Pod Smerkami

The driveway feels like a death trap, and the food isn’t the best quality. Aside from those things, everything else is great. Not a bad place to stay.

The location of the cottage was nice, and the views from the hot air balloon were very good. Still, it needs a complete renovation. When the fireplace was lit, the water heater leaked and water came through the ceiling onto the stairs. Getting there was difficult, especially when leaving. For this level of quality, the price ought to be much lower.

We rented Smerki Cottage in Szklarska Poręba for a larger group during winter. It was supposed to be exclusive, but the owners came in without permission, including at night during quiet hours, saying they were fixing the heater. They spent three days on it without getting results. The cottage conditions were appalling: the rooms were around 15°C, the heaters didn’t work, one room had no hot water, the toilet flushes failed, electrical outlets were broken, and the windows leaked. We reported these problems repeatedly, but the staff ignored them. The property didn’t match the advertised standard, there was organizational chaos and no response to complaints, and guests were shown no respect. The driveway hadn’t been cleared of snow, making it hard to get up the hill and hard to leave. Rather than clear the entrance and exit, the owners gave us a broken shovel and left us to do it ourselves. Failure. I’ve attached photos showing the cottage’s condition. Strongly advise against staying here, it was a waste of money and a very unpleasant stay.

After one night, we felt better physically and mentally once we moved out. The stay was awful, the standard was mediocre, and the owners’ attitude was discouraging. When we reported that the heating wasn’t working at -12 degrees Celsius at night, they gave us a heater that kept blowing fuses, then said it was our fault. The bathroom radiator and toilet flush didn’t work either. When we raised it again, the woman looked disgusted and the man said we were talking nonsense, that we were the only ones with a problem and had caused it ourselves. It felt like standards from years ago, except there were Wi-Fi sensors on every window and radiator and cameras everywhere. After one night they suggested, “If you don’t like it, you can leave.” We went out into the city after they tried to fix things and brought the heater. When we came back, everything had somehow started working, apparently the pacing around the room only happens when guests aren’t there. After speaking in person, we decided to leave. The man changed our Booking reservation to one night and changed the amount charged, but didn’t refund what he’d received, which was almost twice as much. He had also asked us to pay by bank transfer when we booked through Booking. The atmosphere was strange, and I can’t see this approach to customer service having a future. I expect the reply will be “lies, nonsense, it’s our fault, he did everything he could,” like on all the unfavorable reviews here.