Hotel Korona was located at the foot of the Sighisoara’s medieval citadel, one of Romania’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Check in was the most formal of our tour, and we both had to complete a registration slip with passport details, with the slightly officious lady declining to simply photocopy our passports.
Room 205 was on the second floor and up a curved flight of thirty open wooden steps. Fortunately, our guide was on hand to help with our bags. The large room had a bed, bedside tables, lights and charging points. The wardrobe had plenty of hanging space and shelves and there was also a chest of drawers, desk with stool, table with two stools, an empty fridge and a TV. The AC and the WiFi were good. There was a coffee machine with one pod each and for the very first time on our tour, bottled water was provided (one flat and one sparkling, although this was not replaced). The in-room information suggested that we should not use the towels to clean our shoes as silicone shoe sponges were provided.
The excellent bathroom had a large shower cubicle with a solid tray and powerful hot water. It looked modern, was light and bright and had a good hairdryer and mirror combination. There was lots of space for towels, and complimentary toiletries were provided.
We’d seen some rooms with large balconies, but ours accommodated one person standing, presumably to smoke given the ashtray.
Breakfast began at 7.30am and could best be described as ‘uninspiring, but adequate’ with orange juice, and ridiculously small glass bowls for cereal and chopped tinned fruit. There was also cold meats and cheeses, chopped tomato, cucumber, and red peppers. Hot dishes included bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs. The coffee however was decent and there were rather delicious chocolate choux pastries to go with it.
The hotel was in a somewhat isolated location on the side of a busy main road. As we’d already climbed the vast number of steps to the old town and citadel in the afternoon, we couldn’t face trudging back to eat and opted to eat in house. The restaurant felt a little dark and gloomy, but we found a pleasant garden and terrace with various seating styles, which was prettily lit with fairy lights in the evening. On arrival, there were no other guests, and we chose a table on the covered terrace. Whilst we were waiting for our chicken schnitzel with parmesan fries and roasted pork with gratin potatoes, a couple with a young child chose the table right next to us. Having got the child seated in a highchair, dad disappeared leaving mum to control a child who when it wasn’t screaming was throwing anything within reach. The food eventually arrived and provided a distraction for us, particularly a pickled cucumber salad I’d selected as a side, which turned out to be a huge bowl of ‘wallies’. During our tour we’d been choosing different wines and opted for a bottle of Domeniile Avereşti rosé which came in a beautiful tall, elegant bottle with a foil and an unusual glass stopper. Having finished our meal, we decided to move away and indulge in a second bottle, this time trying the white wine. Just as the waiter was bringing out the wine in the ice bucket, we spotted the family leaving.
There was a lovely looking outdoor swimming pool which we took advantage of. For some reason, which could have been something to do with the adjacent fitness studio, which was open to the public, we had to leave a 30 Lei (£5) deposit for a wristband which had a gizmo to open the three-foot-high gate which we could have easily climbed over. However, there were plenty of comfortable loungers on the surrounding grass, and after discovering the water was a little chilly, we had a pleasant afternoon sunbathing in splendid isolation. This was one of the only places on our month’s trip where we had the combination of sun, the right facilities and free time.
