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The Hyatt Place Kraków came recommended to me by a TFM reader (thanks Christian), so as soon as we started planning our trip to this fantastic city, that was our first choice of where to stay.
The property isn’t very central, so I wasn’t too sure how well located we’d feel, but with a good recommendation behind it and incredibly good prices, we were more than prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt.
The admin
- Length of stay: 5 nights
- Actual cost of stay: $470.67 (including taxes)*
- Cost of the stay in points (had I booked with points): 23,500 (Category 1)
- Elite status at time of stay: Hyatt Globalist
- Points earned from the booking: 3,228 (includes some room charges)
- Upgrade instruments used: None
- Room booked: 1 King Bed
- Room received: 1 King Bed with Sofa Bed Deluxe
- Upgraded: Yes
*No, this isn’t a typo. This was the total cost of the room for the five-night stay
Getting there/location
Kraków is a former capital of Poland and is located towards the south and east of the country, and the Hyatt Place Kraków sits to the west of the city’s historic center.
The hotel is set back from the closest main road, but it’s only a 5-minute walk to the nearest tram stop and the tram will get you to the walls of the old city in under 10 minutes.
This property may not appear to be well-positioned for visiting the city center, but appearances can be deceptive.
Not only are the trams reliable and quick, but you can also walk from the hotel to the old city in under 30 minutes (and the walk is pleasant).
Using public transport, the simplest way to get from Kraków John Paul II Airport to the Hyatt Place Kraków is to take the bus (#300) 5 stops from the airport to the National Museum (Muzeum Narodowe) and from there, to take the tram (#20) three stops to “Reymana” from where you’ll have a ~5 minute walk to the front door of the hotel (total travel time ~40 minutes).
Overall, the simplest way to get from from Kraków John Paul II Airport to the Hyatt Place Kraków is to hire a car or to take a taxi/rideshare service. Door to door will take between 20 and 25 minutes at most times of the day.
We hired a car for 5 days (it cost us just $92) and parked it at the hotel which offers covered and uncovered parking with prices starting at PLN65/night (~$19/night).
The upgrade
The World of Hyatt terms and conditions clearly state that when it comes to the “Best Room Available” upgrade benefit for Globalist elites, the benefit is not valid at Hyatt Place properties.
Despite this, I’m accustomed to getting some sort of a upgrade when I stay at the Hyatt Place London Heathrow and the Hyatt Place London City East, and it’s nice to be able to report that the Hyatt Place Kraków appears to be another Hyatt Place property that’s happy to offer Globalists an upgrade despite what the rules say.
As is the case with a lot of my stays, we had booked an entry-level “1 King Bed” room because we didn’t plan on spending much time in the property (we were in Kraków to explore the city, not to sit in a hotel room) and in the early hours of the morning on the day we were due to check-in, our reservation showed that we had been upgraded to a “1 King Bed with Sofa Bed Deluxe” room
Based on the details on the hotel website, this was a two-room upgrade.
Shortly before 12:30 local time, I received a notification to say that our room was ready (2.5 hours ahead of the official check-in time).
We had landed at around midday and were hoping to make the most of what was left of the day to explore the city, so it was a nice bonus to have our room ready for us when we arrived (we could just drop our bags in the room and head straight out).
The lobby & check-in
When you walk through the main doors to the hotel, the reception desk is to the left alongside a small market area selling snacks, sodas, and hot drinks.
Directly ahead are the hotel’s three elevators, and to the right are the bar, the lounge area (with a variety of seating options), and a small business area.
Past the bar is the hotel’s restaurant, but I’ll come to that a little later.
The hotel lobby was busy when we arrived (there were at least two different tour groups staying at the Hyatt Place), but the wait to check-in and to pick up our room key cards wasn’t any longer than 5 minutes.
We were warmly greeted, my Globalist status was recognised, and we were given a quick briefing on what the property has to offer, what the breakfast arrangements are, and where we could park our rental car.
About 10 minutes after we arrived were were on our way up to our 6th floor room (the top floor of the property).
1 King bed with sofa bed deluxe room
Having only opened in November 2022, the Hyatt Place Kraków is one of the younger Hyatt’s in Europe and so far, it seems to be ageing well.
The elevators up to the 6th floor were swift enough, and the hallways still look bright and fresh.
The door to the room opens to reveal a short hallway leading to the main sleeping area and a bathroom off the hallway.
It’s worth noting at this point that most rooms at this property are the same size (~258sqft/24sqm) so the main differentiators between the various rooms will be the height of the floor on which they’re located, the view, and whether or not the room has a sofa bed.
Unless you book one of the suites which cover 344sqft/32sqm, anything you pay over and above the cost of the cheapest room will go towards getting you a higher floor, a better view and/or a sofa bed. You’re not paying for more space.
At 258sqft this isn’t a big room, but the layout is sensible and that helps prevent the room from feeling claustrophobic (it’s also worth pointing out that at 258sqft, this isn’t noticeably smaller than the entry-level rooms you’ll find at a lot of considerably more expensive full-service properties in Europe).
As you’d expect, the King bed dominates the sleeping area, but there’s still space on one side for the sofa bed, space for two bedside tables, and there’s space opposite the bed for a work area, a chair and a cabinet.
The styling is simple and functional, but it doesn’t feel industrial or sparse, so the designers seem to have done a good job.
The room’s closet looks a little odd (thanks to a door made up of thin bars), but it served a purpose and combined with the storage area at the bottom, offered a sufficient amount of space for us to store five days’ worth of clothes reasonably comfortably.
The room offers guests tea and coffee making facilities in the form of a kettle and a Nespresso machine, and the two bottles of complimentary water you can see in the image were replaced daily.
In the cabinet below the tea and coffee making facilities is where you’ll find the in-room safe as well as the room’s mini fridge which, happily, was empty and large enough to house whatever drinks we purchased for our daily walks around the area.
Both sides of the bed have very good access to power as both offer guests access to a USB-A port, a USB-C port, and a European-style 2-pin AC power outlet (bring an adapter if your devices are from outside Europe and you need AC power by the bed – affiliate link).
The work area (which is a surprisingly good size given the size of the room) also offers plentiful power options with a USB-A port, a USB-C port, two European-style 2-pin AC power outlets, and even a US-style power outlet.
The room’s ensuite bathroom looks modern and stylish and feels nicer than a few of the other hotel bathrooms I’ve stayed at this year (and, by a distance, this is the cheapest property at which I’ve stayed this year).
The shower cubicle (there’s no bath) offers a rain shower as well as a standard shower head, and the water pressure from both is very good.
Unsurprisingly, the toiletries on offer are of the full-size (and attached to the wall) variety and are by a brand that I don’t recognise – “be different”.
Dental kits, shower caps, vanity kits and shaving kits are also provided (and are complimentary).
The view from this particular room is an interesting one and I’ll admit that it was a view that worried me a little – the room looks out over the car park for a local football team’s (soccer team’s) stadium.
Wisła Kraków play all their home matches next door to the Hyatt Place Kraków, and anyone who knows even a little bit about European football will tell you that the fans are often very passionate and often very, very, noisy.
Fortunately (for the purposes of this review) we got to find out just how much stadium noise penetrates the room when there’s a match on because Wisła Krakow played a match during our stay.
The match had an evening kick off and went on until after 10pm, but given the high levels of noise the crowd was making (I went outside to hear for myself), the room remained, for the most part, peaceful.
Yes, every now and again we heard some noise from the stadium when the fans became particularly excited/annoyed/agitated, but it wasn’t really loud enough to disturb us, and once the game was over and the fans were filing out of the stadium, we couldn’t hear any noise at all, and that was impressive.
Overall, there was very little to dislike about this room and at the prices that the Hyatt Place Kraków charges, it feels like great value (possibly not for the locals, but certainly for most foreign visitors).
Yes, the room isn’t particularly big (so I probably wouldn’t want to be spending too many hours of the day in here), and yes, the view (from this room) isn’t exactly impressive, but let’s keep in mind that this is a limited-service Hyatt Place property and not a Hyatt Regency or a Grand Hyatt.
The room decor is modern, the bed and pillows are comfortable (both Joanna and I slept well every night), the bathroom looks great, the showers offer good water pressure, the curtains do a very good job of keeping out the sunlight in the mornings, the closet is just about the right size, there’s ample space to get some work done, you’re unlikely to run out of places to recharge your devices, and the room feels fresh and clean.
I’ve had a lot less for a lot more at quite a few full-service properties in recent years, and as Hyatt Place rooms go, this is a very good one.
Dining & bar
As is the case with a few of the other Hyatt Place properties in Europe, the restaurant at the Hyatt Place Kraków is called “ZOOM” (I have no idea why).
In the case of this ZOOM restaurant, guests have the option of dining inside or outside (weather permitting) as there’s a small terrace right next to the restaurant.
The interior of the restaurant is the least impressive part of the Hyatt Place Kraków because it feels more like an office cafeteria than a restaurant.
To be fair, that’s a description that I could probably use for a lot of the Hyatt Place restaurants that I’ve seen in recent years, but that doesn’t make things any better.
The one (interior) part of the restaurant that feels less like a canteen and more like somewhere you wouldn’t mind getting something to eat is the glass conservatory which sits between the main restaurant area and the outside terrace.
The natural light that fills this space and the view of the small terrace makes this the best place to dine if it’s cold outside and/or if it’s raining.
Ideally, you’ll have the opportunity to try out the terrace if you choose to dine at the hotel as although this area isn’t going to win any design awards, it’s probably the least depressing of the main dining areas.
Unfortunately, outside of the summer months, the weather in Kraków can often be unsympathetic to those of us who like to sit outside, so keep your expectations realistic if visiting in autumn, winter, and spring.
ZOOM is where you’ll find breakfast being served (between 06:30 and 10:30 Monday through Friday and between 06:30 and 11:00 on Saturdays and Sundays), and you find an all-day dining menu on offer between 14:00 and 22:00 every day of the week.
At the time of writing, this is what the all-day dining menu looks like:
This is quite a limited menu (this is limited-service property) and it has changed since our visit, but the one evening we decided to eat here (we actually ate at the bar), the burger and club sandwich were very good (don’t judge us, we had been eating Polish food for four days straight at this point and it was pouring with rain outside!)
What the menu above doesn’t show you is the cost of drinks and, at the time of this visit, this is what some of the prices looked like:
- Sodas – 13PLN/$3.50
- Juices – 28PLN/$7.55
- Hot drinks – 10PLN/$2.70 – 19PLN/$5.15
- Wine by the glass – 18PLN/$4.85 – 30PLN/$8.10 (very limited choice)
- Wine by the bottle – 79PLN/$21 – 324PLN/$76
- Draft beers – 16PLN/$4.30 – 25PLN/$6.75
- Bottle beers -25PLN/$6.75 – 30PLN/$8.10
Keep in mind that depending on when you’re reading this, these prices may well have changed (this information is indicative only), but that aside, you should also note that these prices are high for Kraków (although not high when judged alongside what other hotels in the city are charging).
A lot of the bars and restaurants in Kraków will charge you a lot less than what the Hyatt Place is charging, and while that’s hardly surprising, it’s worth keeping in mind as Kraków has a lot of great dining options that you should really try out.
Speaking of bars …
The hotel bar sits between the lobby and the restaurant and offers the same menu as the restaurant as well as bar snacks from 12:00 daily.
As bars at European Hyatt Place properties go, this isn’t one of the better ones (the bar at the Hyatt Place London City East is a lot nicer, for example), but that’s down to its location (it’s in the lobby) and it’s ambience (there’s not much ambience at all) and not down to the staff, who are great.
All of the staff we talked to here were incredibly friendly and helpful (something that I could probably say about all the staff we interacted with at this hotel) and I’m grateful to one member of the bar staff in particular for persuading me (against my better judgement) to try out a local white beer which, to my amazement, I loved (I usually hate white beers).
Overall, it’s hard to recommend the dining options at the Hyatt Place Kraków because you can do so much better just a few tram stops away.
The terrace looks ok, but the restaurant feels soulless and the menu is limited, so unless, you’re too tired to go out or you’re reluctant to out out in bad weather, you should probably dine elsewhere.
If you do have to dine here, however, I can recommend the Club Sandwich and possibly the burger, but I can’t comment on the rest of the menu as we ate in town on all but one evening.
Breakfast
Breakfast at the Hyatt Place Kraków is a buffet, and if you’ve been to a hotel buffet before, this one will look familiar.
As far as hot items go, there a small selection of standard items you can choose from the hot plates, there’s an egg station and there’s a self-serve waffle maker as well.
This is all pretty basic stuff and, frankly, the hot offerings are only a little bit better than the hot breakfast items I’ve seen at Hyatt Place properties in the US (that’s a very low bar).
The cold/continental selection on offer, however, is considerably larger and considerably better than the hot selection. In fact, it’s excellent.
The array of cold cuts, fish, salads, fruit, pastries and cakes on offer is impressive, and everything I tried from this selection tasted very fresh.
Globalist elite members (and anyone else sharing their room) receive a full complimentary breakfast on each morning of their stay at the Hyatt Place Kraków, and at the time of this stay, World of Hyatt members could purchase breakfast for 70PLN/$19 while non-members were charged 79PLN/$21.
My top tip for anyone having breakfast here is this: Avoid the hot items (although the omelets are ok) and focus on the cold selection which is way better than anything you’ll find at a similar level property in the US and probably better than anything you’ll find at a lot of similar level properties in Europe.
The gym
The hotel gym is on the lower ground floor of the building and so lacks any natural light. It also looks quite industrial, which may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view.
This isn’t a gym that’s going to blow you away, but it has enough equipment in it to give most people a good workout and that’s probably all that really matters.
A nice touch here is that this is the only limited-service property gym that I’ve seen that offers guests the option to use a locker while they work out.
Probably not a key requirement for a lot of people, but it’s a nice option to have nonetheless.
Final thoughts
I really like the Hyatt Place Kraków despite a couple of things which could be better.
Sure, the restaurant area is a bit depressing, the hot breakfast options are not great and the all-day dining menu is limited, but unless you’re visiting Kraków with a plan to eat in a limited-service property every day, that shouldn’t matter to you.
Most of the important key components are good.
The rooms are good, the staff are friendly and helpful, the property is usually very well priced, the cold breakfast items are great, and even though the hotel sits outside of the city center, transport links are good and the short walk into the old town is nice.
If you’re looking for a place to spend some time relaxing at your hotel, this isn’t the property for you (most Hyatt Place properties are hotels at which you sleep, enjoy the occasional drink and maybe have some breakfast, they are not places to hang out in the daytime).
If you’re looking for a historic location inside a beautiful city, this also isn’t the place for you. Look for something in the old town and be prepared to pay a lot more.
If, however, you’re looking for somewhere that’s well-priced, clean, friendly, and comfortable which can act as your base while you explore Kraków and the surrounding areas, this is definitely a property you should be considering because from a value perspective, this Hyatt Place is very hard to beat.
Related (reviews of other Hyatt properties in Europe):
- Review: Park Hyatt London River Thames (a high-end Hyatt in the wrong location)
- Great Scotland Yard Hotel London review (Hyatt Unbound Collection)
- Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars review
- Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill review (Regency Suite)
- Hyatt Regency London Albert Embankment review
- Hyatt Place London Heathrow Airport review
- Hyatt Centric The Liberties Dublin review
- Review: Hyatt Centric Milan Centrale (Terrace Suite)
Great review and nice to read other opinions on the place. If I had realized that car rentals were so reasonable I probably would have looked at that to see Auschwitz and the salt mines since Globalists get free parking on award nights. I’m still very happy with having booked my family to stay there in four rooms over New Years but part of that is because I was the one paying.