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Hotel Rating 3 Star; Price ranges: From Euro 110 > 160 Euro; Buffet breakfast & VAT included; Children under 4 and baby beds are free of charge; 50% discount for children aged 4 – 12, additional bed & breakfast - € 25.00; 20 single and double rooms including 2 luxurious rooms on three floors and in the penthouse; Each bedroom is equipped with en suite bathrooms or showers, telephone, mini-bars, satellite TV, free access to DVD channels and the Internet; Conference facilities best suited for groups of thirty-five or less; audio-visual equipment available including filming and commemorative photos; Restaurant; Underground Pub; nearby parking
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Hotel Senacki is situated directly on Grodzka Street, across from the 17th c. monumental Church of SS Peter and Paul built in Baroque style and the 11th c. St. Andrew's Church, one of the oldest temples in Krakow. It is a premier location to reside while visiting the historic sites of Krakow; from the doorstep of the hotel, within a ten minute walk to left and right, you will find yourself at the famous Wawel castle or the city’s lively main square. As you walk through the building, you will notice that many of the traditional architectural and decorative elements were maintained through its restoration and transformation into a hotel. Many of the ceilings remain wood-beamed and the large stairwell ascending through the building remains in its original form.
The restaurant is perhaps the strongest embodiment of Polish tradition, with its plethora of darkly toned wood and two large canvas paintings in the style of realism. It is also unique in its offerings of customary Polish food, much of which I had eaten in my house as a child raised by first generation Polish-American parents. There is also a quaint, but lively pub attached to the hotel; a great place to have a beer with a few friends or enjoy a drink before dinner.
My grandmother Laura Brandt Weiss was from Krakow, she came to the United States at the young age of eighteen. Subsequently, her entire family was wiped out during World War II during the Nazi regime. Visiting Krakow was a dream comes true for me; Libby, as we called my grandmother, had severe Alzheimer’s disease, so from the time I was five years old, her mind resided in Poland. We would sing and dance to the Polish national anthem, while she would repeatedly tell stories of growing up on their dairy farm just outside the city of walls of Krakow, and afternoons spent along the Visla River. I had such vivid mental images of her homeland, but it did not come close to the true magnificence of this sacral city. Fortunately, in an ill-fated way, unlike Warsaw that was completely destroyed, Krakow was headquarters to the Nazi’s and left architecturally unscathed. I wandered the streets of Libby’s world, gazing at the faces passing by, conjecturing whether our lineages were one.
Two most memorable moments: first, when my son Isaac raced for the United States in the 2006 Krakow Mayors Cup Race in kayaking on the Visla River; secondly, the private Jewish heritage tour I arranged for my family through the Jewish districts, eventually crossing the bridge that my ancestors walked to what was to be a better life in a new ghetto, only to end up waiting for the train taking them to Auschwitz or to work in Shindler’s factory.
Although the Hotel Senacki is not a luxurious hotel, opened in just 2002, it is clean, very well maintained, and is staffed by highly capable and hospitable personnel.
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