Raffles Europejski Warsaw – An excellent hotel
 

Introduction Booking a stay at the new Raffles Europejski Warsaw wasn’t the greatest experience. I booked a room using AccorHotels’ own website, gave my credit card details and received a confirmation email with a valid booking code. I used some of my Le Club points which were deducted from my account.A month later, I received email from the hotel demanding me to provide credit card details withing a few days if I wan’t the hotel not to cancel my booking. Since the problem was clearly on their side I would have appreciated a little bit different approached.The category I had booked was junior suite. According to hotel’s website, oneway airport transportation is included to the junior suite. This information wasn’t published on Accor’s website and the service wasn’t offered by the hotel before I pointed it out.Despite the issues with the booking and prearrival communication, the stay was awesome.Hotel facade.History lesson. Check In A driver was waiting for us at the airport. He guided us to a black Mercedes-Benz S class car that took us smoothly to the hotel in 20 minutes. There was bottles of mineral water and local and international newspaper in the car to make the journey more comfortable.Check-in was the fastest and easiest I have ever experienced in any hotel. Everything was prepared, we were expected. There was no need to show passport or credit card. I only needed to sign one paper that listed details of the stay and my contact informations.Delicious marshmallows were brought to us while a front desk officer explained our benefits. Those goodies can also be bought in hotel’s conditory for souvenir.Since I had booked a junior suite we didn’t expect any upgrade. To our surprise she told us we had been upgraded to the next room category which is grand suite. We were told that in the Raffles Europejeski Warsaw they always upgrade, also when one of the suites is booked, if there is better rooms or suites available.Main entrance.Lobby.Front desk.Welcome treats at the front desk.Lobby on the way to rooms.Elevator lobby on the first floor.Corridor. Grand suite A butler was sent to show us the suite which was amazing. 85 square meters, high ceiling.A living room with two large sofas, dining table, working desk, coffee machine, kettle, mineral water and bookcase with books that were actually interesting. A huge bathroom with tub, walk-in shower, two sinks and high-quality amenities. A bedroom with a comfortable kind-size bed, armchair and coffee table. A walk-in closet with eight wardrobes.The suite had also an enormous balcony. It must be nice in summer.Living room from the door.Living room.Living room and corridor.Living room.Living room.Living room and writing desk.Walk-in closet.Make-up desk.Bathroom with bathtub.Bathroom and one of the two sinks.Walk-in shower.Bath amenities.Bed room with king-size bed.Bed room.Balcony with Warsaw skyline.Snowy balcony became handy. Service The service was excellent. The staff couldn’t have been more kind and helpfull. They, including two different managers, made sure that we were satisfied with everything. Once a cleaner forgot to replenish toiletries and once newspaper wasn’t delivered but that’s all. Dining Breakfast was included to our rate. There was a small but high-quality buffet and a small Ã. la carte menu. However, we were only allowed to order one warm and one side dish. Once the breakfast is prepaid one would expect to be able to order anything without ridiculous limitations.The breakfast was served in Europejski Grill where we also dinner once. It was a decent experience but nothing to write home about. Sturgeon was too salty and dry-aged rib eye wasn’t perfect which was compensated by a complimentary refill of red wine.In turn, hamburger, prawn salad and lumpia rolls at the Long Bar were all delicious as were the different Sling cocktails, especially the Warsaw sling. Where the Europejski Grill was almost always empty the Long Bar was often full.Entrance to Europejski Grill.Europejski Grill in the evening.Europejski Grill in the morning.Breakfast buffet.Breakfast buffet.​​​​​​​Food from the buffet.Eggs royale.Europejski breakfast platter.Buttermilk pancakes.Long bar.Singapore Sling.Warsaw Sling.Hot smoked sturgeon with caviar.Dry-aged rib eye steak.Burned butter ice cream. Location The hotel is located by the PiÅ‚sudski Square, almost next to Sofitel. It’s about 10 minutes walk to old town, 20 minutes to railway station and Polin museum and 40 minutes to zoo. Spa The hotel has been open now for about half a year but the stylish spa is still partly under construction. Saunas – dry and steam one – can be used but not a swimming pool. I asked when the pool is expected to open but the staff wasn’t able to give any proper answer: one said March, another one by the end of this year. I understood there is some issues with administrative authorization.The front desk officer was kind enough to arrange us access to the Sofitel swimming pool which is propably the best hotel pool in the whole Europe.We didn’t use the gym but it looked big. Loyalty treatment For once the platinum amenity was already in the room when we arrived so there was no need to remind the staff about it. And it was very decent compared to many other luxury hotels: poppy seed and chocolate cakes, hand-made pralines, strawberry compote, and fresh fruits togerther with a hand-written welcome card from a general manager.Welcome drink voucher was for two and we were able to use it for Singapore Slings.Late check-out was given until 5:30pm. Overall At check-out, the hotel offered to take us back to the airport with Mercedes-Benz S class with a special price of PLN 150 (EUR 35–40).The Raffles Europejski Warsaw is undoubtedly one of the best hotels we have stayed at. Highly recommend for luxurious getaways. We will be back. 9/10.

Excellent review. So the suite you was given was a 1 level upgrade? I know that Raffles does not have to upgrade you above junior suite level so would be interesting how often they followed that. Balcony looks great with the snow.

Thanks @tris06.

Yes, we did receive one level upgrade which is always given at this property (subject to availability, of course) despite the official Raffles upgrade policy that is only up to junior suite.

The room categories here are deluxe room (38 sqm), Raffles room (45 sqm), junior suite (70 sqm), grand suite (85 sqm), signature suite (75 sqm), and Raffles suite (235 sqm).

Great review, really looks like a lovely hotel. Still somewhat surprised to find a Raffles in Warsaw.

Happy to hear the Europejski lived up to your expectations in quite so many ways (yet your readiness to forgive so many missteps speaks volumes about what Accor made us accustomed to). Being my home town, I pretty much do not get to stay at any of the hotels here but often have to lodge my guests or am asked for recommendations. Thanks to you now I know I can recommend the Europejski as well.

The hotel operator chose the brand before the FRHI acquisition and it ended up being a bit of a surprise to have it and the Sofitel across the square in the same family, but Orbis (local Accor subsidiary) played it out to their advantage when announcing the merger. I believe the operator chose Raffles as many European Fairmonts are quite dated, and the property is quite small, i.e. no room for Fairmont Gold club. For a moment, it appeared Kempinski was in the running as well.

The Europejski and the the Bristol directly opposite it have been some of the longest continually-operating hotels in Warsaw and have always competed for the title of THE grand hotel in the city. Bristol is now a member of The Luxury Collection, so it is only fitting for Accor to have a direct competitor. By the way, Warsaw has a nominal "Grand Hotel", but it is a post-war development and operating under the Mercure brand - also worth recommending.

Puts the one around the corner to shame ....

Good stay
 

Introduction I returned to Raffles Europejski Warsaw and once again had a very good stay yet not as good as last time. This time I booked grand suite and was upgraded to a lovely signature suite. Suite stays includes return airport transportation by a brand new BMW M7. Check In After a short and comfortable ride from the airport, a bellboy took my luggage and escorted to front desk. Check-in was quick. Despite this being my second time here I had to show my identification. That wasn't necessary during my first stay. Signature suite 129 The hotel has a total of six signature suites which all are located in corners. I was shown some of the other suites, too, and liked most my suite 129, the Piłsudski apartment, in terms of layout and design, although it isn’t the biggest one.The bedroom is similar in every room and some of the rooms has a bathroom with natural light.Unfortunately, the hotel has downgraded some of the amenities and benefits which is a sign of cost cutting. For example, dental kits are no longer stocked in the rooms and one need to request them. Moreover, toothbrush is of lower quality than before. They used to have premium quality toothbrush, not the typical cheap hotel version. Same story with razor.Soft drinks from the minibar is included in the suites and drinks are supposed to be restocked daily. However, I had to ask it twice. Suite tour Here are a few photos of different rooms for comparing.1. Another, slightly larger signature suite:2. Raffles suite living room:3. Junior suite living room:4. Deluxe room patios in inner courtyard: Platinum benefits I was able to check in as early as 10am. Didn't need late check-out so can't comment on that. In addition to the rroom upgrade, I received a nice welcome amenity and a drink voucher.The hotel has a new policy for welcome drinks: one can only choose prosecco, house wine, beer or non-alcoholic drink. Earlier the hotel offered wider range of beverages, cocktails included. At least Singapore sling should be served.The stinginess is odd for a top luxury hotel but the service is top notch: after I gave feedback on the welcome drinks I was offered another drink and told that both Singapore sling and Warsaw sling will be added back to welcome drink list from now on.Other sling cocktails aren't available any longer. The explanation was that they can’t store all ingredients since the slings aren't so popular.Nice welcome amenity.Singapore slings in the Long bar. The hotel used to offer all sling cocktails but not anymore. Now it's either the original Singapore sling or local Warsaw local. Pool Swimming pool is still under construction but it should be opening in a few weeks. A front desk manager was kind enough to arrange free use of Sofitel spa. Service The service is great: accommodating, flexible, warm and personalized. You get the feeling you are part of a big family. When departing, a duty manager came to say goodbye and shake hands. Many times different staff members thank me for returning, asked how is the stay and hoped I keep on coming back – despite the fact I might a challenging customer sometimes. :)

Very nice. I noticed the Sofitel, very close on one of your picture ;)
Thanks for the review.

Agreed. Sounds like very cheap for a Raffles.

The fun fact here is that Europejski used to be owned by Orbis pre-2005, but they were successfully sued by the current owners, who won and took over the building. These new owners then chose FRHI, but then FRHI was acquired by Orbis' parent, Accor.

Europejski is the only Accor hotel in Poland NOT managed by Orbis, but directly by Accor/FRHI.

In December 18 I only got Soft-drinks as a choice even thought I insisted.... Any recent experiences if now at least Sling is included as I will be there soon again.
For a Raffles it's indeed far below expectation compared to other properties.