Hotel Secesja was not the hotel we had originally booked for our stay in Krakow. We were a party of 6 adults. We arrived 10.30pm local at a different hotel, were told on arrival we did not have rooms. Taxi's were called for and we were sents of to the Hotel Secesja. Hotel Secesja is in the Jewish district of Krakow, the hotel has air-condition. Breakfast was most enjoyable, staff in hotel were friendly and very helpful. We would definately go back to this hotel. Our first hotel was called Hotel Matejko we would say anyone thinking of going to this hotel dont bother!!!!!!!!!

If you want a small quiet hotel in a good location the Secesja should meet your needs. It is situated in a quiet side street on the edge of the old Jewish area which has many good restaurants and small bars. It is near tram and bus routes but far enough away not to hear them and is only about 5 minutes walk from the base of the Wawel hill and maybe 15 minutes from the Market Square. The rooms have free internet access. The girls on reception are very friendly and helpful with directions and advice. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

I went there for a business meeting. The meeting venue was not a meeting venue. Later I found out that this room ususally is used for wedding ceremonies. In the backround you did hear the laundry machine (which was turned off after we'd asked for).
The staff is very nice and speaks good english. breakfast was okay, not much to choose but okay. I would not recomment the Hotel's restaurant. In the surrounding area you get way better food for less price. In the rooms it was hard to regulate the heating (also in my colleagues room) but you get another room if you ask for it. Whats been missing was some information material in the hotel's room. No guide on Krakow, not pen or paper, nothing. But the room was clean, the bed really comfi and the bath was clean. Free WiFi in the Hotel was free!
The location of the hotel is great! Really quiet neighborhood, all necessary shops within 3 min walk (tobaccostore, bakery, groceries, conveniet stores, etc.), you get within 3 min walk to the very beautiful Krakow castle, less than 10min to the famous Krakow market place, 10 minutes to the jewisch district. There is a main tram station within 2 minutes walk. Just perfect when it comes to the location.

My time there was not bad but I think you get a better Hotel for the same price.

We stayed at this hotel for 4 nights during September.

The hotel
We took public transport from the airport to the hotel and it was very easy to find. Upon arriving at the hotel they informed us that we had been upgraded to a suite. The suite has a bedroom, lounge area, large bathroom and balcony, as well as air conditioning in the two main rooms. The hotel was clean and the staff were friendly and happy to give you help if you needed advice on tourist information, including basic details as to where to catch local buses/trams. Breakfast was a buffet with cereal, bread, rolls, cold meats and cheese and sometimes some hot sausages, this was probably the only area in which the hotel could improve as staff were not always on hand, which meant you waited sometime for items to be replaced or tables cleared.
The hotel is about 5 mins walk from the Jewish Quarter and 20 mins to the old town square, it is also well placed for all public transport.

Travelling around Krakow
Upon arriving at the airport we decided to get public transport to the hotel, whilst this was fine and we would certainly do it again there are a few bits to be aware of…
- the trains from the airport only run every 30mins
- this train will take you into the central station where you can the pick up other trains, buses or trams
- if you need a tram, exit the station and cross the shopping centre square where you can get a number of different trams
- you can buy a ticket for the airport train on board from a conductor, however tram tickets need to be purchased before boarding and then validated once on board. Buses however have ticket machines on board but only take coins

Things to see & do
We would recommend the following, whilst you can do these on a tour they are easy enough to do by yourself with the help of a guide book. It is a beautiful city and you see so much more on foot.

The Jewish Quarter – there are a large number of Jewish Synagogues in the area, many of which you can visit

The castle (Wawel Castle) & Town square (Rynek Glowny) – both great places to visit together with their surrounding areas. Do take some time to sit in the town square watching the world go by and also walk through some of the park land which boarders the old town (the Planty). We had the AA guide book and this provided some good walks in the area.

The Salt Mines – we got a bus to these, which was about 20mins. It is worth going to see and do make sure you also do the optional free tour to the museum area.

Auschwitz – we got the local bus here, which was about 1.5hours and the bus leaves from the main terminal behind the station. Upon arrive you can join the next tour (available in a number of languages inc English), the guide will take you to many of the buildings and give you a lot of the history, after this you will be taken to Birkenau (the second camp). The tour guides are very well informed and carry out the tour in a respectful way, whilst we were pleased we went on this trip it did seem slightly wrong to see many hundreds of tourist in a place which has experienced such sadness.

Restaurants
We would definitely recommend Polski Jadeo which services Polish food. It is located in the main square (Rynek Glowny 23) and we would recommend eating inside.

We also ate in Ariel in the Jewish Quarter and whilst the food was good it was more expensive and we felt it was aimed at the tourist market.

A local speciality is to serve a bowl of lard and pork with bread before the meal.