panigrazyna (26 reviews)

Lamoine, Maine

First the good stuff: the staff at the Sodispar office were excellent on service, hospitality, and friendliness. It was easy to book; communications were excellent. Our train into Krakow was late. Their driver waited for us at the train station for an hour! We were greeted at the office with friendly faces, smiles, and good advice. We arrived at the main door of the building and entered a courtyard that came straight out of 1979 - cracked concrete, obscene graffiti, old greasy food smells and a staircase that hasn't been painted since WWII. We got to the front door of the apartment, escorted by our driver, to find that no one had given us the keys. That can happen - no big deal.

The keys were brought over quickly, the door opened and we entered our apartment alone. We had booked the Chicago apartment on Tomasza 33. The apartment smelled like old cooking and grease - it had not been aired in any recent time. We opened all the windows. The apartment was evidently cleaned at some point in the past but not recently - there was a light film of dust and grime on the surfaces; the floors and rugs looked dusty and thechandeliers and items that were stored on the tops of wardrobes had visible dust and cow webs. So, we said, we got what we paid for; the apartment was 2520 żłoty for 11 nights.

We entered the living room to find that the sofabed was made up for extra guests and the very large living room rug was rolled up and left at the side of the room - looking like a giant dust bunny. There were only two of us and there was a separate bedroom. We called the office again and they sent someone over the next morning to fold up the sofa , dispose of the linens and roll out the rug. I did not want to start housekeeping on my first day in Krakow. We know the apartment had not been cleaned in awhile because when the cleaning staff did the mid-stay cleaning a week later, the apartment fell clean, bright and sanitary. The bathroom gleamed after cleaning. Kudos to the cleaning staff.

The worst of the problems came every night from the time we tried to fall asleep for the night to the time we might have been waking for a day in Krakow. It was noisy - the shouting, singing and laughter of revellers were with us every sleeping hour. There was only one night when it was cold and rainy that the noise ceased at around 2-sh am. There are four bars, clubs, pubs on the four corners near the apartment building. People hung out in the street all night and into the early morning. Have I stressed every night ? The apartment was on the 1st floor, the windows had to be opened for ventilation - there was no way to escape the noise. My attempts to sleep were often punctuated by groans of Oh No! during some of the more hilarious moments of revellry. But we were not amused. The apartment had been advertised as Quiet Quiet neighborhood but it was absolutely not quiet!

The big plus here was the location - it was excellent with access to the square, the Planty and the streetcars only a minutes walk. A lovely, old historic neighborhood with a splash of the quirky and the shabby making an awkward transition to modern life. Book with Sodispar but don't stay at Chicago .