Hotel Orphee

I’m torn about what to say about this hotel. Some good points and number of negatives. I post very few reviews but feel motivated to leave a review here for the benefit of others. The GOOD: fresh croissants and well made coffee at breakfast. Great location. The daily room cleaning staff were proactive and showed initiative, supporting how we used the room with small tweaks to furniture and bedding. We also had warm interactions with them in the corridors if we ran into them. Nice period features in the spacious room, which had been renovated in the last decade. The NEGATIVES: SERVICE: passable at best. Like many other reviewers, I found that they’re only doing just enough to get the transaction done. There is no hunger or desire to please or ensure happiness. There were many reception and restaurant staff, but there were few smiles. A telling example would be this: at breakfast each day - early at 7:30 for us - there would be easily 5 staff to serve only two tables of guests. It was not busy. The waiter would typically only visit the table twice: once to take orders, and again to deliver the plates. There were never any extra table visits to check on things… were we happy? Did we want more food? Nothing. Quite the opposite, we’d have to stand up to go and fetch things like sugar for the coffee or to ask for something extra. There was no lack of staff. They were always just at the bar talking to each other. This was the pattern day after day. Similar vibe at front reception, which by the way was behind a glass screen. It just had a very “roadside motel” feel to it. You’d say hello, they’d take the money, give you the key through a slot under the glass, and that was it. It was transactional only, no proactive helpfulness or warmth from multiple staff. It really seems to be a cultural thing at this hotel in particular. We had quite warm experiences at other restaurants or hotel cafes in Regensburg, so I don’t think the culture at Orphée is typical of the region - they just clearly have their own way of doing things at Orphée. CIGARETTE SMOKE: This has to be noted! The only way into the hotel is through an archway door from the street that opens into a semi internal-external room about 5x5 metres. It holds about 6 tables which were always full of people smoking. Not the same 2x locals, but somehow this seemed to be the place to go if you wanted to sit and smoke with a beer. Typically there will be about 6 lit cigarettes being smoked any time you pass. Maybe they think this is ok because it’s a semi-external room, but it does not ventilate well. The net effect is that the smoke flows into and fills the next room - the lobby with reception and lift access and stairwell. The lobby smells more strongly than the smoking room somehow. It seems to collect and store the smoke. The smoke then flows up the stairwell meaning the corridors outside the rooms also strongly smell of smoke. I know that smoking is more prevalent in Germany, but this place seems to be really supportive of smokers. Next visit to Regensburg I will be looking for someplace else.

What a wonderful boutique Hotel. Beats any big 5 star Hotel hands down! Charming old Hotel, with huge rooms that are nicely decorated located in the heart of Regensburg. The breakfast deserves a Michelin star, never had such a good unique breakfast where everything is extremely fresh or made from scratch. Staff is very friendly and helpful