Radisson SAS Centrum Warsaw, Warsaw

...had booked in to the Radisson SAS Centrum Hotel.

We had made the booking a month earlier after trawling through various websites, comparing Warsaw's four and five star hotels, their locations, facilities and, most importantly, their prices. We chose the Radisson for the following reasons; it was central, had a swimming pool, and breakfast was included in the price which, at £177 for three nights, was around half the price of the Marriott, ...
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The Radisson is situated in Ul. Grzybowska just off Al. Jana Pawla II, one of the main North - South throughways through central Warsaw. It is a three minute walk from the nearest tram stop and around five minutes from the nearest Metro station, Swietokrzyska, which itself is close to the central shopping area and that Stalinist pile, the Palace of Culture. From the airport it is a twenty to thirty minute ride by taxi, depending on traffic.
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Back in early March 2006 we were in Warsaw celebrating my birthday, and had booked in to the Radisson SAS Centrum Hotel.

We had made the booking a month earlier after trawling through various websites, comparing Warsaw's four and five star hotels, their locations, facilities and, most importantly, their prices. We chose the Radisson for the following reasons; it was central, had a swimming pool, and breakfast was included in the price which, at £177 for three nights, was around half the price of the Marriott, which is reputed to be the best hotel in town.

The Radisson is situated in Ul. Grzybowska just off Al. Jana Pawla II, one of the main North - South throughways through central Warsaw. It is a three minute walk from the nearest tram stop and around five minutes from the nearest Metro station, Swietokrzyska, which itself is close to the central shopping area and that Stalinist pile, the Palace of Culture. From the airport it is a twenty to thirty minute ride by taxi, depending on traffic.

The Radisson is a modern, medium sized building, ten stories high, with three basement levels. On the ground floor are the reception, a small gift shop, a large light and airy breakfast room, and a restaurant. The first floor consists mainly of conference rooms and the remainder of the upper floors consist of bedrooms. In the basement is the gymnasium and swimming pool and, below that, two levels of car parking.

The bedroom we were allocated was typical of those found in four/five star hotels in most major European cities, certainly in terms of size and layout. It had the usual facilities such as desk, wardrobe, TV and minibar. The bathroom was decently sized and had a proper bath complete with a fixed showerhead. What we liked about our room was the variety of fruit based shower gels and shampoos, replenished daily, and the small digital safe that was easy to operate thanks to the clear guidelines displayed in English. In addition, the room was thoroughly cleaned each morning, something I have found not to take for granted over the years. However, what we didn't like was the fact that though the bed was a super King size the hotel only supplied two single duvets under the bed cover.

We did not use the restaurant, a soulless looking place that caters mainly for businessmen with expense accounts. The menu did not look particularly exciting or cheap compared to restaurants we visited in Warsaw, though that is not to say that if no other option existed we would not have dined there.

We did, however, take breakfast in the pleasant surroundings of the breakfast room. The range of food on offer varied considerably, from fruit, cereal, doughnuts, cold meats, cheese and bread to cooked items, including scrambled eggs, bacon, two types of sausage, fried potatoes and large beans cooked in a tomato-looking sauce. For drink a choice of tea, coffee, milk and fruit juice was on offer. You could not have faulted the manner the food was presented, certainly it left me dithering on the first morning as to what I should have. However, what I did find was that some of the cooked food wasn't quite as cooked as it could have been, one morning the scrambled eggs being rather runny and the following day the otherwise delicious sausages looking somewhat anaemic. This indicated that a bit more quality control would not have gone amiss in the kitchen.

In the basement the gymnasium was busy, it's clientele seeming to consist of members based in the locality. There were plenty of exercise machines on offer, too many in my opinion after taking in to account the size of the room. This resulted in the gymnasium appearing to be cluttered and overcrowded.

We did not use the sauna or other gym facilities so cannot pass comment apart from saying that from what we saw the area was kept clean and tidy. We did however use the swimming pool and found it quite relaxing. The pool itself was approximately 10 x 5 metres in size with a depth of 1.3 metres. Above the pool on the ceiling were a large number of small lights of different colours, which slowly lit and faded away in turn. Along the side of the pool were arranged reclining chairs, which seemed popular with a lot of people, and a small Jacuzzi, which didn't. The changing facilities were clean and tidy and had good-sized lockers, keys of which were obtainable, along with towels, from the attendants at the entrance to the changing rooms.

You could not fault the staff whatsoever, all of who, apart from the cleaners, seemed to be under the age of thirty and spoke excellent English. They were alert, attentive and very helpful. Any questions always got a satisfactory response, be it requests for information concerning hotel or city. Nothing seemed to be too much trouble for them. On one occasion when I went to reception to advise them that my booked taxi to the airport needed to depart earlier than previously stated the reception staff were busy. However, I had not waited twenty seconds before the concierge approached me and made all the arrangements for me.

Despite the few imperfections stated above I was impressed overall with this hotel. Should I find myself in Warsaw in the future I would not hesitate checking in again. 

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