Hotel Start - you'd be mad to dismiss it (Hotel Start (Krakow))

Member Name: fizzywizzy

Product:	Hotel Start (Krakow)
Date:	29/10/08 (250 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pretty cheap, good value buffet breakfast, quieter than hostels, good transport links

Disadvantages: A bus/tram ride from town, may get stag parties staying, too basic for some tastes

How did I come to stay at Hotel Start in Krakow?

When searching for a cheap weekend in Krakow I looked at Easyjet Holidays which offer a flight/hotel combination and which appeared to be quite good value. Of course, it wouldn't make my flight any cheaper but the policy of bulk-buying rooms means you do get a good deal on the accommodation.

The cheapest deal meant staying at Hotel Start; it's classed as a two star, though I tend to ignore star classifications as I don't find them that helpful when standards vary from country to country. I "googled" the hotel before booking and found their own website as well as a handful of reviews on Tripadvisor. The reviews on Tripadvisor were quite scathing but I don't give much value to them personally because I find the people posting them tend to have quite different expectations from my own; one reviewer said " It is easily the worst hotel, if you can call it a hotel that is, i have ever stayed in. They haven't even bothered to change the doors in rooms or redecorate any of it since its ex-mental hospital days. Rooms are a disaster and if your lucky you might get a padded door in yours!!!" Other reviews were less negative and I put my faith in those reviews and, finding nothing to dissuade me on the hotels website, I went ahead and booked.

I needed to know how to get from the airport to the hotel by public transport and e-mailed the hotel directly two days beforehand. A swift and friendly reply came within minutes with what turned out to be correct and simple instructions. The journey from the airport took approximately thirty minutes with one change of bus at the Cracovia stop. Buses stop almost outside the hotel and there are two tram stops within two minutes walk. From here you can get the edge of the Old Town in ten minutes, the buses and trams passing directly by the Wawel, then the Old Town and finally the main train station. It's really too far to walk if you are only staying for a short time.

Having seen a photograph of the hotel on line we knew what we were looking for. The hotel looks like an office block and, indeed, this is partly what it is since other companies occupy parts of the building. The hotel does not occupy every floor. A sign over the doorway of the building gives a hint to the former use of the building as a hospital for people with mental health problems. The reception area was clean and tidy with plenty of leaflets and useful notices like local bus timetables. A small selection of soft drinks, snacks and toiletries can be bought from reception. Two rather old sofas make up a comfortable waiting area and there is an internet point though it one of the expensive pay-per-minute ones. Generally the public areas and corridors were clean and well maintained if a bit dated and "institutional".

Check in was easy, the receptionist merely took photocopies of our passports rather than go through the time-consuming process of filling out forms and issued us with our room key. She explained that we could pay for breakfast in advance or on the spot, either at reception or at the counter in the restaurant. Breakfast costs 15 PLN per person which is quite expensive when you know that the "Chef's Special" for lunch or dinner costs only 9 PLN. However, as taking breakfast at the hotel is simple and convenient they probably reckon they have a captive audience.

Our room was on the first floor. We took the lift and followed the signs. The first thing we noticed when coming out of the lift was the delicious smell drifting from the hotel restaurant. This is open daily from 7.00am until 10.00pm and is where breakfast is served; in spite of our late arrival we decided to eat in town that evening but a glance at the menu did show that the meals in the restaurant are very cheap and are a mixture of traditional Polish stodge and classic European dishes.

The next thing to note was the strange squeaky noise underfoot; it sounded as if, to save time and effort, the carpet had been laid directly over old linoleum. The corridor was dimly lit as public areas tend to be in this part of the world. Oddly, it was much brighter the following evening.

Our room was basic but clean and contained everything we'd need for a two night stay. I was surprised to find that all rooms are en suite. The bathroom seemed quite new and everything was pristine. As the floor was tiled a bathmat in front of the shower might have been a good idea but other than that I could not fault the bathroom. Some guests might turn their noses up at the grey one ply toilet paper but at least there were two spare rolls. There were two decent bath towels which could have been changed daily had we wanted.

In the sleeping area there were twin beds; actually these were wooden box frames with a foam mattress on top but I found the bed quite comfortable. There were spare blankets but the bedding on the beds already was sufficiently warm. There was a feather pillow which I am allergic to so I asked at reception whether this could be swapped for a synthetic one. The receptionist said there was only one and only the housekeeper would know where it was and she would not be there till the next day. I had to make do with a blanket folded and put under the base sheet which worked adequately. I should really have contacted the hotel beforehand with my request so can't complain too much. The next evening when we returned after a day's sightseeing, a synthetic pillow had been provided.

There was a decent sized wardrobe, a desk, a good mirror and two chairs in the room. There was good lighting over the bed and the room was warm without being stifling. The only real issue I had was that the thin and shabby floor to ceiling curtains did not cover the whole window and let in a lot of light. As it didn't get light until almost eight o'clock this did not matter so much in the morning but there were bright lights outside the hotel which were lit up at night. A TV was situated on a bracket high up on the wall and had only Polish channels though we weren't interested in watching any television anyway.

I had feared that being so cheap and used predominantly for cheap breaks, this hotel might be noisy with stag groups in particular making a racket in the early hours. However, this was not the case and there was hardly any noise on either Friday or Saturday night.

We took breakfast in the hotel on both mornings. It's available between 7.00 and 10.00 am. We paid at reception and were given a voucher to present in the restaurant. When we went into the restaurant there were no staff visible so we chose a table and helped ourselves to the buffet. When the staff member arrived she saw we had a ticket although she did not take it from us. As tickets are dated, it wouldn't be possible to re-use it another day though I'm sure some people might try to pass it to others to use. We were feeling very honest and left it on the counter as we left.

The "restaurant" was really nothing more than a basic "breakfast room" - perfectly adequate for breakfasts with plenty of tables, light and airy with some nice framed photographs of the old Town on the walls, but not much character for a restaurant. However, in that respect it's fairly typical of eastern European 1970s and 1980s hotels.

There were cereals, different kinds of bread, cheese, cooked meats, pate, scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs , preserves, tomato and cucumber slices and a very sweet waffley-things containing sultanas. The second day there were spicy sausages instead of the waffles which was good as I had thought the waffles were savoury and filled with mushrooms which came as a shock when I had put my scrambled egg on top. There was tea and coffee and water that had been near orange juice at sometime. I thought that overall this was a good breakfast with something for everyone and was pretty good value.

We found all the staff we encountered at the hotel friendly and helpful. All the reception staff spoke excellent English. We were able to get local transport information (before we learned there were timetables on the notice-board) and staff also advised us of the quickest walking route into town.

There's not a great deal in the area but there is a mammoth Tesco 24 hour hypermarket beside the hotel if you need any emergency purchases. There we no bars or restaurants in the immediate locality. There is free parking in the hotel's private car park. This is kept locked in the evenings so you need to get a member of staff to open it by remote control.

If you like luxurious hotels this is obviously not going to be the hotel for you. However, I prefer to save my money for some good meals out and - in Poland - buying lots of amber jewellery! Although we paid for the whole flight/accommodation package a glance at the hotel website tells me that a twin room costs 160 PLN (£34.62) in the low season (beg inning of November to the end of March) and 200 PLN (£43.67) in the high season (beginning April to end of October and all of December).

Prices for single occupancy and other room sizes can be found on the hotel website.

What I liked about this hotel was that it offered basic hostel-like accommodation without having to stay in a dorm or in a place teeming with teenage backpackers or stag groups. Possibly the lack of stag groups is down to the location. If you are happy enough to tackle public transport or don't mind taking a taxi (the fare to the Old Town should be around 15 PLN, £3.24), Hotel Start is not a bad option.

I would recommend shopping around for day trips and tours although the hotel does advertise them; the prices seemed expensive to me and with so many companies offering tours to the Salt Mines at Wieliczka and the Auschwitz concentration camp it would be a good idea to compare prices before committing.

Hotel Start may not be the most stylish hotel in Krakow but it does offer very good value. You'll notice in the Old Town and Kazimierez quarters especially that there are lots of hotels but that does not make prices very competitive. If you don't mind the short amount of travelling, you find Hotel Start good value for basic accommodation.

The online reviews don't tell the whole story; yes, there are padded doors on some of the rooms but that's nothing to do with the building's former life as a mental health instutition; the padded doors are to muffle the noise from the corridors and act as insulation; you find this in lots of eastern European and Russian hotels and inside people's houses too. Look past the decor and the hotel exterior and try Hotel Start for a cheap and quiet getaway.

http://www.hotelstart.com.pl/index.php?lang=en&am p;id=home

Currency conversions from
http://www.xe.com/ (20.10.08)

Summary: Cheap and fairly cheerful Krakow hotel