Hotel Ester - Krakow, Poland     

This hotel is in an excellent location. You can walk to main square in approximately 15 mins and the walk is very nice taking you past the castle. The Ester sits in a square full of eateries, we tried a fair few of them and enjoyed them all. The Ariel being a favorite for beer and vodka after a day of walking and Noahs Ark for a meal. We were on the top floor of the hotel and had the small windows mentioned in a previous review. However, the air conditioning worked a treat to make sure we didn't get too hot in the room. Our bathroom seemed to be brand new and the room was kept neat and clean. The staff at the front desk were extremely helpful in assisting us in organising ourselves and got us taxis when needed. At the front of the hotel is a small outside area where you can eat or just have a drink. There was a flat screen TV to show Euro 2008. I don't know if the TV would be there at any other time. We didn't eat here other than for breakfast, which would be my only reservation. There was a good choice, but it was not always replenished swiftly. However, if you asked you would always be provided with what you wanted and you could ask for a cooked breakfast too. There was enough of a continental style breakfast to set you up for the day. The trick is to ask for what you would like. At breakfast we overhead another party saying that they had paid ?150 a night for a room. We had paid a little over ?80. I would have been disappointed if we had paid as much as they did. Krakow is not a cheap city accommodation wise and I would happily would consider the Ester good value up to ?100 a night. and we would stay here again. A tip - a previous review mentioned going to Auschwitz using public transport. We would advise it too. At our request the hotel ordered us a taxi to the bus station (11 zloty), we got return bus tickets (20 zloty each) and, when we returned, we wandered from the bus station back through Krakow main square. Sum total for 4 of us 91 zloty. You would pay that for one on the arranged trips and have your day dictated to you. The staff at the Ester advised bus rather than train - good advice.

Myself and a friend booked our break to Poland several months ago not really knowing what to expect. When we arrived at the Hotel Ester we were very pleasantly suprised. The atmosphere was wonderful. The Hotel staff were only too pleased to help in any way they could during our stay. The cleanliness of our room and the whole hotel was outstanding. We also ate at the Hotel every evening and found the food delicious and very reasonably priced. The whole trip was a wonderful experience.