Hotel Pod Wawelem

Hotel Pod Wawelem Overview

You know what struck me first about Hotel Pod Wawelem? The name literally means “Under Wawel” and they’re not kidding – you can practically reach out and touch Wawel Castle from some of the windows. I mean, we’re talking about a three-star place that’s positioned better than most five-star hotels in the city. The location on Plac Na Groblach is honestly perfect if you want to be in the thick of Old Town without dealing with the absolute chaos of the main square (trust me, you’ll thank me for this during summer when Rynek Główny is packed wall-to-wall with tourists).

The hotel itself feels authentically Krakow – sort of elegant but not trying too hard, you know? The lobby has this old-world Polish charm without being stuffy about it, and honestly, the staff actually seems to care about what they’re doing, which isn’t always a given in tourist-heavy areas. I was surprised by how quiet my room was considering we’re literally in the heart of everything – apparently they’ve done some decent soundproofing, though you’ll still hear the occasional horse-drawn carriage clip-clopping by in the early evening. The rooms are clean and comfortable, nothing fancy but everything works, and the beds are actually good (I’m picky about mattresses). What really gets me is the view situation – if you end up with a castle-facing room, you’re basically getting a million-dollar vista for the price of a decent dinner.

Here’s the thing that makes this place special though – the location gives you this insider’s access to Krakow that most visitors never get. You can walk to Wawel Cathedral in about three minutes, but more importantly, you’re close to all these little side streets where locals actually eat and drink. Grodzka Street is right there, which means you can stumble back from the Jewish Quarter after a night of exploring Kazimierz without dealing with expensive taxis or figuring out late-night trams. And breakfast? Well, it’s Polish hotel breakfast – nothing revolutionary but solid, and they actually have decent coffee, which honestly surprised me. The 8.9 rating makes total sense when you consider you’re getting legitimate Old Town location, reasonable comfort, and genuine Polish hospitality without paying through the nose for it. It’s the kind of place where you spend your money on experiencing the city rather than just staying somewhere impressive.

Krakow hotels provide guests with luxurious accommodations in Poland’s cultural capital, known for its perfectly preserved medieval architecture and rich royal history.

Hotel Pod Wawelem Accommodations

Reviews of Hotel Pod Wawelem

• Lovely place to stay and explore the city. – Magda from United Kingdom – August 9, 2025 (10/10)

  The facilities, restaurant with great food. Cleanliness. Location. Nice, approachable, helpful staff. We enjoyed our stay at the hotel.
  
  What could be improved: The magnetic key to the room wasn't working, we had to get it set up several times throughout our stay, but the staff members were always very helpful and sorted the problem very quickly. It wouldn't put us off from staying at the hotel again as everything else was spot on.

• Fantastic location. Brilliant staff. Thank you – Bob from United Kingdom – August 6, 2025 (10/10)

  Hotel location was fantastic
  Roof top bar overlooking the castle and river
  Staff were friendly and nothing too much trouble for them
  Room was comfortable and clean
  Could not fault the breakfast and the meals we had in the restaurant
  
  What could be improved: Nothing

• Exceptional – Indrė from Lithuania – August 5, 2025 (10/10)

  Everything was grate!

• Really good place for stay within the city center, really close to the tourists attractions. – Krzysztof from Poland – August 5, 2025 (9/10)

  The stuff is really nice and helpful. The room wasn’t spacey, but kept clean and nice.
  
  What could be improved: Some parts of the build seemed to get old and they were degrading.

• Clean, friendly and the best location in Krakow. – Yvonne from United Kingdom – August 4, 2025 (10/10)

  There is no better location in Krakow. It’s on the river with lovely views and it’s also a good in between the Old Town and the Jewish Quarter, so it’s easy to explore between the two.
  
  What could be improved: The breakfast was the only thing we didn’t like about the hotel.

• Exceptional – Christian from Poland – August 3, 2025 (10/10)

  The skybar and breakfast

• My favourite hotel so far – Kinoida from Ukraine – August 3, 2025 (10/10)

  Perfect — I'm already looking forward to my next stay here. The staff, the room, and the breakfast exceeded all expectations. Location and view deserve a very separate notice. Do take a look at the tiny, but very nice souvenir section.
  
  What could be improved: N/a :))

• Exceptional – Liutauras from United Kingdom – August 2, 2025 (10/10)

  Exelent
  
  What could be improved: exelent

• It was pretty good. – Çağrı from Turkey – July 23, 2025 (9/10)

  The location is awesome, you could go everywhere at krakow by walk. 10 min to old town, near the Wawel Castel and vistula cruises. 15 mins walk to Jewish getto and 20 mins to Schindler’s factory. Breakfast is good enough, good view rooms ( looks the vistula river ). There is so nice Terrace bar and they give you 2 free vines up there 🙂
  
  What could be improved: The room is small ( up to room that you reserved of course ).

• Conveniently located next to Wawel Castle with a friendly staff ready to assist. – Brian from United States – July 19, 2025 (8/10)

  Super convenient location adjacent to Wawel Castle. A bit further walk to the central scale, but not too challenging. A public parking lot is immediately adjacent to the hotel if you arrive by car. Staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. The rooftop bar was a great way to end the night.
  
  What could be improved: If the rooftop bar is busy, you may be waiting a little bit longer for the elevator in the evening. Rooms were showing a bit of age, but not unreasonably so.

Surroundings