This lovely hotel is a real find. It is an oasis of peace and tranquility set in the midst of busy roads and retail park. Despite its setting, there is no traffic noise at all as it is set well back from the highway and has its own lovely grounds. We spent four nights here and enjoyed every minute.

Our room was large and comfortable with two large comfy beds and was spotless. We had a lovely view over the garden.

There is easy access to taxis for the trip into the centre of Krakow and the most we were charged was £3. The hotel also has its own taxi and we booked it to collect us from the airport and for the return journey. The cost was £12 when we arrived on the Sunday evening but only £9 when we returned mid-week. We also used the hotel taxi for a trip to the Salt Mines and our private arrangement cost no more than a tour coach.

The restaurant provides an excellent buffet breakfast and there is a comprehensive selection of cold and hot foods to suit most tastes. We ate here one evening too and the meal was first class. The only problem we encountered was that there was a Hitachi convention on that evening and of course the kitchen was catering for them as well. We were asked to sit in the bar for our meal - an attractive and comfortable place - but we did have a rather long wait for our dinner. It was worth waiting for and we spent an enjoyable evening afterwards on the pretty garden patio.

Reception was filled with charming, helpful young ladies who did all they could to give advice and assistance. Ana had noticed my booking requested non-allergenic bedding and she had ensured all the bedding was changed from feathers well in advance of our arrival.

All in all a very comfortable, pleasant hotel for our visit to Krakow.

We spent a week during Easter Holidays at the Crown Piast Hotel, Krakow. The overall impression of the hotel is a good one. Although the Hotel is a 10 min. drive from the city center, it is not expensive to go by taxi, or walk 10 min. and take the tram. The current price when you take a taxi from the hotel is about 18 zl (approx. 5 euros). After 23.00 they have a double fair and charge totally about 25 - 30 zloty, (7-8 euros).
The tram ticket costs around 2.5 zloty (0,65 euro).

The Hotel has been recently renewed and awarded a 5 star category. Well the truth is that I would best describe it as a 3 to 4 star hotel. The curtains and furniture at the public places (corridors) are a little worn out. The rooms themselves are very spacious and well taken care of. The bathrooms are also big and in a perfect status.

At breakfast there is a selection of cheese, ham, sausage, eggs, even herring, but in total not what one would expect from a 5 star hotel. There isn't any fresh marmalade, honey, only in portions (and totally frozen). There is an absolute lack of pastries, sweets ecc, even nutella. The fruits are offered in slices. The guests do not have a selection of bananas, apples, oranges ecc. Only slices kiwis and orange.

The hotel is very nice. Clean and comfortable, the staff were extremely helpful and all spoke English, breakfast was pleasant (slighty odd, but then you expect that in Eastern Europe), and there is a gym and sauna (though we didn't use these). The restaurant looks very nice but we didn't use that either.

I have no complaints at all about this hotel and we really enjoyed our stay. The main problem (which is entirely our own fault!) is the location. You're about 10 mins by taxi or about 30 mins (including the walking) by tram from the main square in the city. We didn't really think this would be a problem, in fact some of the reviews on this site said it is a good thing as it can get rowdy in the city at night (presumably in the Summer, as we didn't see any rowdiness while we were there). The taxi fare was between 16-20 PLN (around £3) so didn't break the bank, and the tram was only 2.5 PLN per person each way (about 45p), we just found it a bit of a pain if we'd been out shopping in the day and literally just wanted to pop back and drop off our bags before going out for the night, so we did find ourselves lugging our shopping into bars and restaurants. Some people might not be bothered by this but to be honest I do think if we come back to Krakow again we'd stay in a central hotel.

If you're not bothered about the location, or specifically want an out of town hotel (e.g. if coming on business) then I really would recommend the Crown Piast.

You have two choices from the airport, taxi or bus. We didn't want to risk the bus, not having a clue where to get off it! I'd recommend booking a cab before you arrive for a fixed price - we got a Polish friend-of-a-friend to do this for us, but I'm sure you could get the hotel to do it for you. It only cost us 35 PLN (£6) which was excellent compared to some other people who have posted reviews on this site who obviously got ripped off!

The hotel staff will arrange taxis into town for you, and there is a taxi driver who often hangs around outside anyway so you can just jump in. To get the tram into town, you walk down the drive and turn right, then right at the roundabout. You walk along the dual carriageway under the railway bridge until you get to the steps leading onto the road bridge. Go up the steps and the tram stop is on the other side of the road, and you buy tickets from the kiosk there (ask for 'Centrum' and do a bit of pointing!). Make sure you get on a tram going in the right direction (the platform on the same side of the tracks as the kiosk)! All the trams from this stop go to the centre and you just get off at Teatr Bagatela. It's quite fun for a change from the taxi.

The Crown Piast is located about halfway (and a cheap cab ride) from the airport and/or the old town. The hotel itself is a lovely trip back to the late 70s early 80s. The rooms (and some public areas) could probably do with a modernising refurb but the delightful staff more than make up for the slighly depressing decor. The property is spotlessly clean throughout. Nice gardens and grounds to the rear are spoiled slightly by the smell of cat pee!! Buffet breakfast selection is good though they could improve the quality of the juices and very little fresh fruit on offer. Hotel's taxi driver is a lovely man but he does charge over the odds so check the alternatives and negotiate a deal if you can.

All in all very good value for money and a very pleasant experience.