My spouse and I stayed at the Best Western Premier Hotel
Slon for three nights in late August 2016. We booked our room online using the Best
Western website. The Premier brand indicates that the hotel is “an upscale
property with refined atmosphere and style, deluxe amenities and features, and
superior comfort and service.” During our stay, renovations were in progress. For
example, the street-level bar and lounge were under construction, so it was
difficult to navigate from the street to the smaller-than-usual lobby. To
appease guests for the inconvenience, the hotel offered complimentary champagne
and bottled water, but most of the time, the table was usually empty (except
for dirty glasses). On another day, it was not possible to use the main staircase
to reach the hotel restaurant. After they changes are complete, the property
will be elevated.
The legend of the Hotel Slon dates back 460 years. The word
“slon” means “elephant” in Slovenian and is so named because an early guest
arrived with an elephant. The elephant was rarely seen in Europe until public zoos opened in the
late 1700s; therefore, owning an exotic animal was a sign of wealth, power, and
privilege. In the mid-1500s, the Archduke of Austria married Mary of Spain and
was about to become Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. On his way from Spain, he
brought an elephant with him when he stayed at an inn in Ljubljana. That inn was
located where the Hotel Slon was built in the 1930s and still stands today.
Today, the Hotel Slon occupies an excellent location on the
corner of a pedestrian street and a limited vehicular access road (called Slovenska
Cesta) just a 3-minute walk to city center and a similar walk to the tram for
the castle. You can easily walk to the Three Bridges, the Open Market, Tivoli
Park, the post office, and the bus and train stations. The NAMA department store
(which stands for “narodni magazin” or “national store”, a chain of
stores that originated in the former Yugoslavia) is located
diagonally across the street, and you can walk to many restaurants and shops
(including a Spar grocery store). The airport is located 25 minutes from the hotel.
The hotel offers parking for less than 20 Euros per night.
Hotel amenities include the Slon 1552 restaurant/bar
(however, it was closed for renovations during our visit), fitness center (with
sauna), television (with many English channels), and complimentary Wi-Fi. The bright
and spacious (and outdatedly elegant) breakfast room offers a huge buffet from
6:00 am to 11:00 am daily that includes fruit, breads, pastries, desserts, cold
deli meats and cheeses, cereal, hot and cold entrees, freshly-squeezed juices
and smoothies, and fancy coffees.
The hotel offers 170 guestrooms in various categories spread
across five floors. (The street level ground floor contains the lobby, lounge,
and bar.) Only the superior deluxe category rooms had been recently renovated
when we stayed, but perhaps other categories have been refurbished since then.
Although our corner suite had not been renovated, it was still attractive, and
offered an enormous amount of space with its hardwood floors and high ceilings. We booked one of the five nearly
600-square feet corner suites. Our rate included daily breakfast, evening
turndown (with an elephant-shaped chocolate and the next day’s weather forecast),
(paid) minibar, and complimentary airport transfers (which were supposed to be provided
using a BMW limo but in reality used a regular local taxi). The corner suites
offer a small balcony with a tiny table and two chairs that overlook Slovenska
Cesta and the Jakopic Promenade toward Tivoli Park and Tivoli Mansion. Our
suite consisted of several areas: the foyer/entry way, living area, bedroom
area, and hallway/closet area. The living area was huge, with two full-size
sofas, coffee table and end tables, desk and chair, wall-mounted television, mini-bar,
and coffee service. The bedroom area contained a large king-size bed (with a
cute stuffed elephant that you can purchase as a souvenir), two nightstands, a
large dresser/table, another television, and a pillow menu. Pocket doors
separated the bedroom from the living area. Another clever sliding door either
hid the small bedroom closet or blocked access to the hallway where the huge
closet was located (including an electronic safe, bathrobes, slippers, and an
umbrella). The hallway with the closet provided access back to the foyer, as
well as to the bathroom, which held the combination bathtub/shower, toilet, and
two sinks in a long vanity. The hotel supplies an extensive variety of L’Occitane
toiletries, including soap, shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, body lotion, bath
salt, and my favorite item, the lavender pillow sleep mist. The bathroom also
offers a magnifying mirror, stool, hairdryer, and plenty of towels.
We enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Slon. When renovations are
complete, the hotel will be one of the premier lodgings in Ljubljana.
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