We booked the Venetian based on reviews we read through Trip Advisor and what was clearly a great…read morelocation. We knew we had made a great choice as soon as we arrived; the staff at the small front desk were warm, courteous and helpful.
Located on the main square, the hotel sits on the pedestrian mall. Cars are only allowed before 10am, so if you arrive later it'll be a short walk (3 min) to the hotel itself. The entrance is placed between two restaurants, and is easy to miss, so pay close attention to the signage and look up; the sign is above a courtyard entrance. Don't be afraid to ask waiters or other people working in the area for directions, which is what we did.
While this is an old building it does have a small elevator which was a pleasant surprise as we had quite a bit of luggage and there are a lot of stairs to get to the rooms.
The rooms themselves are "all mod cons". Well appointed, air conditioned, with small kitchenette (plates, glasses, small stove and small fridge). The beds are firm but surprisingly comfortable, which seems a standard feature of Polish hotels. Another quirk in Poland are the duvets - it would appear that queen/king size duvets are hard to come by in this country, so we were given two single duvets for our queen bed (which happened even at the Intercontinental in Warsaw). They are however lovely, fluffy, warm and cozy. The hotel also has a washing machine and dryer available and they will provide you with detergent if you need to do laundry - which is super nice if you've packed light for a long trip.
The staff, as we mentioned, were fabulous. Although one of us speaks Polish there would have been no issue if we were both unilingual Anglophones. All the staff spoke fluent English. More importantly they are eager to help with any requests you might have. In our case recommendations on restaurants, directions and help with tours to the Salt Mines and Auschwitz. While we never did this we also found out that some guests would give them a grocery list and cash, and they would go get the requested items for you - outstanding. They were also quite fun to chat up, and we grew quite fond of our hosts.
The hotel is located on Krakow's main square, which is surrounded by a beautiful green belt which made for lovely strolls. You'll find lots of restaurant options in the square, as well as some shopping, and marvellous ice cream everywhere you turn. Our favourite food kiosk was just off the square, very near the hotel, serving marvellous potato pancakes with great sauces. We've forgotten the name, but it's easy to find. Take a left from the hotel entrance, walk about 25 meters, and look for the people devouring these yummy pancakes on the small, stand-up tables out front.
Perhaps best of all for us is that the Venetian is located near the Jewish Quarter. A 15 minute walk took us to some great restaurants (more funky than what you find in the main square), the popular Zapiekanka stands in the Kazimierz and some great bars. If you're look of for a really funky place to hear great live music while enjoying ridiculously cheap drinks look for Alchemie; for us it was like being in any one of a number of our favourite New Orleans bars/music venues. A great vibe!
Another convenient aspect to the location was the short walk to Galleria Krakowski, a popular and fashionable mall. The walk to the mall takes you to a pedestrian underpass with a wonderful fruit stand which became absolutely addictive with their perfect and super-flavourful strawberries and peaches. The mall also has a PLAY store for those of you with an unlocked phone, where you can buy a SIM chip and pay-as-you-go airtime (buy the airtime with your credit card and not at stores... (Long story).
Overall the Venetian is a great hotel that we highly recommend.
