Hotel Arka

The rooftop is amazing! There were some issues with the lights in the room, but no big deal.

標註的是五星級酒店，實際連個2星都達不到，情緒如下： ①客房裝修非常簡易，顯得非常壓抑和暗調； ②衞生間沒施太太太…差了，昏暗，不衞生，只有一個手持淋浴頭，出水四處亂濺，關鍵是掛不上支架，差點砸到腦袋，衹能一手舉着一手洗澡，非常不方便；衞生間洗手盆就拿兩根細細的破鐵棍焊接了一下，極其簡陋（有圖為證）。 ③環境差到不能再差，拉開窗簾就像住在垃圾場裏（有圖），完全不能開窗，要一直拉着窗簾（窗簾也很臟、舊）。 ④早餐一般，品種不多。 ⑤給我們的房間號是405（全世界的人應該都知道405謀殺案的故事），不知是否有意為之。 總之，這個酒店完全名不符實，完全就是欺X，不知道攜程有沒有實地考察過。真是一次糟糕的經歷！！！

The hotel was a good hotel, by its location, very central and just behind the old bazar. I would say it's not 5 star worthy. The pool area do not fit in at all, since you could not swim in it at all. The floor near the pool is carpe and no changing room... So really bad when you think you can swim and had brought bathing clothes, in a indoor pool... (DO NOT chose, because it has a pool) The cleaning a bit lazy... One day we went out into the city, and expected that the room got clean... But nope... No fresh towels... It's a ok and staying there when it's autumn, is good and cheap... The young women in the reception is the most smiling and welcoming staff of the whole hotel.

First things first, this is not a five star hotel. How any hotel can obtain a five star category without even having a restaurant beats me, but the shortfalls went way beyond that. Arriving at the hotel from the main road it’s easy to miss, since its tucked down a tiny little driveway surrounded by other high rise buildings. There’s a large number of steps to climb to reach reception, but there is a lift to the side which I didn’t initially spot. The welcome at reception was superb. In fact throughout the stay the staff members there were brilliant, being professional yet friendly and nothing was too much trouble for them to help with or offer advice on. There’s a large amount of seating in the lobby area and a couple of lifts (one more rickety than the other!) serving each of the seven floors. My room was on the fifth floor and was an Economy Double with queen bed. It was a fairly good size with plenty of space but, for a supposed five star property, that’s where the positives seemed to end. The four windows overlooked the city but there were no curtains, instead having blinds fitted which even when closed let so much light in - forget ever getting the room dark. The queen bed was two singles pushed together, and with the thin single duvets and firm pillows it didn’t offer the most comfortable of sleeps. The air-conditioning was perhaps the loudest I’ve ever encountered and was only really effective on one side of the room. There was an electric socket at both sides of the bed, and the lighting was controlled by a small remote instead of switches. The wardrobe was a decent enough size but the TV didn’t really match the size of the room and required using two remotes due to the set-top box. There was a mini bar with small range of reasonably priced drinks. On first glance the bathroom might impress - a large corner bath! Until you realise that there’s no shower curtain installed, so using as a shower is impossible without turning the room into a ‘wet-room’, which to be clear it isn’t. The towels were small and rather harsh, the hairdryer practically useless, dim lighting and only the basic toiletries provided. The bathroom door also had glass panels with no form of blind fitted - fine if you’re staying on your own but might be worth bearing in mind otherwise! A couple of chocolates were on the bed when I first arrived, a nice little touch, but that’s as far as it goes for refreshments! There’s no kettle, coffee machine or bottled water. No option of room service or snacks, and even house keeping doesn’t happen unless specifically requested. I’m assuming the latter is a remnant of Covid, but seems a little excessive these days when other hotels manage. One of the reasons I was so excited to stay here was the roof top bar. On the seventh floor it is indeed a fantastic spot, with brilliant views over all the city and nice seating in both the sun and shade as you’d wish. What a shame so much more could be made of the space and instead it lost a

These weren’t met except by the reception staff who were excellent. The hotel is in a great location just off the bazaar. The bed and room was comfortable but the bathroom door was glass, the bath lacked a shower curtain and was really high to step up in to. Downstairs lobby has been modernised but the 7th floor where breakfast is was set up like a wedding/function venue with large tables. There weren’t many guests eating when we were so easy for us to get a table for six to ourselves.Full range of cold/cooked/ cereals/breads/cake/ delicious fruit. Swimming pool in summer is deceptive as it feels almost too hot in the room so put us off a bit. But the water was lovely and cool. Quite small so just for gentle paddling and bobbing about not for doing lengths. The shaded part of the roof top bar was closed for a separate function so there was nowhere to sit in the shade, so never tried it. Worth going up for view of the city though but a shame as it’s one of the things that attracted us to chose this hotel. Taxi from bus station was 110 dinars, just 5-10 minutes away. Try and find ‘tea street’ in the bazaar in the evening, great place for people watching with an iced coffee. It’s parallel to the hotel street about 2 or 3 streets into the bazaar. 3 hours from Skopje by bus to Ochrid town/lake. Well worth a couple of days in each place. Also did Free Walking Tours Skopje which was great and I’ve left a separate review for. Skopje is a fascinating city to visit. Ottoman history and culture north of the river, Balkan culture to the south.

Nice hotel. Perfectly located, good value for money, helpful staff and a comfortable stay. Highlight is the Rooftop bar. Good prices for a hotel as well Only slight complaint is that there are too many rules. Never been to somewhere with so many