Holiday Inn Krakow City Center, Krakow

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The Holiday Inn is just outside this horseshoe, only a short distance from the most historic sights (a 10 minute stroll the main Market Square) and this means you are in an excellent location for exploring on foot. Several tram lines also run only 100m away, to connect to wider areas.

Accommodation

Walking off a main, busy street you pass through a car park area (there is a hotel shop on one side) and ...
...fresh and fluffy towels and Holiday Inn cosmetics - soap, shampoo etc. Most HI also offer a 'If you forgot' service, where they will supply (FOC) a comb, razor, toothbrush, toothpaste and so on if you have forgotten yours - this hotel did so.

Catering

I used the lobby bar only one or twice, but as I said it was pretty much full of Irish stag party revellers when I was there so my experience is probably not typical. ... more

CIAO have asked me to re-submit this review, as the version of it below has gone wrong somehow and the text can not be seen. Cheers, Andy

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In 2007, Krakow (a UNESCO World Heritage site) is celebrated 750 years since the original creation of its grid-like City, laid out within city walls (though there has been a settlement here for far longer). Although those city walls have gone and the city extends well beyond its original planned layout and it has even merged into other places which used to be separate, you can still see the original planned area and it is still remarkably easy to navigate around.

This lively city is very good value for people paying in £ sterling or Euros, the friendly locals (many of whom speak at least some English) are ready to help, there are many excellent shops, restaurants and pleasant bars and pubs and lots of places to simply sit and people watch.

One of the things I find fascinating is how diverse Europe still is, even after years of the EU and shared media. In mileage, Krakow is not far from Germany but it is a very different place. Whilst there are similarities, you will quickly discern and relish the differences from Prague or Budapest.

Krakow is yet another interesting East European city that really justifies a visit and a weekend break is highly recommended.

Poland lies to the east of Germany, north of the Slovak Republic, south of the Baltic Sea and to the west of Belarus and the Ukraine.

Location and how to get there

Krakow is situated about 290 kilometers south-west from Poland's capital, Warsaw. You can travel by train or road (it is about 1000 miles to drive from London) or you can fly, as I did, to Krakow's airport (Pope John Paul II Airport) which is served from the UK by easyJet and British Airways.

The airport is about 11k from the city and there is a nearby train station from which you can travel cheaply in a journey taking about 15 minutes. I made the mistake of walking from Krakow station to my accommodation (it did not look very far on the map!) and I regretted hauling luggage over cobbled streets. You can get trams or taxis from the railway station readily all over the city.

Krakow is on the banks of the Vistula River and the old part of town is a horseshoe shape with the open end of the horseshoe at the bottom on the river banks (the horseshoe, in fact, is where the old city walls used to be - more about this later).

The Holiday Inn is just outside this horseshoe, only a short distance from the most historic sights (a 10 minute stroll the main Market Square) and this means you are in an excellent location for exploring on foot. Several tram lines also run only 100m away, to connect to wider areas.

Accommodation

Walking off a main, busy street you pass through a car park area (there is a hotel shop on one side) and into the outer lobby (steps up). This is a pleasant seating area with flowers and chairs. Behind this is the lobby bar on the left, mainly full of an Irish stag party the weekend I was there and very smoky. To the right is the reception desk which, whenever I visited, had two or three efficient and pleasant staff on duty, all of whom spoke several languages and who were all happy to help. My reservation was quickly found and I was checked in.

The lifts behind reception serve all floors. The resturant is one floor down and guest rooms are up.

The Rooms

When I visited there were more than 150 guest rooms, mainly the standard room with a number of Executive rooms and a few suites. My room was a standard room and I found it large enough (larger than many city centre hotels rooms), well equipped and comfortable. The room was air conditioned - pleasant in May, probably essential in July and August.

The usual range for a 4* standard business-type hotel, so bathrobe and slippers, a mini bar (as usual, pricey), TV with BBC and some other foreign language services (French, German, Italian, US news), iron and board, a desk/chair/vanity mirror, phone which had message warning and wake up call options. There was a mini-safe. Again, as usual, there was plenty of hanging space for a couple of days visit.

The window looked into an internal courtyard, so some light but no view to speak of. It was fine - I was not there to spend time in the room!

The bathroom had a bath with shower over, a good supply of fresh and fluffy towels and Holiday Inn cosmetics - soap, shampoo etc. Most HI also offer a 'If you forgot' service, where they will supply (FOC) a comb, razor, toothbrush, toothpaste and so on if you have forgotten yours - this hotel did so.

Catering

I used the lobby bar only one or twice, but as I said it was pretty much full of Irish stag party revellers when I was there so my experience is probably not typical. It was, at the time, full, busy and slow.

I did not eat lunch or dinner but did have a very good breakfast each morning. A range of hot and cold food with cereal, fruit and juices, hot food from a buffet and some dishes (like fried and poached eggs and omlettes) cooked to order, plentyful coffee or tea served by waiting staff and a good table clearing service. It is impossible to please all the people all the time and I did see a puzzled Spanish lady (trying to find the olive oil to have with her bread, in the Spanish manner) actually take a bottle of olive oil out of a wall display because she could not find any anywhere else. However, there was something for most guests including fish for the Scandinavian type breakfast, sweet rolls and little cakes, fresh, dried and tinned fruit including prunes and figs and so on. I had a great brekfast each day and was not hungry again until dinner.

Other services

The efficient and friendly hotel reception staff handled the other queries I had for them very efficiently, finding trips and tours for me (and many other guests) to meet my requirements, inclding having more than one option (for example, cheaper on a big coach, more expensive on a mini bus with fewer people, most expensive but exclusive in a private limo with a driver/guide). They handled this well and my checkout well when I was ready to go.

By the way, the hotel in the car park is an Amber shop. A lot of amber is mined locally and is made into jewellery and collectibles - some nice, some very ordinary, but worth a look.
 

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