Le Meridien Bristol - Warsaw
 

Any thoughts on this property? I think I will stay here one night and one night on the Exec Floor at the Westin. A nice contrast I should think. Also, anyone been to the Malinowa restaurant at the hotel? Apprently Michelin rated and at 32 Euro for a 5 course meal, inexpensive!

This is my preferred hotel in Warsaw. Although there are flasher lobbies and fancier rooms in the city, the service is second to none, and the location (on Krakowskie Przedmiescie) preferable to the main run of hotels (in my opinion). If you have a Moments card, they're also rather upgrade-happy.

The restaurant is very good: last time I was there, two of us ordered roast suckling pig (give advance notice), which I couldn't fault in the slightest. Like most major hotels in Warsaw, it has a decent (Mercedes E-class) car service too, chargeable to your room.

(Incidentally, assuming you get a taxi from the airport or station to the hotel, it's known locally just as the 'Bristol'.)

I have already minted a new Moments account suspecting that it may increse the niceness factor :) I will stay at Westin the first night and Bristol the second. Thanks for the comments, makes me feel better about the choice.

Bristol's fine (very fine!) if you get a decent room. But some are not so great: a fault with many, older grand hotels if you are not paying top whack. For consistency in rooms - i.e. no duds - new places like the Intercontinental are great, and if you opt for their top rooms you get stupendous 40th-floor city-wide views over the Palace of Culture.

Beware the taxi vultures at WAW. Mouthing "Bristol, please" will make you an interesting target for a 150 Zlotich fare (it should be 30-ish, or use the hotel pick-up service, around 50).

Bargain:three-day public transport ticket (convenient, easy to use) will cost you 12 ZL - less than USD5.

I agree in all of the above. I stayed in Bristol a month ago for a week-end, and I was impressed by their high standards. A week later I received a letter from the general manager of the hotel thanking me for staying and for my good comments, indeed a very good gesture!

Bristol needs renos!
 

Not happy with my stay. The room, an Executive King was dark, there were paint discolorations on closet doors, cracks in the walls in the bathroom, the bed looked like it was sagging, there was no iron, no coffee maker and the place in general needs a significant reno (an iron was brought - the cord was frayed :td: ) The gym also needs new equipment. The Malinowa restaurant was also not a good choice. Food was not very good but service was very attentive.

This contrasts with the Westin the night before - what a dream experience - completely flawless from start to finish. It was simply amazing. And, before people jump on me that Bristol is an old hotel, I have stayed in the better Fairmonts and they are FAR better than this. Again, the Westin rocks!!!!

No I am not gonna jump on you! Same experience with "no iron", "no coffemaker" and I would also add "no Wi Fi" which also very important! I wrote them comments baout that! Did you?
The service however is excellent... And people everywhere, extremely polite and willing to help.
The Malinowa restaurant did not impresss me. Again, the service excellent, the food was just OK (relative to what I expected). I wouldn't like to talk about that here however, b/c I don't think you can compare it with the best retaurants in e.g. Lyon.
One thing I'd mention though: It is very expensive! I don't think that people with "just good" salaries in Poland could easily afford it, and with this thought, I was expecting something exceptional...
The room I stayed was pretty good, nowhere got the impression of something needed to be renovated. Dark? Yes, a little bit, especially the rooms in the highest floor, they have small windows. No problem with that!
Next time in Warsaw? Yes, I would stay again in Bristol! But I wouldn't eat at Malinowa, there are so many other good restaurants in Warsaw...

Yes, I left a comment card - I invariably do, usually good comments but not this time. I started off by saying that I had high expectations of a great hotel and was disappointed. Then I continued with the points I made, including the good one re: service in the restaurant and also in the new executive lounge (for which I paid extra). We shall see if they write back. The conditions I saw are potentially acceptable in a Holiday Inn and even then only vaguely. They are certainly NOT acceptable in a top hotel no matter the age. Glad we agreed on the Malinowa. Perhaps a note to Michelin Guides is in order ;)

What a shame! It sounds like this hotel is resting on its laurels somewhat, as its reputation goes ahead of it. Sorry to hear you had a poor stay there, Altaflyer.