Review Hilton Warsaw, majestic but soulless

New stage of our family road trip towards Latvia. After visiting Trieste (we slept at the DoubleTree) and Vienna (we stayed at the Hilton Park), the next destination was the capital of Poland.

The city was an incredible discovery, we absolutely did not expect to find a city full of skyscrapers of all shapes, it felt like we were in Frankfurt and not in a Polish city. Of course, outside the city you can still breathe the roots of all the former nations of the Union of Soviet Republics.

Reservation

If you have read other hotel reviews on this site, you can safely skip this paragraph, otherwise it is good to remember that if you are subscribed to the Hilton Honors loyalty program, you want to accumulate points and take advantage of the status benefits, you have to book directly through the app, site or hotel. Right now there are promotions that allow you to earn double or triple points, depending on your stay, which can be combined with special rates. An example of this is X2, which is the ability - for a surcharge on the best price - to earn double points for booking.

Booking using points had a cost of 34k HH, but for a one-night stay it almost never pays to use points unless the cash cost of the room is exorbitant. In this case, the King Corner room cost 110k HH, so we preferred to pay cash while accumulating points for our main goal: sleeping for free at the Maldives in one of the most exclusive resorts from over 1,000$ per night.

Check-in and structure

The hotel is in the financial district, surrounded by other skyscrapers. We arrived by parking in the underground park that is shared with other buildings and which, by elevator, leads to the entrance of the facility. The first impression is that of a huge hotel; the lobby has very high ceilings and glass windows on 3 sides.

The acceptance desk is in a parade ground, and I think the floor could hold at least 5 paddle courts without any problems.

We had already checked in online and chosen our room on the 17th floor, we are not superstitious, we simply wanted a room on a high floor and it was the only corner room available.

Being able to browse the hotel map to choose your favorite room is a special feature of the Hilton app, an app that recently included the option to choose connecting rooms during booking, ideal for family travelers.

No upgrade, but a small gift, a chocolate bar in recognition of Gold status.

Unfortunately, however, the attendant also gave us bad news. We had chosen this Hilton because there was a swimming pool on the premises and I had promised my daughter that she would be able to take a bath in this hotel after her long trip. The fitness center, with an attached pool available to hotel guests, is a real gym that is open to everyone, and therefore children are only allowed in the pool until 5 p.m...we arrived at 5:30. Unfortunately, this information was not written anywhere on the app or elsewhere when booking.

The room

The best part of the stay at this hotel was definitely the room, agé but well maintained. When they are available I always try to book corner rooms. They are ideal for enjoying the scenery around, at night they really give a show and are super bright.

When we arrived at the room, the third bed was missing, which was prepared for us shortly afterwards.

Usual king bed made in Hilton, standard amenities with mini-bar (empty), two free bottles of water, and everything you would expect from a Hilton hotel.

Bathroom with bathtub and shower, which is not taken for granted and, along with the view, was the room's plus.

Breakfast

The Executive Lounge was closed, being located on the top floor (the 27th) having breakfast or a drink in the room called "Panorama" must surely be quite a sight. In contrast, the breakfast room is on the ground floor, opposite the bar and lobby.

If the bar is nice, the same cannot be said of the breakfast room. Of course, breakfast is free thanks to Gold status in the HHonors loyalty program.

The buffet is always the same, but in this case I have to say that it seemed the worst of all the hotels we visited on our trip.

The set-up was very sloppy, not Hilton-like and more of a hit-and-run hotel. It would be interesting to understand why the Hilton chain imposed a standard "clean stay" protocol for all hotels and then at breakfast everyone is free to do what they want, in this case in fact there were no restrictions and everything was self-service buffet as in the pre-pandemic world.

In conclusion

Warsaw is worth a visit; however, I do not know if I would choose this hotel again. There are many Hilton family alternatives in the city, but not on the same level. However, it is full of facilities where you can sleep using the points And not pay for the room. This hotel seemed soulless to me, perhaps the pandemic is also to blame, and probably in the "world before" it was definitely warmer and more animated.

• Hilton Honors