We were spending a few days in Poland and because the weather was really summery, we decided to drive up to the sea side for a few days. We have never been to Hel Peninsula before so we googled the hotels in the area. There was not much choice of higher standard hotels and we ended up deciding between Hotel Zdrojowy and Bryza SPA. The first one's website gave us the idea that the hotel is quite old and outdated. The Bryza's website showed a nice clean modern hotel with a great spa and inviting pictures of the interior. The prices were the same as in the 5 star hotel we were staying in Bydgoszcz, so we obviously expected a similar experience, especially in September, after season.

So we arrived. It all started at the car park. We were asked to park where we wanted and head towards the only illuminated entrance. It was evening already and there were no other lights anywhere. It felt like we arrived to abandoned hotel. We found the only lights which led us to the stairs. Not a single soul to help us carry the three suitcases up. At the reception a tired lady found our reservation, issued two ugly keys (plastic cards on a long orange fabric leash to put around the neck) and two cards that enabled us to receive fresh towels at the spa area. We also signed the form stating that if we loose these cards (not keys, the towel cards!), we would pay 100zl each for them. When my partner asked whether the room was nice, he did not get an answer. The lady either did not speak English, or just did not want to admit that we were given a bad room. Obviously nobody showed us to the room or helped with the cases. And the modern feel from the website, disappeared as soon as we discovered that there was no lift in our building.

We found the room. It was tiny! Funny, how you can search through the website and you will not find a single photograph of the room of the same size... It was basically just a double bed, bedside tables, drawer unit under TV, mini bar, small wardrobe with safe and a petite bathroom with black stains on shower door and very old feel in general. There was also a balcony with a view of the roof of a downstairs patio or something like that. Nothing as lovely and charming as offered on the website. We said that it did not matter as we were there to enjoy the sea side, not a room.

We quickly changed for dinner and decided to try the hotel restaurant. The menu was quite nice, although the prices were very high, especially for Poland. And the wine list topped it all up. A bottle of wine or champagne that we normally get in the restaurants in many European cities, costed roughly 3 times as much. Why??? Fortunately the meals were very tasty so we did not mind paying a high bill.

Back in the room we soon realised that TV had not much to offer. The only English channel was BBC news. We had an iPad and wanted to download a movie but there was no wifi either. So we just went to sleep.

Next morning at breakfast we noticed that there were not that many guests in the hotel at all. We explored other buildings and were surprised to discover that we were not given a nicer room. The other building had a lift in it and entrance to SPA. When we wanted to use the pool, we had to leave one building and walk to another. It rained twice when we did that. The spa area was quite modern but the fact that you have to ask for towels each time and then bring them back to get your special (and expensive!) card back makes me think about the old times and the general Polish mentality (if it is there for free, someone will steal it). The prices of SPA treatments were very European and my partner did not enjoy his classic massage.

I always read all the literature provided by the hotel in the room and that's how I knew that the check out was at 11am. We wanted to leave early anyway so we managed to pack and check out by 11:10. The reception staff never asked us how we enjoyed the stay, probably knowing that with the room we were given and the price we paid, we probably did not. There was another guest that came rushing down saying that his wife needs a little bit more time to pack and leave the room. He meant 10-15 minutes but the receptionist said that they were late already and that it was not good. Come on! The hotel was nearly empty!

So, overall we enjoyed the location, right on the Jurata beach and the lovely jogging area. The food was quite nice as well but all the eggs were already cooked and left out in the buffet. I prefer them cooked fresh.

Such a shame there are no good hotels on the peninsula. Next time we will be trying to rent a private accommodation because this hotel is definitely not worth ever going back to.