Boutique B&B - Warsaw, Poland

Comment by Outi

May 2006

We stayed in Boutique B&B two nights in May 06 and I have to say that we were quite disappointed. Biggest dissappointment was that our room did not meet the description in B&Bs web pages at all. Here below you can find quotes from B&B’s web pages (in quotation marks) and our comments to those. Even though the owner writes: “I sometimes catch myself suspiciously looking at certain websites. These sites contain colourful and glossy pictures, and I often look at them cynically, judging whether what these pictures show is in fact real.” His own pictures nor written descriptions were not real. Location: “The building locating my B&B, 14 Smolna, dates from 1910. It is exceptionally safe and modern, and it is kept in the Berlin-style modernism (Bauhaus).” Our room was not located in that building, which would have been nice to know in advance. Our building was probably from 1970s. Real communist era masterpiece. In the pictures and descriptions of room types Prince and Princess (those match the price we paid) you can see either two beds or a double bed. We did have two beds but they were on top of each other. Not really my idea of romantic weekend with my husband. And the ladder to upper bed felt quite dangerous since it was not properly attahced. “Floors: Made of natural wood, covered with ecological floor polish, without a carpet.” True, there were wooden floors but I don’t think they have seen any kind of polish in very long time. And some parts of floor were missing pieces of wood. “Flowers: Give you energy to live, and should always be found where people are present.” We saw flowers in breakfast room, not anywhere in our building. About communication: “Thus, I installed a telephone system, which allows both intra-room and outside communication, and the rates correspond with the regular Polish Telephone Company prices.” Our room did not have phone at all. Breakfast: “As is the case with the odd, old and new cities such as Warsaw, they usually require a good tour guide. It is a pleasure for me to reveal some of Warsaw’s secrets to you, especially during breakfasts. I am happy to give good advice, whether it is about how to avoid over-charging taxi drivers or where to find the best Zurek (a Polish soup) in the city.” We did not meet this person at all and the lovely lady who served the breakfast did not really speak English. “The breakfasts I serve comprise everything I adore eating myself: white and yellow cheeses, village eggs, plum jam prepared by my mother (really!), along with dark berry, raspberry and cherry jams.” We did not get any eggs, not village nor city. Security of belongings: “In order to make you feel more relaxed about the belongings you bring, all of the rooms in my B&B contain safes for valuables.” Maybe all the other rooms but not ours. We could not find one and guy who showed the room said there isn’t any. TV Access: ”If you feel tired after a full day of exploring Warsaw, you can always watch a plethora of cable TV channels available at my B&B.” When separately mentioned you might expect more than two English speaking channels. Snack: “everyday special surprise -- afternoon tea snack”. Well, maybe it was only for selected guests since we were not invited for that. It would have been also useful to mention that credit cards are not accepted for payment. When the name says “Boutique” I expect something special. With that price we did not expect anything fancy or elegant but something stylish and cosy. Our room was more of hostel style, not B&B. All the furnitures were like cheap, selfmade and from '60s. Closet doors were hanging open and all in all, everything looked really shabby. If this is someone’s idea of “home away from home” I really wonder how they live. Now you may ask why didn’t we complain there and then and ask for room change. Well, we did not meet any other staff but the lady preparing the breakfast and as I already mentioned; she did not speak really much of English. We did not want to spend our short time in Warsaw to a hassle of finding a staff member who speaks English. We really thought that we would meet the owner at some point and then we could tell all this to him.As a summary I would say: do not go to this B&B or at least make sure during booking that you get what you are booking. Otherwise we really enjoyed our stay in Warsaw, lovely city. Absolutely worth visiting. Such choose your accommodation carefully.