mauld

Just came back from a stay at this newly opened property (opened this past Monday), and given time it could be a winner. It is located in the old Jewish Ghetto area that is seeing lots of new hotels opening. I was told I was only one of 20 guests staying on this past Sat night and was given an 'executive/business room' on a corner (#1627) with sweeping views of the city from windows facing north and west. While true it was set up as a business room with electonic connections, it was not a large room. It did boast a 'heavenly bed' and yes the duvet was 'heavenly' the mattress sadly was not. The style is very contempory/W' ish with a very modern design. The bath had a separate stall shower & a large soaking tub but otherwise was pretty cramped, it had the usual Westin soaps/shampoos etc. What was missing in the room were any description of services, a room service menu, coffee machine, hair dryer, clock radio & drawer space. I found only one drawer located on the bottom of the TV stand, the nightstands were only wooden slabs attached to the wall. Be warned the room has one of those new electronic minibars that charges you when you 'touch' anything! It also has (I was pleasantly surprised--for Europe at least) an iron & board in the closet. Also while there was an ice bucket, none of the floors were supplied as of yet with ice machines. Additionally there will be an Executive Lounge on the 19th floor at some point, but it was not yet open. There is also a health club already opened, but I didn't get a chance to see it. As a Platinum I was duly welcomed and given the upgrade to an Executive Business room, but no free breakfast, drink coupon or other amenity was offered, even though the lounge wasn't opened. When I asked about it, the front desk didn't know what I was talking about, and mentioned the bar area across from the front desk was open. As it was only one day, I didn't press the matter. The bar area was very open and the staff was very friendly and helpful. While I didn't eat in the restaurant (Fusion), I did read the menu and found it to be very Asian/Thai/Nouveau influenced and was told the newly hired chef was somewhat of a 'celebrity chef' in Warsaw and the restaurant had already recieved some great reviews.
--I had also (the previous night) stayed at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers Warsaw and found it to be very good, with a wonderful Club Lounge that had a full compliment of food & beverages during the cocktail hour as well as serving a large hot & cold buffet for breakfast. This property had a number of different restaurants/bars and while modern, was not quite as 'cool/hip' as I believe the new Westin is aiming for. I was told that both are considered quite expensive by local standards. I paid discounted weekend rates of E95 at the Sheraton & E125 at the Westin. The expectation at both establishments was that they were geared towards 'foreign' business travellers to Poland.
On a side note, while chatting with the bartender and one of the only other customers at the bar- I did hear that Sheraton will be opening up a new hotel in Krakow next year.

[This message has been edited by mauld (edited 07-07-2003).]