In this article
Sheraton Grand Krakow
Welcome back to my series of hotel “Lightning Reviews” where I aim to give you the highlights of a hotel stay to help you decide if it’s right for you – but without going over 1,000 words (the idea is to keep it short and sweet and to the point.
Today’s Lightning Review is about the Sheraton Grand Krakow, in Krakow, Poland.
Booking
Due to the strong dollar, prices at this luxury hotel are currently around $150-$175, which is a great price for what you get. I personally paid for two days and used one 35,000 point free night certificate.
Location
It’s really quite excellent – situated in the middle of everything. It’s a 5 minute walk to Wawel Castle, certainly a must visit for most visitors to Krakow.
What I really liked about the location was that it was sort of in between the sights you would want to visit on a 2-3 day trip. That would include walking 10 mins or so up to the Old Town or down to the old Jewish Quarter (Schindler’s Factory Tour is a must-do if you want to see the history of that time laid out in tremendous visual detail).
Check In
Very pleasant. She apologized that she couldn’t upgrade me to a suite due to occupancy, but I’d been upgraded to a Grand Deluxe as Bonvoy Titanium. I’m not sure what the difference was from the regular deluxe room but it was plenty nice and all I needed.
As Titanium, I was offered complimentary access to the buffet breakfast, which was fantastic, as well as the Sheraton Club Lounge.
She also proactively offered me an umbrella as it would be raining later on in the day and let me borrow an electric US –> EU adapter as I’d forgotten mine.
The Room
Pretty standard and fairly elegant. See the image below. No complaints although an additional outlet by the bed would have been ideal.
Breakfast
Despite an initial miscommunication that it was a choice of buffet or the menu (it was just the buffet), the buffet turned out to be absolutely amazing and I was sad I was leaving before breakfast on my third day. You could get eggs cooked as you liked to order (and the cook did everything perfectly each time), waffles (do try the waffles – they are the slightly sweet and amazing Belgian kind), meats etc. It was a wonderful mix of “usual” and local foods as you can see in the images below. The hash browns were fantastic.
Lounge
The lounge, available to Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador level elites, was very nice, It was spacious and they had lite bites and complimentary selected alcohol from 6-8pm each night. You could make a meal of it but it honestly was not great food and you should eat local as there is some great food in Krakow.
Spa / Pool / Gym
There is a full gym and a pool with one of those small powerful waterfalls you can sit under if you like. I passed, however, as the water wasn’t warm and I don’t enjoy sitting in cool water. There was no jacuzzi.
This was the only place it went south for me as, on my first night, I went and booked a massage for the second night – knowing that I’d likely walk 10+ miles (I walked 19) the first two days. As I always do, I specified a female masseuse, simply because I’m more relaxed that way. He said “of course” and that was that.
When I arrived the next evening, a gentleman came out to shake my hand and welcome me and I explained to the receptionist that I’d booked a female masseuse. She said it was not noted and not her fault. She then explained I’d have to pay anyway as – again – not her fault. I asked if they could remedy the situation in any way…. call someone in, find me a spot at another hotel etc, but she just kept going on about it not being her fault. I had to go speak with the Duty Manager and said that he’d allow me to cancel. The concierge could only find me an alternative 10 minutes away (walking only – in the rain) with a Thai massage place – which I did, but was not the same and took hours more of my evening. I thought they could have handled that much better.
So, I can’t say I recommend the spa.
Local Area
Here are a few things I recommend you see and eat:
See
- Wawel Castle
- Old Town
- Jewish Ghetto – Tour Schindler’s Factory
- Pinball Museum (if you like pinball – 35+ well maintained machines and some video games for just 60 PLN for as long as you want)
Eat
This meal was my favorite and thoroughly delicious. It’s my one major recommendation and in the Old Town.
If you like vodka, don’t miss this place with a wall full of infused vodkas.
Tour Guide
Lastly, if you need a tour guide, I have one for you. I had wanted to find a tour guide to take me to Nowy Sacz, about 1.5-2 hours east, to see where my grandfather was born and lived his first 18 years. Zuzanna, who I found at Tours by Locals, was fantastic and built a full day itinerary for me and even helped me with some research on finding the locations of his houses (since the maps changed from the early 1900’s until today). She took me to local spots that were around in 1901 and to three of his likely living locations, also explaining all the history of the Jewish people in Nowy Sacz from that time. At the last minute I asked if we might be able to squeeze in a trip to Slovakia, which has a town just one hour away. She graciously agreed, extending the tour a few hours, and giving the most perfect full day. If you want to contact her directly to book something, here is her website.
And we’re done – in 984 words 🙂
Thoughts?
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