Radisson Blu Hotel, Krakow — Hotel in Krakow

Mixed feelings about this property …. Oksana was the highlight of our stay, she was wonderful and the front desk checkin and response was anything but

“The gift has been given, so the answer is NO…..”

Upon getting to our room for seven Nights, the Welcome Note and gift of white wine and chocolate were a nice greeting and gesture for being VIP however the chocolate was spoiled/ beyond expiration date and we are red wine drinkers. I asked at the front desk if I may exchange the white wine for red and was told no, the gift was already given and if I wish to have red wine I can buy a bottle at the bar. And that the next time we stay to make a note that we only drink red wine. After one day, we can tell you there won’t be a next time because I don’t want someone to mouth off to me that the gift was already given. That really set the tone for our first and lasting impression. In all the years we’ve traveled I’ve never experienced this. A gift has to have some value to the customer otherwise it’s worthless.

Another incident that shows the attitude of this hotel is as a VIP member, I was given a free drink coupon upon check in. When I said I am here with my husband I was told he needs to give them his email in order to get a drink coupon also. So I guess I will be drinking alone.

What was very impressive is we had contacted them before arrival and they responded right away about receiving an important package for us and at checkin it was in our reservation about that and we were handed the package right away. We were also upgraded to a nice suite for our seven nights stay. That was great.

The shining light here for the past week has been Oksana! For 6 days straight she was so welcoming and friendly each morning at breakfast and very professional. The staff here can all learn from her. No one else was like this. Unfortunately one exemplary person here is not enough to bring us back. There were a few issues and though management did address one right away, the negative impression was already set.

On a more positive note, there were many features we did enjoy. The Breakfast area had two tea stations with a selection of organic herbal and caffeinated teas, as well as two coffee stations that even made decaffeinated coffee which we really appreciated.

The gluten free dark chocolate brownies and chocolate balls were fabulous, a special treat each morning thank you pastry chef! And the cream cheese herb spread was delicious as was the savory loaf of bread with butter. When the Fried eggs were cooked to our liking, they were great but it was inconsistent.

The Prosecco was a nice touch in the VIP section and the tiny vases of pine and ribbon with the red candles made the table quite festive. We enjoyed that very much!

The gym, though old equipment, had everything I needed to have a good workout each day.

The Upgraded executive suite ( thank you for that) with expansive views was great to wake up in and see the sky and full...

We contacted the hotel prior to our arrival that we would be traveling with an infant and a young toddler, and would require a nanny or babysitter during part of our stay for our toddler. We wanted to see Auschwitz and the Salt Mines, and the toddler should not accompany us to Auschwitz. We were assured that the hotel works with an agency and we would have a nanny available.

We were informed the day before our arrival that no nanny was available, which was too late to reschedule our vacation. The hotel provided a website to another nanny service, but did not set anything up. Not speaking Polish, I could not either. This is incredibly disappointing, and meant that I could not see Auschwitz while in Poland. I ended up having to carry my toddler during our entire tour of the Salt Mines, which was very tiring.

The room was not prepared for our arrival, as we requested 2 cribs. We had to go back to reception to request the cribs.

The air conditioning was not on when we arrived. It was very hot that day, so it was disappointing to walk into such a warm room.

The refrigerator was not functional in our room upon arrival. One of our children's medication requires refrigeration. We contacted the front desk 3 separate times requesting the refrigerator to be fixed and explaining the situation. It took over 24 hours for the refrigerator to be repaired. No alternative location for our son's medication was offered. Our son's medication expired. We were fortunate to have brought a backup supply for our stay, though now we must pay additional prescription medication costs and explain to our son's physician what happened to get a new prescription written.

We had to request housekeeping on one of the days of our stay 2 separate times, specifically to empty the waste bins. We didn't even bother asking for a refreshment of the coffee pods in the room, because it appeared as though simpler tasks were skipped and we needed the waste bins emptied desperately.

The bed was very hard. It reminded me of the time I had to sleep on a cement slab in a sleeping bag. My back is very sore from my stay.

We were expecting more from a hotel after paying for the suite with the old city view. The view of Wawel Hill was fine, though having so many issues really hampered our ability to enjoy ourselves in Krakow for our vacation. Because of this, we cannot recommend this hotel to anyone who has medications that might need refrigeration, or a family traveling that needs help with childcare during part of the stay. The other items might be something that could be overlooked, but these two major problems really give me pause...

I'll start off by saying we spent 2 weeks in Poland traveling to various cities. We stayed at Radisson Blu Hotels in 4 other cities. I would recommend all of them except this one. Right off the bat, don't use the website's photos as an example of what you will get. We were initially impressed when we entered the lobby - it was new, clean and modern like the two prior one's we stayed at days before. That's where it ended. Getting off the elevator onto our floor was like stepping out of a time machine. The hallway smelled like a damp finished basement with musty carpets. Our room, which they had the audacity to categorize and charge as "premium", was literally like a college dorm from the 80's. Worn carpet, aged furniture and unsightly open-framed shelving and closets - you could see the rickety ironing board in plain sight. The shower was a tub/shower combo and didn't have that large step-in luxury shower feel like the other Blu's. It was Summer and the joke of an air conditioner allowed itself to be set to 19 Celsius (66 F) and would actually cycle off as if it reached its setting but the room never fell below 22 C (72 F) as taken by a thermometer built into our luggage scale. It was barely cool air so the room was stuffy and uncomfortable. My wife who speaks fluent Polish let the reception desk know and asked for someone to take a look at it. They were polite, but they kept assuming we didn't know how to operate it and said they will have the maintenance team remotely set it to the lowest setting, which was exactly where it was at 19 C and it continued to be barely cool. They didn't follow through or follow up. After 3 nights, we moved on anyway. The added "buffet" breakfast was not upscale and nothing more than a typical offering of a few breakfast trays of runny eggs, local breakfast meats, other local foods and cold cuts, pastries and a waffle iron. The previous Blu's we stayed at had classier, more upscale local offerings and an omelet station. It was not all bad...the location was very convenient - walking distance from Wawel Cathedral, Old Town Square, the riverfront and other local sites. Overall, while it was aged and slightly uncomfortable it wasn't abysmal. We generally do not spend much time in the hotel, so we decided to deal with it for a few nights. But I would double-check these things prior to booking when we visit the city again. Shout-out to the other great Radisson...