Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Accor

  • Warsaw – Ibis Warszawa Ostrobramska

    Warsaw – Ibis Warszawa Ostrobramska

    I stayed at this hotel twice over the last month, once for one night and once for four nights. I also had to delay writing this review until I spoke to Accor customer services, as the hotel’s manager entirely confused me. Although the hotel has given the blog a new tag-line.

    My first visit was mildly confused as the room they gave me wasn’t ready, although fortunately a cleaner stopped me en route and helpfully referred me back to reception. She was very polite, but I was in no hurry so I walked back to reception and thought that I’d enjoy the welcome drink. Little did I know incidentally about the later welcome drink debacle.

    The only beer available was Zywiec and this was under-poured. But, since it’s Zywiec, I wasn’t too bothered. The staff member was very apologetic about the room mix-up and I was offered the food menu, which I decided against, but I thought that the staff had been so polite that I’d dine here on my return visit.

    The bottled water and a chocolate. I wasn’t sure whether this was in every room or it was a welcome gift, but either way, it was all very nice.

    The room, which I’m entirely content with. On the Ibis room matter I posted excessively about, I’ve been moderately relieved to hear from Accor that their plans are being tempered, so we’ll have to see what happens with the future of Ibis rooms and their modernisation programme.

    The breakfast room, which is also where meals are served in the afternoon and evening.

    The breakfast selection, cold meats, cheeses and there are some hot items available as well.

    Right, but now onto the second visit, which started fine and all was well.

    About once a year, I get bad service at a pub, restaurant or hotel. It’s incredibly rare for me to experience, something like 1 every 150 visits or so. And, I try and be sympathetic as I don’t know why I’ve received poor service, it could be that the staff member has received some bad news, they’re tired from working hard or something which is entirely relatable. I’ve never previously poor service in Poland, on all my tens of trips, this was the first.

    I’ve also spent the last 31 days non-stop in Accor hotels, so I thought it’d be interesting to try the food at an Ibis hotel, and as mentioned above, I had intended to eat here as the staff member had been friendly on the previous occasion. I was also conscious that the Accor member of staff I had spoken to at their Head Office had said they’d monitor my experiences, which is almost certainly something said to shut me up, but I like to please. Ibis run with the same menu across Poland, but I haven’t had anything from it for a couple of years and it’s nice to see how things develop.

    On a different note, I was pleased to receive this drinks voucher which is new marketing as part of Accor’s switch to the ALL loyalty programme. This differed from the previous voucher I had received at this hotel and, experienced as I might be with Accor vouchers, I hadn’t seen this one.

    Just as an aside on this, there are plenty of drinks vouchers out there and hotels vary in what they offer. They don’t have to be really generous and offer nearly any drink, but some do and they’d use the voucher on the right. Some are more limited, they put on the voucher to check the drinks at the bar, it’s a more limited list. They’re equally common and both are used in Poland. I don’t much care which is used, it’s a little gesture, I don’t assume that I’m going to get the most delicious craft beer.

    Anyway, back to being pleased with Accor’s drinks voucher for this hotel. I thought I’d opt for a Zywiec Porter and a burger from the main menu, perhaps buying another drink later on. This plan was all going swimmingly, until I got to the bar.

    The barman ignores me and my hello in Polish, but I put that down to the translation issue that I can’t speak the local language very well and clearly they can. Sometimes I get that a staff member can’t speak English and it’s no doubt frustrating for them. Anyway, he clearly doesn’t want to serve any customers, offering someone else before me a less than polite service, and by this stage he seemed entirely irate at me and ignored me for a little while before serving me. Unfortunately, the barman decided that I must be stupid and he made that very clear. His behaviour didn’t credit his hotel, but we’ll put that down to factors that I have no knowledge of. But, staff sneering at customers isn’t a good look.

    A relatively large number of my friends don’t like going to restaurants or bars on their own, they find it difficult. I’ve long stopped since caring about these matters for me, but I do always ponder how it would affected friends that would have built up confidence to order at a bar. Conscious that customer service staff are on the receiving end of all manner of abuse, I’ll assume that this barman was having a bad day, but it was some of the worst customer service that I’ve seen and exceptionally rare for Poland.

    But, I’m not going to deal with anyone who sneers at customers so I opted for a Pepsi to take to my room, and abandoned my plan to order food. However, I did e-mail the hotel from upstairs (how very British of me, although I did this as I didn’t want any service recovery, I thought that I was being helpful) and query their bloody voucher as without that, I’d have probably never encountered the poor service and I’d have instead happily ordered food. To cut a very long story short, they are defining “any drink other than champagne or spirits” as “any small beer, wine or soft drink”. So, it’s not any drink other than champagne or spirits, indeed, it’s a tiny choice from what they offer paying customers. And, really, the hotel management is blaming Orbis (the company who run Accor hotels in Poland) for giving them the voucher to give out. The management seemed to think it was fine to just hand the voucher out, not mention any limitations, let customers sit down in the restaurant and then mention at this stage the voucher isn’t being honoured. Why on earth try and turn the positivity of a free welcome drink into a negative, I’m unsure.

    This situation confused me, and I decided that I must be an idiot and that the hotel manager was perhaps entirely correct. However, I spoke to Accor customer service, and they replied that the hotel should stop using that voucher and I should tell the hotel manager. At this point, I realised I had done enough to reassure myself that the hotel was at fault, so I just left it. I didn’t tell them that it was the hotel manager that decided the voucher was correct.

    But, moving on to my thoughts about the hotel generally. The staff at breakfast and the cleaning staff were all friendly and polite, the hotel was spotlessly clean and there were no noise problems either internally or externally. There’s not much point in trying to re-evaluate my entire experience because the member of bar staff sneered at me, but nonetheless, I can’t help thinking that the manager’s decision to give customers a voucher which told them they could get any drink, and then decide that this meant “any drink from a list” was really to blame here. But, such things are up to them, and I was otherwise happy with the hotel. It’s located a little way from the centre of Warsaw, but there are frequent trams which stop just a few minutes away, so it’s not an inconvenient location given that. The prices can also be a little cheaper than the city centre Ibis hotels because of its location.

  • Bialystok – Ibis Styles

    Bialystok – Ibis Styles

    This has been one of my favourite hotels, although it wasn’t a subtle Ibis Styles, it was an enormous bulk of a building towering over the shopping centre which it’s attached to.

    The view from my room over central Bialystok, which I very much liked. It also had large windows which made gazing out of the view much easier. The air conditioning and room heating worked to my satisfaction and the wi-fi was also fast and efficient.

    A room with a desk and chair, something which certain Ibis room designers would be horrified by. I’m not sure why I booked a twin room, I can only imagine that either it was all that was available, or that I’m an idiot. There was effectively no internal or external noise disturbance, this felt a particularly well constructed building to manage to avoid such noise leakage.

    I thought the water and biscuits were welcome gifts, but they were generally restocked every day, so they might be a standard offering. Anyway, a nice touch.

    Every Ibis Styles has a theme, something I think is a really positive idea, giving lots of design options to play with and giving it an element of uniqueness. I’ve had Ibis Styles focused around the Romans and space, with this hotel going for birds.

    The drinks voucher.

    And the drink I went for. I’m not sure that they had any darker beers, although the staff member had a look for some options and although this was a lighter option, it was something different to Zywiec.

    The hotel provides free coffee and tea at all times, they’re available at a little desk near to the reception area.

    Part of the salad offering at breakfast.

    Fruit.

    They had waffles that guests could make, although I’m not too engaged with that, but these are the toppings for those or for the pancakes, which I’m also not that engaged with…. They did though have a coffee machine which also did some rather excellent hot chocolate.

    And there were cereals to be had as well. The breakfast area was never that busy and it was kept spotlessly clean by the staff. They were a bit overwhelmed on the Saturday and didn’t seem to be restocking food very efficiently, but on the other four days it was all kept fully stocked.

    The prices for this hotel are reasonable, something usually around £35 to £40 per night, although my room was around £27 per night including breakfast as part of an Accor offer. The staff were always friendly, the public areas were clean and it’s a centrally located hotel just a short walk from the city.

  • Accor Hotels – New Ibis Rooms

    Accor Hotels – New Ibis Rooms

    Further to my post about the new Ibis rooms…..

    I’ve been looking into this a bit today, such is the joys of train travel and spare time. So, Ibis have launched some new hotels with their concept, the one I think is dated and won’t meet the needs of younger guests and business guests. The new social hub thing is brilliant, on trend, although they probably need to speed up the roll-out of coffee shops or craft beer elements to the ground floor, to bring in more non customers. Their desire to get people into their social spaces, both guests and visitors, is ahead of the curve.

    But, back to the rooms. The real danger with commenting is that any individual only ever does so from their own perspective, so without the big data that the company themselves have. Sometimes the company know a change will be unpopular, but they can see that it’s working on a wider basis, so it’s worth persisting with.

    Ibis have already rolled out their new room to a few hotels, so there are some numbers which we can see already.

    This is their new flagship, the Ibis Tallinn Center, with the new room design since the outset. And, that figure isn’t looking good. What Ibis called their most modern and innovative room, in a sparkling new hotel with everything shiny and contemporary, is scoring a 3.4 out of 5. That’s low, very low, it’s about the same as the reviews for their cheapest of brands, Ibis Budget. The raw figure is also worse than it looks, as some guests really like the new room design, so they’re going to mark that higher than they normally would, so there must be some very negative opinions amongst the other reviewers. I found 26 negative reviews about the lack of desk, none of which the hotel addressed directly.

     

    If we look at two hotels I’ve stayed in over the last couple of weeks, with the old Ibis design, they’re scoring at 4.0 out of 5 and 3.7 out of 5. Taking into account that these rooms are older, these should be scoring a fair bit under their flagship hotels.

    The problem is that Accor’s press team hasn’t mentioned on-line their new room design since mid-2019, after a huge burst of publicity. They have though mentioned quite a lot about their new Greet concept, which has rooms which are modern, contemporary and quirky. I have no idea why they haven’t run with the Greet room design for their Ibis hotels, or the Ibis Styles concept.

    This is a Greet hotel which opened at around the same time the Ibis in Tallinn opened, with their room score 4.1.

    Based on this, I’m going to have a guess here that the Ibis rollout of rooms is amended in 2020, to bring the rooms back to some form of comfort and modernity…..

  • Warsaw – Ibis Warszawa Stare Miasto

    Warsaw – Ibis Warszawa Stare Miasto

    This is the seventh Accor hotel in Warsaw that I’ve stayed in over the last couple of years, and the fifth this month, and it’s also the one I’ve liked the least and the only one that I wouldn’t stay at again. I posted separately about how Ibis are seemingly moving away from what I personally would like, with this hotel being the cause of that post.

    Irritatingly though, for an Ibis hotel, the breakfast, the welcome and the design of the public areas was well ahead of the curve for the brand. The public areas do have that community feel, although they need to go further, whether it’s by implementing some form of coffee shop or some form of specialism, such as my own favourite of craft beer. The first impressions for guests at this hotel is, I’d imagine, a really positive one as it’s airy, bright and contemporary in style.

    I’ve already posted that I don’t like the room, I think it looks dated, although it’s the lack of functionality that is primarily why I don’t like it. There used to be a lovely desk and chair under that window. Ibis used to be proud of that, in the booking confirmation for this stay it even mentions “a large desk”.

    Incidentally, the room does still have a door, this hasn’t been removed yet. In terms of cleanliness, it was spotless, with the bathroom feeling modern and contemporary. This also isn’t the brand standard for the new room that Accor sent to me last year, all three of their room designs had desks in, albeit not as large as I’d personally like, so I’m not sure why at this stage they’ve changed.

    The room’s climbing frame and play area. As an aside, the bed was very comfortable. Although since there’s no chair now, I suppose it has to be.

    Just as my opinion, this is a really poor design, I’m conscious that a couple of airport lounges introduced these, then had to take them back out again. Anyone with an adapter, so the USA, the UK, much of Asia and the like, may struggle as they’re recessed. That leaves one power point in the room. I don’t understand why they can’t just keep things simple and have a power socket on the wall that everyone can use. Design improvements are meant to make things easier, not present the guest with more difficulties.

    I digress slightly, but a few years ago, Marriott hotels had this marvellous idea that they’d take the desk out of hotel rooms. They claimed this was what the younger generation wanted, that guests didn’t want formal desks, they wanted informality and they could always sit on their bed with their laptop or just use public spaces. It was a little bit of a PR nightmare for the company and the policy was scrapped during the fit-out process, it had misunderstood the needs of millennials, let alone everyone else. I’m also pretty confident that in a year’s time that Accor will be doing the same, saying that they’re evolving the room design by re-implementing larger desks.

    Anyway, back to my normal drivel, this is the welcome drink voucher. The check-in process was seamless, the staff member particularly engaging and everything felt clean and modern. I’m pleased to note that this hotel still has a check-in desk, although Ibis are apparently ditching them so that customers have to queue up at the bar. I have no idea how Accor have come to the impression that this is a great idea, although they have access to far more customer data than I ever will, so I’m sure they’ve got good reason. Although, I still think customers want to be receive a proper welcome from a staff member at the check-in desk, they often don’t want to check-in at a computer, or by trying to find a member of bar staff padding around with a device to check them in.

    This is the standard beer offered by Ibis as a free gift, all acceptable if not particularly exciting.

    And a lovely touch, very much appreciated.

    For a few seconds I wondered what was going on here, but it’s just the floor being protected whilst they go through ruining the rooms with the new design.

    Breakfast was much better than the standard Ibis fare, I’m not sure why they’re going further than the brand standard. My Polish friends know what I think of smalec, but it’s a delicacy which it’s good to see for those who want to try it. The range of cold meats isn’t the usual Ibis standard either, it’s much better, which I very much approve of, with a wider selection of breads.

    All told, and excluding what I personally consider to be a dysfunctional room, this is one of the best Ibis hotels that I’ve been to. The cleanliness, staff friendliness and attempt at localisation at breakfast are all really positive, although I’m always easy to please by giving me free chocolate. But, a desk and chair in the room is essential for me, if not for others, so this is a hotel I won’t be revisiting.

  • Ibis – New Room Designs of Agora and Plaza – My End of the Road?….

    Ibis – New Room Designs of Agora and Plaza – My End of the Road?….

    Accor did send me last year photos of their new room concepts, which I thought looked faintly ridiculous, but I hoped that they’d be toned down. This is the first time today that I’ve seen the new Agora room design, and it’s probably the most dysfunctional room I’ve been in at any chain hotel.

    I don’t much like the design, it feels too old-fashioned to me, but that’s a matter of personal taste of which I’m not too bothered about. I spend enough nights in Ibis Budget to not worry about such fripperies. But the new room design has removed the desk that was in every single room, and taken away the comfortable chair to be replaced with one for a child. There’s also some weird 1970s effect on the ceiling that looks like artexing at first, does everything have to be aimed at the older generation in terms of general room design?

    I’d add that Agora is one of three room designs being rolled out, with each hotel being able to choose which one they want. The other two, Plaza and Square, are less ridiculous, but I can’t say I find either of these particularly engaging either, although they do appear to have at least some form of desk.

    The whole thing looks like a throw back to the 1970s, clunky and extraneous. The next problem for me is that there’s now just one plug socket in the room which is on a wall. I accept there are two in a new strip panel, but anyone with an adapter can’t use them as they’re recessed. I have no idea what bright spark thought that one up, but a plug socket on the wall is fine with me, they don’t need to be modernised.

    But, Ibis have decided to make some other changes. They want music to be at the heart of everything that they do, which isn’t going to end well. We had the situation where they shut the bar and restaurant of their Kielce hotel so a band could play. Music isn’t in my view their answer if they want to bring people together, they need to create areas which are focused around on-trend features such as craft beer or elements that get people talking, even if that’s just a coffee shop. If hotels want to capture the digital nomads (a horrible phrase, but Accor have used it) then they need to be on-trend, not move away from modernity. And, they’ve decided to take away reception desks and get customers to check-in at the bar. Muddled and fiddly, why can’t customers just talk to a staff member at the reception desk?

    But the most confusing thing about all of this is that I’m meant to be the customer that the Ibis brand is now targeting. A customer who uses them frequently, who would use their public spaces when not staying with them, who travels so much that they do a lot of work whilst in the hotel, but who also finds joint public spaces highly beneficial to productivity. So, Accor have come in with a new concept that is meant to appeal to people like me, but they’ve delivered something which seems to be primarily aimed at pensioners who don’t work in the room and like design throwbacks.

    All rather disappointing, since Accor are planning to have this concept rolled out in all of their hotels by 2022. Since I’m heading towards being Accor Platinum in a few weeks, I do feel slightly loyal to the Accor brand, but I’ll be looking to switch down to Ibis Budget or stay in Mercure instead. My custom is of little relevance to them as just one person, but what’s most frustrating is their design brief seems to describe me as their target market. Their statement that:

    “According to Ipsos, 80 per cent of respondents want new hotels to be social venues which accommodate both hotel and non-hotel guests. Ibis is therefore keen on transforming its lobbies into social hubs, where guests can relax, dine, meet and work. New food and beverage propositions will also be introduced to attract external customers as well as hotel guests.”

    Is entirely right, social venues and joint working is absolutely the future. Perhaps having a room with a desk and power points that are accessible might be a good starting point though.

  • Kielce – Ibis Centrum

    Kielce – Ibis Centrum

    Located a short walk from the city centre, and interestingly for me in what was once the city’s Jewish ghetto during the Second World War, this is a modern building. The welcome at the reception area was prompt and polite, with the staff member setting a friendly first tone.

    My room had its own mini corridor, very nice. Not that I could do much with that space, but it made the room feel a bit quieter.

    And the welcome gold amenity, very nicely done and this pleased me greatly.

    I was here for three nights and did do this for one day, earning 100 Accor points.

    The breakfast area, which is also where meals are served throughout the day and that’s the bar area on the right. It was never very busy. I’m not sure that the hotel needs such a visible car rental area though, it’s the first thing that customers see when entering and it’s not very subtle.

    The teas, coffees and juices are on the left hand side.

    Breads, croissants, apple pie and jams.

    Fruit, salad and hot dog accompaniments.

    Very lovely.

    The welcome drink, the staff member helpfully told me that I could have a darker beer, but she took the bottle and so I don’t know exactly what it was. It tasted fine though, it’s a nice change from the standard Zywiec.

    Without being rude to the band or hotel, this simply didn’t work as far as I’m concerned. The hotel knocked out its bar and restaurant for the evening, disturbing every single one of its customers (I know this as I was the only customer in the bar, and had to leave quicker than I wanted). The hotel is meant to be promoting its restaurant and it can’t do that by shutting it to put a band on. I know it’s all part of Ibis’s engagement with music, but I’m not sure that was how the concept was meant to work, shutting restaurants and bars in order to put very loud music on. Anyway, as a positive, it was nice of the hotel to engage with a band and try something different, as innovation is the key as they say. I’m not sure who says that, but I’m sure that someone does.

    The hotel was clean throughout and everything was well managed, although it always felt quiet (other than when the band was playing, which I could hear on the fourth floor). The sound proofing seemed effective, as there was no noise disturbance either internally or externally (other than the band) and the staff were always friendly and helpful. The air conditioning that the hotel use is though inadequate and would ideally be better, although it’s frequently not that good in Ibis hotels. Anyway, all told, all very lovely given that the room and breakfast was under £25 per night.

  • Torun – Ibis Budget

    Torun – Ibis Budget

    This Ibis Budget hotel, one of the cheaper brands in the Accor hierarchy, is located around a six-minute walk from the city centre. It’s in a relatively quiet area, with car parking available for those who need such things.  The welcome from the staff member at check-in was warm, personable and helpful, so my first impressions were all positive.

    The room is basic, but was clean and well maintained. I was here for seven nights and the room was kept well stocked throughout that time. There aren’t hot drink facilities in the room, but hot drinks can be purchased cheaply at reception. There’s a vending machine as well for those guests who want some healthy chocolate based snacks.

    The breakfast room. The staff didn’t check whether guests had paid for breakfast, but I can’t imagine many people would try and avoid paying the small sum which is charged. As with the other parts of the hotel, it was spotlessly clean.

    I’m not personally particularly engaged with the cold meat selection provided by Ibis and Ibis Budget hotels in Poland, it has a watery texture and bland taste. But, I can’t much blame the hotel for that and the staff laid out everything carefully and ensured that it was well stocked.

    The cereals option was limited, but there were rolls and hot sausages available. There were orange and apple juices, as well as coffee and an excellent selection of teas. It was all very decent value for money and there were always seats available.

    Apologies to the hotel for ploughing through their pickles during the week, but I’m moderately addicted to them.

    The staff were friendly without exception, this is clearly a welcoming environment and a well managed hotel. The cost of this stay was £70 for seven nights, including breakfast, which is a ludicrously low sum. All very lovely indeed and another very positive Accor experience.

  • Gdansk – Ibis Gdańsk Stare Miasto

    Gdansk – Ibis Gdańsk Stare Miasto

    The city’s relatively new Ibis hotel, somewhat in the shadow of its sister hotel in the background, the Mercure Gdansk. The hotel has a feeling of being modern and contemporary, in terms of its decor, atmosphere and the attitude of the staff. It also has that set-up of not really having a reception desk, the whole check-in process is managed within the public seating area of the hotel. I’m still not convinced by this, judging by the number of hotels reversing this trend, I’m not sure it’s the ideal first welcome.

    The room was the usual Ibis design, all clean and comfortable.

    The welcome gift, which were caramel peanuts and they were very lovely. There were also quite a lot more than the packaging might have suggested. They’re in a presentation box specially made for the hotel and it seemed a shame to throw it away, but I have enough things to carry about already.

    The view from the room.

    The welcome drink, which was Żywiec, poured in the continental style. As usual, it tasted as it was meant to and was at the appropriate temperature.

    The restaurant and breakfast area. I didn’t see many people dining in the restaurant, it must be a challenge given that it’s not a large hotel and there are also no shortage of nearby dining options.

    The breakfast croissants and rolls, along with apples, which at times seemed to be everywhere. On the first day there was also apple pie, which was a decent addition, although that wasn’t out on the second morning. The choice of bread and rolls also deteriorated on the second morning that I was there.

    More of the breakfast options.

    The meats, cheeses and salads. I’m not entirely convinced by the meat which Ibis use throughout Poland, it isn’t the best of quality and is bland to the point of, I think, being pointless. The hot options here looked unappealing and the bread selection was a little weak compared to normal. The butter was frustrating, it’s the first Accor hotel I’ve been at where they’ve got a huge slab of it and a knife to slice bits off, although in practical terms, it’s not ideal as the plate makes it impossible to cut from the edge, only along the top. I’d rather they did what their other hotels did and just have pre-cut sections of butter. There were dollops of mackerel in a paste which I had high hopes for, but these were riven with bones of a length that I didn’t particularly want to eat, so that went uneaten. It was all fine, but below the usual Ibis quality, although it was well presented.

    The staff here were always friendly and helpful, although the hotel didn’t feel particularly busy at any stage. There were no noise disturbances either internally or externally, although the church bells rang every hour during the evening which I rather liked. The room wasn’t fully restocked on the second day, an omission which was mildly irritating, but not exactly a problem of any particular measure.

    The cost of this room was under £30 including breakfast, which was quite marvellous given that it’s a hotel in the centre of Gdansk and just a five-minute walk from the Old Town. There was a friendly environment, a clean room and I liked the welcome gift. I’ve stayed at several hotels in Gdansk over the years and this is certainly one of the best.

  • Warsaw – Ibis Warsaw Reduta

    Warsaw – Ibis Warsaw Reduta

    My second Ibis hotel in Warsaw of this week, this is located around a thirty-minute walk from the city centre, in the Ochota district. There’s also an Ibis Budget on the same site, although on this occasion, I’m in the Ibis itself.

    This is what all the other doors in the corridor looked like.

    I mention that, as this is what the door to my room looked like.

    And, then it became obvious, this room had a travel theme.

    A little globe clock.

    A themed bathroom door.

    A large map on the wall.

    And an explanation of the concept. What a lovely idea.

    The view from the room over the neighbouring Ibis Budget and beyond. My Accor profile is set to ask for a room high up in the building (I’ve decided the views are more important than any minor risk of fires) and away from elevators, which was met perfectly here.

    The drinks voucher.

    Only a small Zywiec was included at this Ibis, but it tasted as it was meant to. The bar area isn’t in my view designed as well as some others in the Ibis chain, with too many low tables, with the restaurant area being busy.

    The breakfast room, which is also used as the hotel’s restaurant later on in the day.

    Apple pie was available for breakfast in the morning.

    The salad and cold meats selection. There were also hot dogs, cereals and pastries available, along with a range of drinks including juices, teas and coffees. Everything was kept well stocked and staff members were wandering around cleaning away empty trays. Everything was clean, tidy and organised, with a staff member diligently checking the room numbers of every guest.

    One thing that I thought was positive was that breakfast was available from 04:00 onwards, with the main food selection being served at 06:30. I didn’t arrive until after that latter time, but I was surprised that they had food ready that early in the morning. Until I saw this review:

    “In the elevator was a notice with the breakfast times, 0400 to 0630 early risers, 0630 to 1000 buffet, 1000 to 1200 late risers. I needed to leave the hotel on my last morning early, so decided that I would go down for the early risers. I realized it would only be coffee, perhaps a roll and some juice. What a surprise when I arrived at 600am, the total breakfast room was in darkness. I asked the front desk clerk where the breakfast was for the early risers. He replied that for the early riser breakfast this had to be pre-arranged the day/night before. What? I told him there was no notice in the elevator explaining this, no communication in the room regarding this or even in the breakfast room.”

    If that’s the case, this guest is entirely right, that was communicated badly by the hotel, as I wouldn’t have thought it required a prior reservation. The hotel’s response was a little vague on the matter as well. Anyway, I didn’t have any problems with breakfast and I liked that it was never too busy, so it was easy to find a seat. The hotel is though otherwise well reviewed, there are very few negative comments about its operation.

    Overall, this hotel was reasonably priced and it is within walking distance of the city centre, or there’s a nearby tram line for those with luggage. All of the staff were friendly and helpful, with absolutely no noise disturbances either internally or externally. The room temperature was also easy to control, primarily as I could open the window, something which seems to be beyond the wit of some hotels….

  • Warsaw – Ibis Warsaw Centrum

    Warsaw – Ibis Warsaw Centrum

    I have quite a few stays in Warsaw planed for the next few weeks, this is the first of them in a hotel located around a 20-minute walk from the old town of the city. The welcome was friendly and engaging, with the staff member speaking perfect English.

    The bar area, which didn’t shut until 01:00, with food being served until around 23:00.

    To keep things simple, which I like, the hotel has listed the drinks which are included with the voucher for members of the loyalty scheme. The complimentary beer options were though extremely limited, although I suspect that this will start to gradually change over the next few years. There is a wider selection of beers on the regular drinks menu, but it’s still relatively limited.

    I went for the Żywiec, which took a little longer than expected as the barrel needed changing, but it tasted like it was meant to.

    The room, which was clean and comfortable with everything working as it should. It was on the sixth floor, so my usual plan to use the stairs was partly abandoned.

    The welcome amenity, fruit and breadsticks.

    The breakfast area.

    The salad items, although it’s the pickles which I particularly like.

    The breakfast area didn’t feel busy, even at what was probably one of their busier times of the morning, so all very relaxed. There were hot dog sausages, cold meats, cold cheeses, breads, cereals and machines serving coffees and juices.

    The only minor flaw I found with the hotel was they hadn’t cleaned the room by around 17:00 when I got back, although there was some clattering about outside a few minutes later, so I don’t think they’d forgotten and it was just being down later on. At this juncture, I put the privacy sign on the door so as to avoid traipsing downstairs whilst they cleaned the room (it’s very awkward trying to sit in a room being cleaned, as it’s near impossible not to be in the way). Although, if I had known this in advance, I’d have left the privacy sign up throughout the day and claimed the 100 Accor points which are available for guests who don’t want the room cleaned.

    I thought I’d have a little look on TripAdvisor for some of the more intriguing reviews. This one amused me:

    “Although we believed this was rated as 4* it was in fact no better than a hostel. The clue was a table football machine in the lobby. The room was clean but small and very basic. I towel per guest. No soap. Minute sized single pillows.
    Breakfast was adequate but overpriced. The staff in the main were helpful. It is situated on a semi main road by the side of tram tracks and therefore can be noisy. There are no facilities close other than a small supermarket next door and a bar within walking distance.. For what is offered this is too expensive. The clincher was the free bottled water but without a bottle opener.”

    Must have been galling for the staff to read this, although they replied professionally. Especially since Ibis self-declares itself as a two-star hotel and I’m not sure many mid-tier hotels offer soap any more, it’s nearly always liquid shower gel and soap. I’m intrigued about the lack of facilities since the hotel has its own restaurant and bar, perhaps some guests want a football stadium within the hotel. I was amused at the bottled water comment, as I momentarily pondered this, until looking at them and seeing that they were twist tops……

    “There was no English Breakfast – it was all salad and ham!! There was no Beans, Mushrooms, Fried Tomatoes, no hash browns or bacon.”

    No English breakfast in Poland, whatever next…..

    Overall, the hotel staff were all friendly, the room was clean and it was a peaceful and relaxed environment. Reasonably priced and just a short walk to the centre of Warsaw.