We spent two nights at the Hotel Reghina Blue. We have some very positive comments about some features and enjoyed our stay, but it could easily have been made much better. The hotel is situated further than we anticipated from the city centre. It is a good half hour's walk to Victory Square. We discovered later that there is a useful tram line (no 6) but there was no information about this at the hotel. There is free parking in front of the hotel and in a car park at the side. The hotel is modern and is decorated with interesting old photos of Timisoara buildings of the past. Our room was large with plenty of space for our luggage. It was clean and stylish. The bed was a little firmer than I like. The bedside lamps did not direct light to the bed and so it was not possible to read in bed, and it was necessary to get out of bed to turn them on and off. Otherwise it was a pleasant and comfortable room. The bathroom was fine and the shower worked well. Wifi was free and the signal was strong. On our first night we dined in the hotel. We had only just arrived in Romania and did not have any local currency and so thought it would be easiest. We had a very decent meal. The atmosphere was somewhat lacking as we were almost the only people there, but the hotel could not do anything about that. Breakfast was included in the price and was a self-service buffet. Some of it was very good: cold meat and cheese, bread, cakes and fruit. The hot offering was less appealling. It looked as if the fried eggs had been on display since the restaurant opened at 7am and were still there an hour later. The sausages, too, were lukewarm. If these items had not been present I would have thought it an excellent breakfast. The staff could have been more helpful. Only the breakfast waiter made an effort to be welcoming to guests. We found on our first evening that the safe in our room was not working. Perhaps it needed new batteries. We told the receptionist who came to have a look. She was not able to solve the problem herself and said she would get someone to come and deal with it the next day, but this never happened. We were given a map of the city which was very useful but we were given incorrect information when we asked about changing money and buying a ”vignette” to allow us to drive in Romania. We were directed to a bank along the road but this was closed and looked as if it had closed down a long time previously. Fortunately a very helpful lady in the travel office next door helped us to buy a vignette online and directed us to a nearby exchange office. The staff in the hotel really should have done this. They could also have told us about the tram mentioned earlier in this review. We only found out about it when we went to the tourist information office in the centre of the city. There was a pleasant courtyard garden and an outdoor swimming pool which we would have enjoyed if we had visited in the summer.
