Forest Hotel

The forest around the hotel gives you a lovely view to wake up to, even though it’s only about 15 minutes from the city centre. Our room was clean and comfortable, with indoor heating, and the staff were friendly and ready to help with anything we asked. This was our second stay at Forest Hotel, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. It’s one of my favourite places to stay in Krakow.

We had a lovely, clean en-suite room, and the reception team were brilliant, welcoming, polite and really engaging. Thanks as well to the cleaner who found my gloves 😀 I’ll definitely come back.

The location was nice, but the room was clearly unfinished and very disappointing. It had no furniture beyond two beds, a small metal tray meant to serve as a table, and one wooden chair. Cables were left visible in the wall, and the bedside light didn’t work. Our friends stayed there at the same time in a similar room, but theirs had a proper desk and chair, lighting and a shelf unit. They should finish refurbishing rooms before offering them to guests.

I wouldn’t recommend staying here. In my experience, it wasn’t safe when I lived there, and I felt the place was not worth $110. Reception staff would give keys to some Russian residents, who then went into rooms and stole clothes, money, or whatever they could find. Students couldn’t complain because the director, an older gay man named Wladyslaw Miodunka, was always trying to molest young male students, and anyone who complained risked being thrown out of the program they needed to graduate in their home countries. The so-called castle was built by the Germans during the war. It had been a monk cemetery for a nearby monastery; the bones were dug up and thrown down the hill. Hans Frank, the NAZI governor of Krakow, lived there. There used to be a swastika on the floor near the entrance, though it was removed just a few years ago. The restaurant, owned by some Iraqis or Syrians, serves food I didn’t like. There’s only one convenience store nearby, down at the bottom of the hill. The rooms are small, freezing in winter and hot in summer. Maybe $50, but at that price there’s still nothing to do out there, just trees.