based on the exterior. Clearly the hotel was recently renovated, and they did a great job with it.

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade lobby

Inside the lobby and to the right were the concierge desk and reception.

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade lobby

There was only one person working the front desk when we arrived, so he checked us in one after the other. He explained that we had both been upgraded to suites, and that we’d receive free restaurant breakfast, access to the club lounge, and a free 25 minute massage in the Elemis Spa. That’s some excellent SPG Platinum treatment, if you ask me!

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade reception

Per spg.com, Tiffany had been upgraded to an “executive suite,” while I had been upgraded to a “junior suite,” so I was curious to compare them. We first went to Tiffany’s room, located on the second floor.

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade executive suite exterior

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade floorplan

There was an entryway that led into the rest of the room, which was basically one big rectangular room that was partitioned off into two areas.

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade executive suite entryway

There was a living area, with a desk and wall-mounted TV.

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade executive suite living area

Then there was a couch and a chair facing a table.

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade executive suite living area

On the opposite side of the partition was a king size bed, facing a TV and closets.

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade executive suite bedroom

The bathroom was to the side of the room, and also in a rectangular shape. There was a toilet, a sink, and a walk-in shower (which got a separate post from Tiffany).

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade executive suite bathroom

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade executive suite shower

Metropol Palace Hotel Belgrade executive suite toilet

Overall it was a beautiful room, though I was a bit confused about what made this an “executive suite.” The way I see it, a junior suite is a single room with a partitioned off sitting area, while an executive suite is a suite with two separate rooms.

Meanwhile I had been upgraded to a junior suite, room 916.

Metropol Palace Belgrade junior suite exterior

Metropol Palace Belgrade floorplan

Oddly the junior suite consisted of two separate rooms. Upon entering the room I was in the living area, which featured a dining table with two chairs, a couch and chair with a table, and a desk with a TV above it.

Metropol Palace Belgrade junior suite living room

There was a coffee machine near the entrance to the room, as well as the minibar.

Metropol Palace Belgrade junior suite coffee machine

Metropol Palace Belgrade junior suite minibar

There was a lovely welcome amenity waiting for me, including two bottles of wine, chocolate cake, cheese, and water.

Metropol Palace Belgrade welcome amenity

Then there was a door separating the living room from the bedroom. The bedroom was quite small (just how I like it, so I can control the temperature and avoid disturbances as much as possible), and featured a king size bed and two nightstands.

Metropol Palace Belgrade junior suite bedroom

Across from the bed was a TV.

Metropol Palace Belgrade junior suite bedroom

The bathroom was located off of the bedroom, and featured a walk-in shower, tub, sink, and toilet.

Metropol Palace Belgrade junior suite shower room

Metropol Palace Belgrade junior suite bathroom

Metropol Palace Belgrade junior suite bathtub

Metropol Palace Belgrade junior suite toilet

I was impressed by just how many amenities they had in the bathroom, all of which were Luxury Collection branded.

Metropol Palace Belgrade toiletries

Thanks to being on the ninth floor, my room had great views of the surrounding area.

Metropol Palace Belgrade junior suite view

Overall I thought both rooms were lovely, and the value certainly couldn’t be beat. Wifi in the room was excellent for the most part, and there wasn’t even any sort of log-in required to access it.

My one major complaint was the mattress. The bed was hard, to the point that I had serious back pain the next day. I’ve spent well over a thousand nights in hotels, and this was the first time that ever happened to me. I’m not sure if it was the bed, if I somehow slept in a weird position, or what. I mentioned it to Tiffany, and she said she liked the bed. Different folks, different strokes, I guess.

As Platinum guests we could have breakfast in the restaurant for free, which was located next to the lobby. The restaurant was physically beautiful and felt a bit like a greenhouse. However, the service was underwhelming. First of all, the host simply took names down and didn’t actually seat people, so people ended up sitting down at tables that were already occupied (the people sitting at them were at the buffet getting food, and returned to find their tables occupied).

On top of that, getting any sort of coffee service was difficult, as the servers weren’t at all proactive. That doesn’t even address the fact that the coffee was really bad.

44 Parallel Restaurant Metropol Palace Belgrade

On the plus side, the buffet itself was excellent, with some things you don’t see at many other buffets. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Metropol Palace Belgrade breakfast buffet

On top of breakfast we had access to the hotel’s “Elite Lounge,” located on the seventh floor. This is one of the first Luxury Collection properties I’ve stayed at that has a club lounge, so kudos to them for going above and beyond and offering this. The lounge is open daily from 6:30AM until 10PM.

Metropol Palace Belgrade club lounge information

The lounge is a nice space, and we worked from there a few times. I try to get out of my room as much as possible when staying at hotels so I don’t get tempted to work from bed, and then eventually fall asleep.

Metropol Palace Belgrade club lounge

The lounge had dining tables with chairs, as well as more relaxed couches with lounging chairs.

Metropol Palace Belgrade club lounge

There was also a computer with a printer.

Metropol Palace Belgrade club lounge computer

Breakfast in the lounge was basic, and just consisted of cereal and some pastries. However, that wasn’t an issue since those with access to the club could also eat in the restaurant. So I’m not sure why they bother having anything in the lounge for breakfast at all.

Throughout the day there were drinks on offer, including soft drinks, beer, wine, etc.

Metropol Palace Belgrade club lounge drinks

Then from 6PM until 9PM daily there were snacks and desserts, though the selection was a bit underwhelming. There were some nuts, salad, cheese, a few types of meat, brownies, etc. It’s not a selection that will spoil your appetite for dinner.

Metropol Palace Belgrade club lounge evening snacks

In terms of the hotel’s other features, one night we planned to have drinks at the lobby bar, and ended up having dinner there (we were both busy with work and were planning on going out, but it just didn’t work out). The service was friendly and food was good (I had a caesar wrap, while Tiffany had a caesar salad).

Metropol Palace Red Parallel Lounge

Metropol Palace Red Parallel Lounge dinner

There was even softcore porn on the TV. Ah, Europe!

Metropol Palace Red Parallel Lounge

The hotel’s spa and gym were located on the basement level, one floor below the lobby. The spa is operated by Elemis, the same you’ll find at the British Airways Lounge at Heathrow (though this one is a bit nicer).

Metropol Palace spa

Metropol Palace Elemis spa

As mentioned above, as a Platinum member you’re entitled to a free 25 minute massage when staying at this hotel. I was able to schedule that without issue, and enjoyed the treatment. It was a full on massage, and not just one where you sit in one of those massage chairs fully clothed).

Metropol Palace Elemis spa treatment room

The gym was located next to the spa, and had a good selection of modern equipment.

Metropol Palace gym

The staff in the hotel were generally friendly, though I wouldn’t say the service level was five star (then again, when paying 80EUR per night I don’t really expect that).

The hotel had a good location, and we were able to walk to most areas of the old town within 15-20 minutes. Otherwise taxis are cheap, and you’re a five minute ride from anywhere you could want to be.

Metropol Palace bottom line

For 80EUR per night we got an excellent deal. This is a pretty nice hotel with exceptional Platinum treatment. The hotel certainly has its quirks, like the strange showers, lacking service at breakfast, odd club lounge offerings, etc. But for Belgrade this is a fantastic option, especially when you factor in the price and location.

Perhaps I’d consider trying the Hyatt next time, though I really did like staying in the old town, so I’d still lean towards this hotel.

If you’ve been to Belgrade, do you have a favorite hotel?

Conversations (12)

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Reality Guest
November 14, 2016, 1:05 am

@Lea- there's anything to worry about there, Lea.

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farnorthtrader Guest
November 13, 2016, 5:33 pm

@stvr, yes, the only reason that anybody values SPG points at what they do is because they are transferable to airline miles. In my experience, using them at hotels, they are worth about 3 Hilton points, 3/4 of a Hyatt point, 2 IHG points, or 2 Marriott points. Based on this experience and bloggers valuation of all of these other points, the value of an SPG point for staying in SPG hotels comes in pretty...
@stvr, yes, the only reason that anybody values SPG points at what they do is because they are transferable to airline miles. In my experience, using them at hotels, they are worth about 3 Hilton points, 3/4 of a Hyatt point, 2 IHG points, or 2 Marriott points. Based on this experience and bloggers valuation of all of these other points, the value of an SPG point for staying in SPG hotels comes in pretty consistently at 1.5 cents. They only have a value of 2.2 cents because they can be turned into 1.25 airline miles typically valued at 1.8 cents each. As a result, the bloggers almost never use their SPG points for hotels, but they also never mention that this is the case.

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Robert Schrader Guest
November 13, 2016, 4:51 pm

That hotel really fascinated on my recent trip to Belgrade (which, FWIW, I think is going to be Europe's big thing in 2017 or 2018). I love how the sparkly adornments on its communist-era façade hint at the eclectic sort of boutique luxury inside. So cool!

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stvr Guest
November 13, 2016, 3:19 pm

I think you might be overvaluing SPG points. I *always* read that the cash rate was better than the points rate. It sounds like you like to redeem SPG only in the 10% of times when the points rate far exceeds 2.2 cents per point. Maybe this is partially because they can be transferred to miles. But, still, I think you need to reframe your viewpoint.

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Alex Guest
November 13, 2016, 1:49 pm

Your post described Belgrade in a nutshell.

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Ben O New Member
November 13, 2016, 12:40 pm

Any chance you guys saw the Hyatt regency there also? Any impressions?

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JoeMart Guest
November 13, 2016, 11:36 am

The Argo has a clean, modern decor and is near the train station. Start your day with in-house roasted coffee beans at Przionica D59B. Plenty of nightlife to choose from. Meeting the locals is the way to learn what's new and popular.

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MidSouth Skier Community Ambassador
November 13, 2016, 11:13 am

@Barry, Tiffany is married so separate rooms is advisable.

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Mark F Gold
November 13, 2016, 11:10 am

@Barry I, for one, don't share a room with someone if we ain't bumpin'. One of the perks of having that mad cash. YMMV

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Nikola Guest
November 13, 2016, 11:10 am

When you come next time there is gonna be St. Regis and W as well :)

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Barry Guest
November 13, 2016, 10:55 am

When I travel with friends we share a room, but maybe you don't like Tiffany enough to do so?

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Abidjan Gold
November 13, 2016, 10:47 am

Indeed - - all this for 80 EUR, breakfast difficulties aside - - great deal.

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Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

Reality Guest

November 14, 2016, 1:05 am

@Lea- there's anything to worry about there, Lea.

farnorthtrader Guest

November 13, 2016, 5:33 pm

@stvr, yes, the only reason that anybody values SPG points at what they do is because they are transferable to airline miles. In my experience, using them at hotels, they are worth about 3 Hilton points, 3/4 of a Hyatt point, 2 IHG points, or 2 Marriott points. Based on this experience and bloggers valuation of all of these other points, the value of an SPG point for staying in SPG hotels comes in pretty consistently at 1.5 cents. They only have a value of 2.2 cents because they can be turned into 1.25 airline miles typically valued at 1.8 cents each. As a result, the bloggers almost never use their SPG points for hotels, but they also never mention that this is the case.

Robert Schrader Guest

November 13, 2016, 4:51 pm

That hotel really fascinated on my recent trip to Belgrade (which, FWIW, I think is going to be Europe's big thing in 2017 or 2018). I love how the sparkly adornments on its communist-era façade hint at the eclectic sort of boutique luxury inside. So cool!