Pod Różą Hotel — Hotel in Krakow

The hotel is aesthetically very pleasing. It is one of the oldest in Krakow and so the structure is wonderful with stone walls and restored cellar that holds a very small spa. It is based just off the main square so great location as everything is so very close. ||||We sadly found that a number of aspects really let it down for us. We unfortunately found though that the hotel to be really devoid of any atmosphere. I shared all my feedback with hotel upon leaving who shared that some of my feedback that had had already shared with them so it was not just us !! ||||||The lobby area extends into the breakfast/dining room. This breakfast/dinner area has a bar with some very grand looking couches that are simply very uncomfortable to sit at. Whilst the whole area feels very grand, it is just not very relaxing to sit in. This is an area where you may grab a quick drink and then move on as you feel like you are sitting in a gold fish bowl. In the 4 days we were there, we saw only one other couple have a drink in the bar area. ||||We were given room 412 on the top floor and got a bit of a shock when we saw it. It was a twin room with 2 beds and just one beside cabinet. The room had one decent comfy chair with a glass coffee table so we had to move the coffee able next to one of the beds to allow for a bedside unit.||||It was rather strange that the room had no hooks to hand anything on so we had to hang our dressing gowns on the curtain poles to help dry them. We used our gowns to walk to the spa so there a little damp upon return hence needing to dry but in any event, there was also only 2 hooks in the shower area and these already had towels drying on them ! ||||The wardrobe had 8 hangers only so given we had booked for 4 nights, there was not really enough to be be able to use for coats for dressing gowns so we found that we had clothes hanging wherever we could possibly find ! ||||The bathroom is lovely but had only 2 hooks for towel drying. It had underfloor heating so we found ourselves drying wet clothes and towels literally on the floor !||||There is a Tassimo coffee machine but no tea making facilities and in any event, only expresso capsules which is not ideal for late evening so we had to use room service to get a cup of tea. || ||The hotel quotes as room with views of local area streets or of the glass roof of the restaurant. we could just about to see the restaurant roof !!||||The spa is very small and the pictures are quite deceiving of the relaxation area. This area has a sauna and steam room, a hottish bath (no bubbles) and a couple of showers. There is however one shower that you lie under and it gives various massages which was fab ! It has just 2 rocking chairs to sit on and if these are full already, as they were on my visit, then you do not have many other options once yo have used the showers and sauna. Overall though, it is just very small !||||The treatment rooms looked beautiful but we never used them. They are set against the rock walls so looked very atmospheric. ||||Breakfast is a set 3 course meal of appetizers, then a choice of 4 options mostly based on eggs, and then cakes as 3rd course. This just did not suit us and after 4 days of the same, we were disinterested and ate out on our last morning. I appreciate that others may have loved the style of breakfast. ||||On the one evening we were going to eat in the restaurant, we came down to the restaurant area to find that there was a function and so it was not possible to eat there. When I mentioned this at Reception, we were told that we could sit around the corner in a side area or we could return by 9pm and eat then. we just left the hotel and ate out. I would have liked the Hotel to post that there restaurant was not going to be available on the is particular night. ||||||Most of the staff we encountered where super nice and helpful & so I personally feel that it is was the physical hotel that lets the experience down for us on this occasion. ||||We would normally book all our trips from the hotel for pure ease and laziness but did find that we did not get much help from one particular Receptionist so on this occasion we went and found our own private trips which turned out to be excessively better costed that the hotel quoted so do bear this in mind. ||||My daughter and I generally take 2 luxury trips per trip and love a bit of luxury. I booked this trip for us to enjoy the Christmas markets, use the spa, have dinner etc, chill and so we had hoped to settle into the hotel nicely for 5 days/4 nights but on this occasion we found ourselves trying to spend as much time out of the hotel as we could. It simply lacks warmth...

We had a family dinner on our last night (of 4) in Krakow and decided to end it with a culinary blast. The arrival was disappointing. The person at reception looked at us as if we were aliens, and just pointed in a general direction. We waited at the entrance of the restaurant and were allowed to chose a table; nobody asked us if we had made a reservation (yet, when booking on line you get a notification that you will be charged a fine (you have to provide credit card details) if you don't show up).

The restaurant itself in fact is the hotel lobby so not cosy at all. A (very good) pianist is playing much too loud, again not improving the cosiness. No (white) table cloths on the table complete the sterile environment.

The food was really excellent, so congratulations to the chef and his team.

The service was friendly, however, being soft spoken in combination with the loud piano in the cavernous environment, resulted in one side of the table not hearing/understanding what was being served when the food was presented. Perhaps that is why they presented the food ad random from other sides of the table, which did not help either.

We took the suggested wines to go with the meal; they also were excellent. But again most of the presentation was lost in the ambient noise AND the sommelier should learn to wait for people to finish their conversation before presenting his wine, in stead of just budding in! Also when at one point you put (for some mysterious reason) 2 wine glasses on the table at the same time, then put the one you are going to use first up front, not behind the empty one.

Finally,he published menu was supposed to have a course with caviar; we never saw it, nor was this explained.

On a general note; as stated the food was excellent, but the tasting menu felt like a culinary marathon in stead of a 'promenade' with the time between courses being very few minutes.

So all in all, despite of the great food, an overall quite...

Such a lovely hotel but a few things just let it down from being a fab hotel. |The service and staff are first class and can’t do enough for you. |The breakfast and lunch are amazing first taste and value for money. |The spa is very relaxing but small and when Busy can get a bit noisy. |Our room 212 was lovely and plenty of space but missed some of the things a room needs. No mirror in the bedroom only in the bathroom, this makes getting ready in the evening really difficult. Only one very small draw to store those little items. The quilt was not big enough for the bed in fact did not reach the edges before you even get in meaning a bit of a tug of war during the night. No spy hole in the door so if a single traveler you have to open the door to see who is knocking. |The pillows were amazing as was the coffee machine and in room mini bar. Toiletries were L’Occtaine a really nice brand and included hair conditioner as a separate which is great. |The bathroom is a really good size with under floor heating and a large walk in shower which has fab water pressure. |Really old building and the oldest hotel in Krakow. |I would happily return to Krakow and stay here again. |Thank you Pod Roza hot making our first trip to...