For my second night in Warsaw as part of my Baltic Explorer trip, I selected the Hampton Warsaw City Center for its location, value and to complete the Fast Track to Gold promotion offered by the Hilton Hhonors rewards program. I hadn’t stayed at a Hampton hotel outside the US and was pleasantly surprised – read on to find out more!
Location: The Hampton is located only two blocks from DW Centralny, the main train and bus station in the heart of Warsaw. It’s a 5 minute walk, making it great to explore Warsaw using public transportation, using the many tram and bus lines to any place in and around Warsaw or across Poland from the station. The airport is about 20 minutes by taxi. The hotel is in a renovated building and the lobby entrance is on a side street, making it a little hard to find. The location is the single biggest advantage of the Hampton Warsaw!
Service: The front desk was professional, yet not very warm or friendly – very similar to the staff at the Grand Mercure Warsaw I stayed the night before! They had me checked into my standard room very quickly and provided all the necessary information about the hotel and its amenities! Housekeeping had done a thorough job at preparing my room and I found no issues. The restaurant staff was overwhelmed by the number of guests (even though the hotel was not sold out during my stay), leaving me underwhelmed with the experience there! The check-out was quick and professional, getting me on my way in minutes.
Room: The room was a pleasant surprise – it was much more modern than what I had experienced at US hotels of the chain, with dark wood furniture and a bright green wall! While that color wouldn’t be my first choice, it provided a clean, modern look! The comfortable bed with soft, upscale sheets was the next surprise and made for a good night’s sleep! There was a small desk with a comfortable work chair, a TV, coffee/tea facilities and a laptop size safe. Wifi was free and reliable. The bathroom had a similarly modern look and feel, with white tiles, a dark wood pedestal sink. I liked the shower with a rounded glass wall, making for easy entry to the shower without flooding the bathroom as you often have with similar half-walled showers! The towels and amenities were standard issue Hampton and off good quality!
Amenities/Restaurant: The Hampton has a good-size gym with enough cardio and weight equipment for a good workout. It was brand new and the equipment was in good condition.
Like at every Hampton Hotel in the US, the breakfast is included in the rate. Unlike in the US, a lot of European enjoy long, hearty breakfasts, leaving the Hampton Warsaw’s breakfast room under-sized! There were long lines at the single (!!) coffee maker, the buffet area was crowded and the staff had trouble replenishing the food trays. They also had trouble clearing the tables in a timely fashion, leaving the overall breakfast experience lacking. The quality of the food and drink items was good, comparable to other free breakfast offerings at US or European hotels. I usually enjoy the breakfast at limited-service hotels, but was underwhelmed by the Hampton offering. I experienced similar problems at the new Hampton Krakow, so Hampton Europe has some work to do to bring their breakfast up to par!
Conclusion: The Hampton Warsaw City Center offers you a nice room in a very central location. For $51/night during my stay, you get a free, but underwhelming breakfast. The room and amenities at the Grand Mercure Warsaw were a lot nicer for less money and I’d rather have breakfast out in town than the free one at the Hampton. So, it comes down to the very convenient location and your rewards program of choice. I’d consider the Hampton for a future stay based on the location, with very low expectations for the breakfast!