Poland
A great hostel in Warsaw - a truly unique place. It felt like being immersed in another century. The whole hostel welcomes you with an elegant atmosphere from the late 19th century. Imagine rooms with wooden beds, little lamps and photographs – everything is arranged and decorated with a lot of love. Enjoy discovering historical interior design. My personal favourites were the crochet tea-cloths!
On the other hand I didn’t miss any modern comforts - I had a modern bathroom and was checking my mail every night. Placed in the heart of the city, very near to the medieval Market square, it is also ideally located.
Wodkowica 5 street
www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/poland/wroclaw/19817/
Cheap and cheerful, if not exactly charming. Great location and nice rooms, this hostel stands out simply by being such in a city dominated by pricey hotels. The staff are friendly, but Oki-Doki perhaps takes its unique status for granted, often requiring guests to change rooms. But it really is just 10 minutes’ walk from the Old Town, less to the Palace of Culture and Science, and its in-house bar is good craic till the wee hours.
Plac Dabrowskiego 3, Corner of Marszalkowska and Swietokrzyska;
Getting there: Taxi from the airport costs about 30 Z/;
tel: 48 22 826 5112;
okidoki@okidoki.pl;
www.okidoki.pl
The view from the Panorama Bar on the top floor will give you a fine impression of just how modern and booming Warsaw is. The breakfast buffet left no wish unfulfilled, they even had Heinz baked beans in between four sorts of smoked salmon.
The best reason for staying there is that you can't miss it, good for getting back home again after a night out on the vodka. It is lit up too.
al Jerozolimskie 65/69;
www.marriott.com.pl
A boutique 5* hotel, centrally located, around 5 minutes away from the Centralna railway station. This old townhouse now features a cigar room complete with dvd and cd library, a fitness suite, sauna, plunge pool and steam room. Each art deco or nouveau bedroom has its own flatscreen TV, cd player, dvd player, wireless internet access, antique furniture, marbled and tiled bathroom with 'rainforest' style shower and all are, of course, fully air conditioned. The doors are massive, the service excellent and the rooms impeccable. This will be one of the few times you can experience such luxury so cheaply.
Street name: Wilcza (follow road down away from the central train station and Marriott Hotel towards the Warsaw Polytech.)
www.hotelrialto.com.pl
Beautifully restored hotel in art deco style, the prices are exorbitant by Warsaw standards, but a pleasant surprise was being informed that our bill would be 50% cheaper because it was
happy hour 5-8pm.
Luxurious warmth, nice biscuits with the coffee, a pound of peanuts with the beer. Actually, you could even save money.
ul Krakowskie Przedmiescie 42/44
Cheaper than the hotels and better situated if you're weekending, you can get a self-catering apartment for as little as 50 euros a night, right in the heart of the old town. Especially good value if there are two or more of you. There are several agencies, but this one has a good variety.
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