Can you please suggest any economic hotels near to Ul Francuska 36 Building B Katowice, as I would be working for a week staying closer to office and search a flat within that time.
The Economy Silesian Hotel and the Quality Silesian Hotel are both a few minutes walk from ul. Francuska and both are very cheap. I think they are both on booking.
@Jon: when you say "cheap", do you have an idea? In fact, I'm amazed at how expensive hotels are in Katowice. The other day, I passed in front of one called something like "Angelo" that looked nice to me but then I checked, it appeared that it costs some 400ZL. Personally I don't want to spend so much, a place like Katowice is not worth it...
Longer stays for cheaper accommodation, they are for instance an Ibis Budget in Katowice. I don't know how far it is from Centrum (but I don't think it's very far) but Katowice (contrary to Warsaw, for instance, which drives me crazy) is compact and is no too difficult to move around.
These were a lot cheaper than that, 150zl or something like that, maybe a bit less.
I used to stay in a decrepit old hotel for 100zl round the back of the station, but when I looked for it recently it had vanished. A shame really. It needed modernising but was an old style hotel with a cheap but good restaurant, a ballroom! and an old fashioned upstairs bar.
The cheapest nowadays is (also not far from ul. Francuska), the Zajazd Sportowy. There used to be another sports hotel upstairs from the tennis club, 50 or 60zl a room and clean/modern but a shared bathroom. Sadly they demolished it.
Thanks, Jon, but as you say "were", does it mean that your prices are kind of old? I now and then have to go to Kce (next week, for instance) and instead of traveling back and forth same day (exhausting), I think I'll sometimes stay overnight in a hotel. As a woman, of course, I mean to choose a decent hotel in safe neighborhood and I also need some comfort, with private bathroom... Last time I looked (less than a year ago) there were several of them around 200/250 (this fits me but of course if cheaper and good, why not? ;)). The other day I passed in front of one called something like Angelo (don't remember exactly as I'm terrible with names of places, streets...), which is looks very nice and is close to Pl. Wolnośći (5 minutes' walk from railroad station for people who don't know Kce) but according to what I have found on the net, it's 400+ per night so no way although it must be good.
What about Ibis Budget for OP (and for others ;))? I don't have time to look it up but the price must be cheaper than 150.
I just had a look at booking and chose the night of 18 November just as an example. The Economy Silesian Hotel was 114zl and the Quality Silesian Hotel was 150zl - 'was' meaning when I just looked - it's a very British way of using English ;-) . Nearer the station (very near) there's the Diament Plaza on a 'value deal' (I usually book these deals) at 155zl and further away (near park Kościuszko) the Willa Aurum (looks lovely) is 213zl.
They all have private bathrooms/wifi etc and the cheapest one, the Economy Silesian, actually looks quite nice.
The Ibis Budget website says "from $23". I don't much like the rooms in those hotels (but they are clean and have everything) but do sometimes use them because I have an Accor loyalty card ;-)
The best deals are usually on booking or lastminute (good to check both) and I've also used hotel, though some people don't recommend it.
Ok, thanks, Jon! I'll remember your post when I need to book in Kce. I agree with you re Ibis Budget. I know several people who regularly stay at such hotels and they like them. For me, they are the equivalent of ... McDo ;). They are cheap and functional but usually they are away from Centrum and often in some sort of industrial areas. I don't know about the one in Kce. If only $23, even by Polish standards, it's nothing.
Basically, what hotel as close to Centrum as possible would you recommend in Kce? I don't mind spending up to 250zl.
Thanks:)
PS: I'm printing your message so I won't have to look it up when needed
The Diament Plaza on ul. Dworcowa looks nice (155zl reduced from 235zl) as does the Diament Spodek (179zl reduced from 235zl). They're both 3 star. The Novotel is 237zl and is 4 star.
The only two hotels I could have really recommended because I stayed in them are both closed now sadly. Nowadays I tend to go back on the same day.
Those prices are through booking. I chose the 18th November at random. Obviously the price is dearer if a lot of people have booked and maybe less if the hotel is empty. Sometimes you can get a very good price from that site on the same day or the day before if they haven't sold many rooms.
Obviously these are online prices. They are usually cheaper than just arriving without a booking or phoning them to reserve. Trivago.com is a good site for hotels - they aggregate all the different booking services and show the cheapest.
Just looking at Trivago, there are a few others too. Prices in £ (sorry!), but you pay in zl.
Ok! Thanks again! All this seems very complicated for me and whenever I do need to reserve a room, I just contact the hotel directly and deal with them. Well, I'll think about your comments when need to book in Kce :)
I'd never thought about these booking services until someone I work with recommended them to me and now I use them all the time. The good thing is that you just type in the place and the dates and they give a selection that you can compare. You can sort them by distance, price etc.
Booking is good and usually a bit cheaper than lastminute. Trivago just combines them all and redirects you to the website of the cheapest one, though I'm a bit wary of ones I haven't heard of.
I once got a fantastic deal from booking (it was an obvious mistake, but the hotel honoured it) - 10 Euro for a night in central Budapest, for two people, in a 3 star hotel with breakfast included. We were going to Sarajevo the next day, so we easily ate 10 Euro worth of food for breakfast alone ;)
Re mistake, I've even a "better" story ;). A client of mine organizes himself all his vacation trips around the world and once, he paid the equivalent (in USD) of some 700 ZL for 1 week (double room since with his wife) in a 5 star hotel in Bali. Obviously it was a mistake from a hotel employee but my client and his wife got the deal ;).
Well, it happens only once .... Nevertheless, said client is the best in terms of organizing best deals :)
It's probably a mistake but with online hotel bookings it could possibly be a genuine price. I got a couple of nights at a 5 star (actually 5 star plus) hotel in Al-Ain this year for $80 through booking. It does happen.
I doubt there's such discounts in Katowice but lastminute.com does have the mystery hotels (they don't tell you the name, but you can check easily from the original price & the location) which tend to be 4 or 5 star and are amazing value. They tend to be in places with an oversupply of hotels and during quiet periods. I've never seen one in Poland, but it's possible.
For cheaper hotels, sometimes smaller chains or 'boutique hotels', even good Guest Houses are sometimes a good price and excellent quality. That one called the Willa Aurum in Katowice (unfortunately outside the centre a bit) looked really nice.
For someone working in Katowice, the priority is location, price, and good wifi maybe. Somewhere posh is nice, but convenience comes first.
