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I am told by friends in Poland who are in the refurbishment business that Poland is 50% ‘under hotelled’. In much of the central European region the hotel industry was state owned, and the state controlled tourism, frequently preventing ‘dissidents’ from travelling at all and reserving the best of officials of the governing party. The result was large hotels designed for state holiday businesses, standardised ‘business’ hotels and a lack of diversity
With the dismissal of state systems has come a restitution of confiscated property and a return of exiles, many of whom have brought investment with them. There has also been a bold policy followed by some western groups, notably led by Rezidor, who have a new Radisson building in the centre of Gdansk with a new Hilton also being developed close by. There has also been substantial investment in privately owned hotels, and individuals are creating signature properties of which the Dwór Orliwski is a good example
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Modernity and tradition compared - here is the cellar bar, the restored cellars of the Manor house, whilst you can click to see the contemporary treatment of the Ladies washroom
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"I am told by friends in Poland who are in the refurbishment business that Poland is 50% ‘under hotelled’."
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Located in an old manor house on the outskirts of Gdansk, the property has been extensively restored and extended with new buildings being added, but with a sense of the past evident in (for example) the use of the parts of the old manor gates as decorative elements through the public areas. The traditional thatch has been kept and the rooms and public areas developed around a courtyard area. Attracting guests from Poland, the Baltic States, Germany and Russia (the Russian border in the form of the Kaliningrad enclave, the rump of old Prussia, is only about 60 kilometres away) as well as from further west, the number plates in the car park are truly European in scope.
Mixing tradition with modernity can be difficult as a balancing act, both in terms of the interior design and also in terms of service and food. However here the designer/owners have managed the process well, with some variability, but offering a modern occasionally funky environment with strong traditional touches. They also play across the range of guest profiles, with the tranquil gardens and the spa offering wellness and meeting the needs of a leisure market, comprehensively equipped modern meeting rooms satisfying the business market and an almost stand alone food operation drawing strong local trade.
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Modern treatment of the stairs to the Spa from the public areas is complemented by the use of a section of the original Manor gate on the wall above - click on the image to see the spa pool
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Dwór Orliwski
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