Castle Spa Wagenküll

The biggest beef I have with Wagenküll (Taagepera Loss) is that the management could not care less what you think... Upon raising our concerns with the reception – a duo of young ladies whose unhelpfulness was rivalled only by their steadfast commitment to being utterly rude and useless – we were met with rehearsed responses that might as well have been lifted from a manual titled "How Not to Care: A Hospitality Guide." When we requested an audience with the management, they proceeded to cheerfully inform us that the management was "not in the building." Except, that I had breakfast a mere feet from the said management just an hour before, having recognised their faces from the TV advertisements. Yet, rather than deigning to address our concerns, they appeared to hide away, leaving the receptionists to deliver their absurdly unconvincing narrative. We travelled as a family of five, hoping to secure the family room – a delightful arrangement of two interconnecting chambers. As this was unavailable, we were given instead a suite, which was proffered as a suitable alternative, with assurances that our four-year-old could either share our bed (because nothing says “luxury” quite like a toddler’s foot in your face at 2 a.m.) or sleep in a cot. The cost difference? The suite, despite being smaller and less accommodating, carried an additional charge of €75 per night for the children. Why, you ask? Because, apparently, they dared to eat breakfast and use the spa. Yet, had we stayed in the family room – a cheaper and far more spacious option – no such fee would have applied. When queried, the staff declared with the utmost seriousness that the suite was a "luxury experience." Luxury, I daresay, must have undergone a radical redefinition, for cramming five souls into one room with no privacy is a curious take on opulence. It is as if they believe themselves custodians of some parallel reality where discomfort and absurdity are synonymous with grandeur. To cap it off, the state of the establishment left much to be desired. Air conditioning units across the property were blinking red with distress, their filters begging for replacement, while other signs of neglect – both in the spa and the rooms – made it abundantly clear that maintenance was more an aspiration than a practice. And yet, we were expected to swallow this as a "luxury experience." One truly wonders what hallucinogenic delights the management might be partaking of to arrive at such a conclusion. In summary, Wagenküll is a place where the only luxury you can count on is the luxury of disbelief at their audacity. I remain both aghast and bemused.

We stayed at this hotel from December 26-27, and our experience was disappointing. The room did not match the photos on the website and lacked the amenities that were advertised, such as the vintage bathtub. Despite making our reservation two months in advance, we were assigned a room near the kitchen. This meant we had to walk through the restaurant in bathrobes to get to the spa while people were dining, which was very uncomfortable. The service was rude and unprofessional, and the spa was overcrowded. Towels ran out by 7 PM, even though the spa was supposed to be open until 10 PM. Overall, the experience was far below expectations, and we would not recommend this hotel.

Pleasant area, interesting building, nice little garden, but price and quality are not in balance. Restaurant gave rather positive impression - nice and friendly waiter, swift service, excellent food. Try their "pasta nero" - delicious! Rooms - for the ones, who still remember soviet time, this gives an impression of an outdated russian establishment, which has been attempted to convert into a boutique hotel, but with no great success - corridors, rooms, materials, smell - jut not what You would expect at that price level. Curtains have spots, carpets are worn out, bathrooms badly lit, restaurant windows nor cleaned at least for a year etc etc. Luckily we did not rent a room with balcony - those were empty boxes with no furniture - we saw guests sitting on the floors and trying to accomodate theirselves. The "Alice in Wonderland" installation in the gardens with plastic trees left also mixed feelings - good initiative trying to make the place more attractive, but overall gave a strange inconsistent "wannabe Disneyland" impression. We did not visit the spa, so not opinions to share. All in all, take a walk in the garden, check out the building, have dinnner, but rather stay somewhere else. For half the price, may be acceptable for some, but not for premium price they are charging.

The castle and its garden are like a fairy-tale come true. There are quest rooms,a nice restaurant - absolutely lovely,good atmosphere. Lots of people come to see the Alice of Wonderland garden, amazing creation to take your breath away. We just walked around in the fancy garden and had some dessert and drinks in the really posh restaurant. Can't be better on a sunny warm Sunday.

I have visited Wagenküll several times and this is one of the most beaufiful quiet spas in Estonia. Beautiful historical castle with a nice little spa area. Very cozy place with friendly staff. An ideal place for couple’s getaway, but I don’t recommend for family/kids vacation. Guests highly value the quiet and relaxing trip back to history and also the castle rooms walls are pretty thin. However, there is an extra building, a new hotel connected to the main castle with underground tunnel.

Besides the suite interior and amenities, this is a regular 3 star hotel. Many things that are nice about this place, but are either poorly managed or just not paid attention to. The suites in the castle have very little to none sound proofing. I'm sure the staff is aware of that, but it's just not managed. We were put in the room right next to a family with small kids and all we could hear is the kids scream. Was woken up at 8am also by their kids screaming, because it sounded like they were right by our room door. Spa is very nice and has good amenities but it is way too small for the amount of guests that are staying there; plus the Spa is accessible also by non-hotel guests. Therefore it gets extremely cramped and not enjoyable. Staff doesn't strike as the most welcoming people either. Breakfast is very mediocre. What comes to the restaurant, it's quite ok for such a remote area, however the prices in a-la-carté are too high for such a remote area. Basically menu prices are the same as in Tallinn, but the quality and presentation of the food, of course, is lower. Another thing that didn't make good impression was dirty curtains:) They had yellow stains all over and it was the first thing I saw, which made me think if everything else is so poorly cleaned as the curtains:) Overall I'd say the experience is not worth the value paid.