Tickets are booked and we're spending 4 days in Krakow at the end of August. I have heard it can get pretty hot and humid there during the summer and am looking for feedback on hotels. Most of the old-world style ones do not have a/c. <BR><BR>The ones I'm looking at are:<BR>Pod Roza<BR>Francuski<BR>Elektor<BR>Rezydent<BR><BR>An y insight on the above would help a lot. Furthermore, if anyone can comment on the weather issue and if we should opt for a 'chain' hotel for the a/c factor would be helpful. We are not uptight about staying in chains, but if it's hot and humid we do like a/c in order to sleep comfortably.<BR><BR>Many thanks.

My friends have recommended Hotel Pollera. Check www.poller.com.pl

Anyone have more input?

Hi Amy. The only input I have is that, if you're not aware of it already, you might be interested in the latest National Geographic Traveler issue, which has an article on Krakow, entitled "Bohemian Rhapsody."

I stayed at the Pod Roza in May and liked it very much. The room was just wonderful, about the nicest hotel room I've ever had--absolutely huge, four-poster bed, parquet floors, armoire (plus modern amenities such as TV, minibar) with a large tiled bath with excellent facilities including a large kind of round bathtub that looked like a jacuzzi (but wasn't, there were no jets). It did not have a shower, though, I know from reading on here that some people must have showers--the tub had one of those hand sprayers for rinsing yourself.<BR><BR>The staff was very helpful and the desk clerk spoke very fluent English, which was nice as I only know a little Polish (I know more Czech but the languages were a little more different than I had hoped for). The restaurant was good but overpriced in the hotel, you can eat very well elsewhere for less than that.<BR><BR>It was very convenient, only a couple blocks to the main square. My only quibble about it was that the bed mattress was extremely hard (the pillows were fine and I usually dislike hotel pillows as I only like real good down and a thinner pillow). If you like a super super firm mattress it will be fine, but it was actually what I'd call hard rather than firm. I pulled back the sheets to see what I was dealing with and it looked like a regular quality mattress, not a cheap job, so I don't know (I don't know if there were a box spring or just a platform). They did have true double beds, which was nice, as some hotels I read about only have twins apparently (like the Francusi). Also, there was a cheap internet cafe almost next door which was convenient for checking in with some folks. <BR><BR>Of course, I don't know what it would be like in August if hot. I did a lot of research on Krakow hotels and you are right, most do not have it except the newer ones (some of the older hotels do not even have elevators, I think, you might check on that if it's an issue--I think the Pollera may not have an elevator as I was considering it).<BR><BR>I think I was going to consider the French chain hotel Campanile if I felt I wanted AC as they have a new hotel in a very central location with good rates. A lot of the modern chain hotels with AC are not near the city center like that one is. Other than the modern chain ones, I think you only get AC in the very most expensive ones. Actually, Pod Roza has it in some rooms, I believe -- maybe top floor. I read some negative reviews about the location of the Francuski (someone said it was noisy due to a taxi stand in front) but it looked like a good location to me I would consider next time and there was no taxi stand in front of it then. I had an interior room in the Pod Roza which was very quiet (I liked that about them, they had actually read and assigned me a room based on my request! I had told them a quiet room was very important to me, and I got one with no one beside me on either side).<BR><BR>In short, I loved Pod Roza and the only drawback was the hard mattress. I had read they had a disco in there and was worried it would be noisy (in fact I asked about it on here but no one seemed to know)--well, if they did, it was in the basement and you wouldn't even know it was there. I think it actually is not there any more and has been replaced by a wine bar because I saw signs for that leading to the lower floor.<BR><BR><BR><BR>

I stayed at the Pod Roza and thought it was excellent. I would highly recommend it.