As a new hotel, this property is still finding its feet, but after my recent week-long stay, I left happy enough to return.

I arrived late in the night and was checked-in by the first of many young staff I encountered. In fact, I would say a good 80% of the staff I saw were 22 years of age or younger. Some even looked like they were still in secondary school and it was clear that for many, it was their first foray into hospitality. I booked a base room and was upgraded to a "king premium" which, as far as I can tell, is only "premium" in the sense it has an extra square metre or two courtesy of being at the end of the hallway and therefore has a small entry hallway itself. Waiting in my room were two 0.5L bottles of local beer and two small ramekins of nuts, along with a handwritten, personalised welcome note. In the room also was a typed, generic note from the GM noting it was a new hotel and inviting guest feedback, which I thought was excellent.

The room was cramped. There's little space around the bed and no drawers with limited hanging space. It had an exposed concrete ceiling, floorboards and a motion-activated nightlight. The lighting itself confused me. I'd turn the master off at the bedside but three seconds later the entry light would come on. And every time I turned the heater off, it would turn itself back on a minute or so later. The television was huge but with limited English channels. The sink in the bathroom was unnecessarily large which left little vanity space. No tub but a very nice shower with both rain and handheld heads. I'm fairly certain the bathroom floor was heated. Amenities are bulk KenetMD. The room doors close very heavy and loudly.

On my first morning, breakfast was very busy. Staff seemed out of their depth, often a little flustered and really not providing any level of service beyond clearing tables. Seeing no toaster available, I asked a waitress if there was one. She handed me a printed menu and asked if I wanted the avocado toast, a product of the language barrier that was also evident throughout the stay. I said no, I was looking for a toaster. She returned a minute or so later to say there wasn't one. I went back to the buffet where I found an English gentleman, not at his first rodeo, querying a different server about the absence of a toaster. "It's normally here," he said, gesturing to a spot next to the breads. The server then recovered the toaster from a cupboard under the buffet. When the man returned to his table, he said to his wife, "That's three days in a row now I've had to tell them where the toaster is", lamenting the absence of a manager in the restaurant with the experience to keep things running smoothly. Low and behold, the next day, the same chap actually showed a server where the toaster was hiding in the cupboard below. Over the next few days, it was hit and miss as to whether this fancy, exclusive device was available.

The menu was interesting. Had I never enquired about a toaster, I would never have known there was an ą la carte menu. They were kept under the cash register and for the remainder of my stay, I never once saw another guest with one. I suspect they were deliberately withheld, perhaps due to a lack of staff. The food on the buffet was largely very good, except for the scrambled eggs which appeared every day to be well undercooked. Buffet items would often go unreplenished. Labelling of some items was inadequate, like the milk which was stored in ceramic jugs written on with whiteboard markers that was often illegible to begin with and then only wore off quite quickly as everyone's hands smudged them. Jugs of fruit juices sat on wood, rather than a bed of ice or something else to cool them. Sauces (in jugs) were also not labelled.

My room was not serviced on the first day and when I brought this to the attention of the duty manager that evening (one of only one or two people over 35 years of age that I encountered), he said housekeeping was on request only. Perplexed, I asked how I would know that, given it's not on the website and I hadn't been told. He said it should have been conveyed to me on check-in. He apologised and comped me a (cheap) drink in the restaurant. My room was then serviced daily for the remainder of the stay. Towels were changed every day, which absolutely does my head in.

Staff name tags are printed in about eight-point font, which makes it very hard to take note of names. Service with a smile was largely absent, which I suspect is a product of unsure, inexperienced staff. It may also be a Polish thing. There is no Hyatt Has It (I can't recall if this is standard for Places). The gym is a decent space with, obviously, brand new equipment, but there's room for more, with no weight machines, for example. Signage to the gym is also lacking.

The location of the hotel isn't great. It appears it's in a part of town that's seeing quite a bit of development, immediately adjacent to what I assume is the city's main sports stadium. The block of land next to the hotel is a construction site and may well be another hotel. The upside is there is a tram stop just three minutes from the front door (not seven, as Google suggests, because there's a paved shortcut throughout the development). This stop is well served by two lines that go downtown regularly and within about 10-12 minutes for PLN4 (less than a euro).

On check-out, I was asked how my stay was. I can't count on two hands the number of times I've been asked that in perhaps the past 10 years. A different agent who checked out another guest before me also asked the same question so it would appear staff genuinely want to know what guests think which I great to see.

I emailed the hotel in advance to request the airport pick-up service it advertises, but disappointingly never received a response. Instead, I grappled with airport wifi that ends at the front door to the airport and booked a Bolt for PLN28. I took a Bolt back to the airport for much the same price. Journey times were 25-30 minutes.