"The KGB don’t make hotels, but if they did then the Hotel Pollera would be at the centre of their Empire…
As a man who loves Cracow, and Poland in general, I was somewhat disappointed by one of the better known centrally located hotels. Service was a dirty word, and from the moment of arrival, a cold, stereotypically communist, welcome awaited me, with icy stares on both entrance and exit from the hotels lobby.
I visit Cracow a lot, at least once or twice a year and I have always found it to be a friendly city, where locals are happy to stop and chat, enjoy your company over a glass of beer, and invite you to explore the jewels of their country. This cannot, sadly, be said of the staff of the Pollera, who were unhelpful and sometimes blatantly rude to friends and colleagues of mine briefly passing through.
My son, and his partner, who were commuting daily from Tarnow, to be with myself and my wife, were often given nasty looks, and spiteful under breath remarks from one woman behind the reception desk for merely committing the crime of asking to speak to Mr & Mrs Geeson.
Just when I thought the Hotel could not get any more unprofessional, they reached a new low. The tour company that the Hotel is associated with is one I choose not to use, not because of poor service, but because my son and his partner know Poland well and are able to guide me to most destinations I choose, often veering off on roads tour companies would not use, and stopping at interesting places along the way.
Being a lover of most things Polish, I love a glass of cold Tyskie, and I had heard of a possibility to visit their museum at Tychy. This journey was not available from the hotel, nor their tour company, and so my son went to a private company and asked them to send a taxi to collect us.
As we waited in the hotel lobby, our driver came and asked for myself and my family, and our ‘friendly’ receptionist all but turned him away saying that nobody here wanted a taxi for Tychy, as the hotel arranges these trips and they have no current dealings with the tour company I had chosen. (Whom my son had arranged a taxi through). We understand that hotels can be a little wary of competition, but I had already told reception three times that we were waiting for a taxi to take us to Tychy (where Tyskie is brewed).
To put the icing on the cake, as we were leaving the Pollera, I enquired about a taxi to the airport, and we were merely directed to the nearest taxi rank, 300m away.
My previous stays in Cracow have taken me to the Logos and to the Saski, which were sadly both full for the duration of my stay. I have nothing but positive things to say about these places as they provided a warm, friendly service, wonderful breakfast spread and were always ready to help and give service with a smile, 24 hours a day." | Robert .D. Geeson
United Kingdom
Sep.26.2006
Overall rating 1/5 |
