The Piano Guest House

Pretty much every guest house claims a friendly and family atmosphere, but not all of them deliver. This little jewel of a guesthouse is the genuine article. Run by a pianist with an artistic flair, the house is genuinely welcoming. In the summer, there's a pretty little garden at the back to enjoy the sun. Very close to the Main Railway Station, the main drawback is that there is about a 15 minute walk to the Market Square, but with extremely attractive prices, and outstanding breakfasts, this is an excellent option for those looking to stay for a few days or several weeks. Might just turn out that those few days are not enough!

Nous sommes venus passer 3 jours à cracovie pour la pentecôte 2010 et nous sommes descendus à la piano guest house que nous voudrions chaleureusement recommander. Confort, Chambre très spacieuse,grand calme,petit déjeuner bon et copieux et surtout la qualité de l'accueil. L'hôtesse et son fils,qui parlent le français nous ont renseigné sans compter sur les merveilles de cracovie.Le fils est venu nous chercher à l'aéroport.Et eux deux feront partie d'un de nos meilleurs souvenirs de Cracovie.
Merci

I love The Piano Guest House. It's cozy, charming, and the breakfast is absolutely amazing.
The Piano Guest House is home away from home.
It was an honor to stay here.

The Piano Guest House is the best place to stay when
visiting Krakow. I felt like I was staying with my Polish relatives. Tadeusz and his mother Ola are very hospitable. They made me feel very welcome.
Tadeusz picked me up at the airport and gave me a pot of tea and cake when I arrived at The Piano Guest House.
The Piano Guest House is the ultimate place to stay when visiting Krakow.

After arriving after travelling through the night on the train I couldn't have been given a warmer welcome and was immediately offered the most lovely breakfast together with homemade cakes and beautiful silverware.The house was delightful,full of antiques and homely touches such as the beautiful flowers in my room and and that in which we had breakfast.Nothing was too much trouble for my hosts -from collecting me and bringing me back to the train station and finding out what time the buses run to Auschwitz.This is an absolute gem of a guest house ,where the hospitality showed to me exceeded all my expectations and although a little out of the way I wouöld not hesitate to recommend to others.Many thanks for a lovely stay, Sue Drost.

We arrived at the airport a little tired from our early morning flight, Tadeusz was at the airport waiting to take us to the hotel. He was very informative about the local and area and recommended several places to visit.

We arrived at the hotel after breakfast, the madam was welcoming and served a table full of delicious food, which was very welcome after our journey.

The hotel is on the outskirts of town, but the local tram service is good and there is only a short walk from the tram stop.

I would highly recommend this hotel and the charming family that run it. It was a pleasure to be their guest. There was nothing that was too much trouble and the tea and coffee was plentiful, as was the food. I can't wait to return next year.

We have recently returned from a four night stay and were very impressed. Aleksandra is most welcoming and attentive. On arrival, we were greeted with a pot of tea, jam and cake. Our room was traditionally furnished and very comfortable. Breakfasts were superb, with a wide variety of well-presented food. Just what we needed to set us up for a day of exploration.
The bus station and station are 5 minute walk away (convenient for getting to and from the airport) as is the Galleria Krakow - a modern shopping complex with a variety of shops, cafes and a supermarket. The central square is a further 5-10 minutes walk.
I heartily recommend The Piano Guest House and, if I return to Krakow, would definitely stay again.

I have stayed at the Piano House a few times. I have always found the accomodations to be excellent and the attitude of Tadeusz and his mom to be outstanding. I have always been greeted with tea, a snack and a smile. The Piano House is close enough to everything that is important in Krakow. The taxis are not terribly expensive and the Piano House is easy to find. On a scale of 5 the Piano House is definitely a 5, and it beats using a hotel which I have also done several times.

We have stayed at the Piano guest house three times, and we keep coming back.. We have been there with our girl twice (first 7 months, then 2 years), and last time just the two of us together with another couple. In August I will be back again, this time with four friends - all girls. Piano guest house is a place where you want to come back! Alexandra is super, and so is Tadeusz! We love The Piano Guest House!

We booked 1 night for the next day on the Internet. The owner, Tadeusz picked us up from the train station and his lovely mother served tea and cakes while he presented us with a map and ponted out the outstanding resaurants and places to see. We stayed two more nights and because he was booked,he took us to an apartment for the forth night and picked us up the next morning, back to the guesthouse for breakfast. We stayed a total of nine nights and loved every minute.We have never recieved such hospitality, and we have traveled to 78 countries.

WOW – what can we say – a group of 8 ladies stayed here in September/October 2009 for four nights. It was great from start to finish. Tadeusz and his mother picked us up from the airport and on arrival at the Piano Guest House gave us tea/coffee and Polish cake as welcome to Krakow before showing us to our rooms. There was a kitchenette that we could use during our stay to make tea and coffee, which was very welcome after returning from our days out.

The rooms were great with en-suite bathrooms, rooms cleaned daily. The breakfast was continental and plenty of it with endless tea / coffee. Service was excellent from start to finish

Tadeusz was on hand to give us plenty of information about getting around Krakow, which trains/ buses to catch for Auschwitz and the Salt Mines and also to recommend local ‘Polish’ cuisine restaurants. During our stay, it was one of the ladies’ birthdays and a cake was arranged for her with the Guest House – Chocolate Cake to die for – the best any of us had ever tasted.

Piano Guest House is a little outside the city but is only a 5-10 minute walk to the main bus / train station and a major shopping complex, which you can walk through to take you to the main square (this is open all night and a major landmark). Taxis are really cheap in Krakow and we used these at night as the walk at end of a very very long day was just too much for some of our group.

Our stay was excellent and definitely recommend staying at the Piano Guest House if you are visiting Krakow – we would definitely return.

Sorry, I forgot to change the rating on my first review to 5/5, which it certainly deserves.

The real Poland; wonderful old house, full of character and atmosphere; friendly, helpful owners keen for us to enjoy our stay and experience their city; truly amazing and beautifully presented breakfasts. Rooms full of character but with modern bathrooms. Would not hesitate to recommend the Piano House and the gracious people who run it.

I fully endorse the positive comments made by the previous contributors. The Piano is truly a gem of a guest house. There was tea and cakes with delicious fruit conserves on arrival and I was given a good briefing by Janek. He supplied a map and marked up several good places to eat - I tried a couple of them and was not disappointed. Janek's mother was the perfect host. Despite a sudden staff shortage, she worked like a Trojan every morning and produced breakfasts that were almost a work of art. I was made to feel thoroughly welcome throughout my stay and would certainly choose the Piano on another visit to Krakow.

This Guest house was truly like staying at home! From the breakfast to the service and attention that was give - Very high standard and welcoming.
The location is great too, very close to the railway as well as a big modern shopping mall
Thanks once again for a pleasant stay; I shall be returning soon again this year with my mother and we look forward to it.

Piano Guest House was fantastic. Made to feel very welcome, Breakfast was brilliant. Gave us great recommendations on where to eat and where to go. Highly recommended

Nine of my family stayed 3 nights and this super guest house. What a wonderful welcome we received. We where met at the airport, tea/coffee and cake when we arrived there. Breakfasts where wonderful, we where given recommendations on where to eat, do listen to these, we did and where not disappointed at all. The owners are great, I strongly recommend this guest house

Never judge a book by its cover and this can definately be said of the Piano Guest House. On first impression one would think you are far out of town, but you are only 2/3 minutes from the bus and train station and 15 minutes from the town centre. We were welcomed on arrival with tea/coffee and beautiful range of breads,jams and cold meats. The breakfast were very good and our 3 year old was very well catered for. Although the room was basic it could not be faulted and the Lady of the house Alexandria was extremely helpful during our stay. Transfer to the airport was very much appreciated. We have travelled all over the world and we throughly enjoyed our stay in Poland mainly due to this little treasure.
The O'Brien Family
Mullaghbawn
Ireland

Our stay at The Piano Guest House was fantastic and above reproach. Our hosts were attentive, welcoming and always made sure we were confortable in every way. The rooms were clean and mercifully free of TV! Breakfast was always a pleasant experience and my teacup was never empty. The abundance of food would leave you full for a fair portion of the day. Although situated in a fairly rundown part of town, it was pleasing to see people were regenerating such a potentially beautiful area. Overall, The Piano Guest House is a gem that every traveller should dicover, especially if they're looking for something other than a faceless hotel chain.

An old house modernised and turned into a small hotel run by a mother and son who are very helpfull and the son speaks english. The rooms were clean and though the furniture was old fashioned it did the job. The en-suite bathroom was modern and spotless. A shame there was no TV in the room as it poured all the time we were there and watching the TV would have been a break from watching the rain. There was no drink making facility in the room though we were told we could use the kitchen. Breakfast is a traditional Polish meal and was impressive you are unlikely to want anything else for some time.

The hotel is not on a bus route but it is only about a 15 minute walk into town and about seven minutes from a railway station and bus station.

It is unfortunatly situated in a desolate part of town that seems ripe for re-development. Be sure when walking home at night and the usual route through a shopping arcade is closed that you do not take a wrong turn and like us end up on a footpath that peters out among railway lines with motorways on both sides standing in the pouring rain looking at the lights of the hotel and wondering how to reach it. When we were there the street lighting was out probably due to road works.

In a good location it would be a four star award and with TV and a drink making facility in the room a five star but because of the location I have awarded it 3 stars.

we stayed 7 days in the b&b, people there are very helpful but if there could have clean towels and tidy up the room everyday would be nicer. very please with the room with no traffic noise. just 15 m walk to the city center, centra bus station just 5m walk from the b&b, you can catch a bus to Auschwitz and Zakopane or other places it's cheap and convenience. highly recommend.

thanks Thadeusz and staff for a warm welcome to Krakow. The accommodation is good value for money, the advice and personal touch priceless. thanks for being nice about the late night laughing in your kitchen... Polish beer is good.

Tadeusz and his Mother Ola could not have made our stay more friendlier. Nothing was any trouble. Picked up from the airport by Tadeusz. A cup of tea as soon as we arrived. Very comfortable and clean. Magnificent breakfasts. More like visiting family rather than staying in a guest house. Wish I could have spoken Polish or French so that I could have conversed with Ola. Tadeusz translated though with his perfect English and was always willing to advise where necessary about anything. Bit of a walk to the square but you got used to it. Have recommended this guest house to all of my friends and I am sure we will be back.

This pension is wonderful! Room great, host very friendly and very cultivated. The place is clean. In the summer 2007 the have a table tennis set up which was great hours of fun. Breakfast very good. As in the intro, setback is only a little walk to old-town and the place is really hard to find. I'd go there anytime again.
Tadeusz has 8 rooms at the Piano pension, but the piano has moved to his appartment this year.
Krakow is a nice place to visit while in Poland, but you might also want to check out Zakopane 100 km south, we had some excellent mountainbiking there.

The Piano Guest House is a charming, delightful guest house that we would thoroughly recommend. It is spotlessly clean and decorated very tastefully with beautiful antique furniture. The rooms are spacious and the bathrooms are modern. Tadeuz and his mother, Ola, are very welcoming, friendly and colourful people who go beyond the call of duty. Every morning Ola served us up with a veritable feast and you feel more like a friend who has come to stay than a paying guest. Excellent value for money.

Well, I loved it!! Everyone has said all things I would say.... the Plateks are a wonderful, warm, interesting and hospitable family. The Piano Guest House is very comfortable.... no, make that more than comfortable. The breakfasts are just lovely. The walk was very easy and I appreciated the quiet. Thanks so much Ola and Tadeusz...I hope to see you again one day soon. Che vediamo a piu tardi!!

Siamo passati da Cracovia con grande entusiasmo
trovare questa sistemazione sospesa nel tempo
a meta' strada tra le principali vie d'accesso alla citta' e il meraviglioso centro storico ci ha permesso di trascorrere tre giorni ricchi di fascino e di vera ospitalita' polacca, condita con un tocco di elegante stile francese.
Conversate con i gestori, la vostra vacanza sara' meno impersonale e imparerete molto di questa nazione.

Sandro

Very nice people! Thank you Tadeusz for your warm hospitality and your kindness to drive us between train station and apartment.

Eventhough the room at the guesthouse is full, Tadeusz still managed to find us a nice apartment near Kazimierz which is even closer to the Market Sq. The room is clean and comfortable with a very reasonable price we cannot get from anywhere.

What a splendid welcome we received from this lovely family. The hospitality was excellant. Ola and her two sons, Yanik and Tadeusz are warm, do their best to ensure you have a most enjoyable holiday - we stayed with them for 10 days! Nothing was too much trouble for any one of them. Everywhere was clean and comfortable and really home from home.
We had an unexpected musical evening with Tadeusz playing the piano and Ola singing - buy her CD - she has a beautiful voice and we wish we knew what she was singing about but that does not take anything away from the CD. Yanik was busy taking exams but found time to join us and entertain us with his humour - he speaks good English! We had lots of laughter and came away feeling we had made good friends with the Platek family.
Just one comment we would make - if you have walking difficulties - Katowa 4 is a fair walk to the centre at the moment until the road works are completed - taxis are cheap however - £2 - if you don't mind walking then it is not a problem.
We hope to see Ola and her two sons again - maybe next year!

After having spent the first part of our stay in Krakow in a wonderful boutique hotel near Rynek Glowny, my sister and I chose to stay a few days at the equally wonderful Piano Guest House just outside the ringed Old Town of Krakow. We agree with all of the positive statements made so far about this fine establishment and add that the sincere personal touch and caring we found here is so important to us travellers so far from home. I would have loved to have heard Tadeusz play the piano (unfortunately he was away studying conducting at the time), but Alexandra (even in her broken English) and younger son, Janek, were a delight to get to know and we were also able to share notes with fellow guests from Liverpool, England. Hi Helen and Phil! We were also able to easily walk down to the city via a new walkway that is picked up right in front of the Katowa. Equally easy was access to the minibuses for trips outside of the city. We highly recommend you find some time during your stay(if not all of it!) to make Katowa 4 your little haven in the heavenly city of Krakow.

This guesthouse is a home from home,clean,comfortable plus excellent breakfast.We where well looked after and nothing was too much trouble for our hosts Alexandra and son.Also,as they could only accommodate us for 3 nights out of the 5 nights required they kindly found and transported us to further central accommodation for the remaining 2 nights. Helen & Phil, England

When good fortune decides to pay you a visit, it is never certain in what disguise it will arrive. When Tadeusz from the Piano Guesthouse, picked us up from the central station in a battered up old banger, it wasn't at all yet obvious we had stumbled across a Cracovian jewel. I will not overelaborate the delights Madame Maurer's, suffice to say it was made all the more wonderful by the family- produced fruit juices and Tadeusz' eclectic conversation topics. What I would like to put on the record though, is that when my girlfriend and I were stuck in Auschwitz at 8pm in the evening having missed the last bus and the last train back to Cracow it was to Tadusz we turned, and by 9pm the battered old banger had been transformed into a shining chariot. I heartily recommend the Guesthouse, you will be staying with a warm and sophisticated family who truly love their City.

If you want a really nice clean comfortable place to stay with good company in the form of your hosts Tadeuse and his Mum Maurer Piatek then here you are. The venue for The Piano G H is novel but you are in easy walking distance of the old city with the station en-route. We loved tis place and will return.

The rooms are very beautiful, and the breakfast is very very good!!! Alexandra is nice, and her sun also.

The Piano Guest House is extremely charming and quite near the main train station and the old town. The mother and son who operate it are endearing, very hospitable, and impressively multilingual. We felt like personal guests the whole time we were there. Ola and Tadesusz are Krakow natives and can offer a lot in the way of suggestions about what to see and do in the city, and, if you're lucky, sometimes a side trip to lesser-known sites. The rooms are clean and in good condition, and have completely new (and modern) bathrooms. A stay at the Piano Guest House is a lovely experience and a good value for its price; I highly recommend it to anyone looking in this price range.

We found that our intention to stay for 3 days in Krakow stretched into a week, not only because of the delightful city, but because going "home" to The Piano House was so wonderful! We would relax and recover in the garden where our hostess/hosts plied us with tea and treats and intelligent discussion. Rooms are clean and beds are comfortable. We heartily recommend staying here in this lovingly restored home.

This is just an amazing find and is located quite close to the old city (about 10 minutes' walk from the train station). The owners are the ult1mate in friendly hosts, and Tadeusch will play piano for you if you are not careful. I strongly recommend it. The garden is a particular delight. At 140z/night for a double room with bath and breakfast in this historic house is is also very affordable, and compares well with the cost of other accommodation in Cracow.

John Parkinson