Honestreview
Google
The hotel occupies a beautiful and peaceful position overlooking the Vistula River. It is a very easy walk to town, but not close enough to be disturbed by the noise from the market square. The room we occupied (the "Studio") was very spacious and on two levels, although the bottom level was very dark and un-inviting, so at least as far as we were concerned it was not necessary and we didn't use it. The first floor level was like an open studio apartment, with sofas and dining table in one section and the bed in the other section. There was a big terrace at the front looking over the river, and a smaller one off the bedroom looking over the hills behind the town. Price around 600 zl per night.|In addition, it takes pets (we were with our small dog).|The breakfast buffet (apart from very poor fruit selection), was adequate but not excellent.|So these were the positives. |The negatives start from the design of the hotel, which is typically post-socialist with little thought to the attractive surroundings. So the restaurant is a very dark, semi-cellar space, on the "wrong" (road) side of the hotel. It should be on the river side, to take advantage of the attractive surroundings. This is typical of the lack of thought shown by Polish hotel builders in the immediate post-socialist period. On the river side are the hotel kitchens and offices. So at least from the restaurant point of view the design is senseless. |One sure way of making a rapid judgement if a Polish hotel has shaken off its socialist past is the welcome the guest gets at check -in. In this case it was neutral. Not friendly, not unfriendly, but the receptionist seemed not to care whether we were there or not. She showed us to our room, but did not explain that we needed a remote control to operate the air conditioner (kept at the reception), nor did she show us where we could find the WiFi password (there is WiFi, but no internet connection...). We needed to visit reception to clarify this. In addition, the safe in the room had not been checked so it was locked when we arrived (another visit to reception...). In the safe instructions was mentioned "enter #". Problem was, there was no # button on the safe. |"Older style" Polish hotels have problems understanding that curtains are to keep the room dark. The curtains had been made with too little material width-wise to do this, but on the other hand, they were about 50 cms too long, so spread over the floor.|No shower, but a shower head in the bath. First shower I took really smelt of drains. The bath drains had not been cleaned properly, there were hairs stuck in the drain. Another trip to reception..|What about the restaurant. Service was as at reception. Neutral, unsmiling, unwelcoming. Comments above re breakfast. Re dinner, I only tried the "zurek" soup. Tasted a bit thin (watered-down?) and instead of just "kielbasa" was full of a mixture of various sausages and cold meats (left over from breakfast?). Worst pianist I have ever heard. Played as if he had not read the composer's dynamic directions at all. Every piece was filled with disturbing staccato bursts and lurching changes of rhythm. Even "Va pensiero" sounded as if it was played on a typewriter by a not very accomplished typist.|Paper table napkins in a little rack in the middle of the table (impossible to be more post-socialist than this)..|But one very positive thing - really salt and pepper grinders on each table!|Maybe a minor thing, but hotel clearly in need of some renovation and servicing. Decayed wood in some places, many fixtures (bathroom, curtains etc) loose.|Maybe a lot of details in my review, but after having lived in Poland for 30 years I am always interested, when I visit a hotel with a certain "history ", of whether it has been able to throw off the past. The hotel "Two Moons" in Kazimierz Dolny has not quite managed.
