The Old Town enters the market
Well, the Orco Hotel Development Group has now changed all that and is set to open its 61 room Hotel Le Regina in the restored historical center on June 17th.
The building that now houses the hotel was once a palace dating back to the eighteenth century. It experienced one or two conversions before the second world war, when along with the rest of Warsaw's buildings, both old and new, it was destroyed. In 1953 it was rebuilt as a replica of the original palace and then later that decade became home to the United States Embassy for much of the post-war period.
Members of the local press were invited to a preview of the hotel on June 3rd and were taken there from the Adam Mickiewicz statue on Krakowskie Przedmiescie in horse drawn carts, which was certainly in keeping with the historical theme. And that wasn't the last informal trimming to accompany the presentation. The tour of the hotel involved peering around rooms already occupied by actors (one presumes they were) posing as guests. In one you would find a 'businessman' in a suit surfing the net, in another a robe-clad couple were having an intimate conversation on the balcony. A quaint and maybe bizarre way of inculcating the hotel in the minds of journalists, the approach could well have been symptomatic of the owners' awareness that they are entering a very competitive market.
The Hotel le Regina claims exclusivity not only for its presence in the Old Town and its PR methods, but for being Warsaw's first small 'luxury hotel.' How this concept differs from the 'boutique' variety has been a bone of contention among some in the sector, as both types market themselves as intimate settings with a small number of custom-designed rooms. Warsaw of course already has the Rialto to fit into the 'boutique' bracket. So what of the potential competition that might be about to break out between the two?
"I think our hotel is a little bit more spacious," says Stefan Radström, the Hotel Le Regina's general manager, comparing the Le Regina and Rialto. "When you enter [the Le Regina] there's a huge lobby and the corridors are wide. The Rialto focuses on its architecture and its Art Deco style, which is typical for boutique hotels. This hotel, on the other hand, combines the old palace setting with modern hotel design."
Although the Hotel Le Regina is the first hotel in Warsaw's tourist hub, that in itself raises an awkward question, because the bulk of the city's hotel revenue comes more from mid-week business travellers than recreational visitors. How can the hotel hope to compete for that crucial corner of the market, when it is situated some distance away from the CBD? Why hop in a taxi from the Old Town just to be stuck in traffic, when you could just walk across the street to your meeting from a downtown hotel?
"We are aiming to attract both business and weekend travellers," says Radström, "because even business people can appreciate something that's a little bit different. The rooms are designed for business people and there is a free Internet connection for guests. The main road down by the river also gives visitors easy access to offices on the other side of town."
According to Radström, the Orco Hotel Development Group is keeping an eye out on the possibility of expanding its 'small luxury' hotel network in Poland and Central Europe. Apart from the Le Regina, it has already developed such hotels in Prague (the Riverside Hotel) and Budapest (the Andrassy) and might be prepared to buck the trend in developing only 'budget' hotels in the provinces. That is, if they find a property with the same potential they obviously believe exists in the first hotel to appear in Warsaw's Old Town.
The building that now houses the hotel was once a palace dating back to the eighteenth century. It experienced one or two conversions before the second world war, when along with the rest of Warsaw's buildings, both old and new, it was destroyed. In 1953 it was rebuilt as a replica of the original palace and then later that decade became home to the United States Embassy for much of the post-war period.
Members of the local press were invited to a preview of the hotel on June 3rd and were taken there from the Adam Mickiewicz statue on Krakowskie Przedmiescie in horse drawn carts, which was certainly in keeping with the historical theme. And that wasn't the last informal trimming to accompany the presentation. The tour of the hotel involved peering around rooms already occupied by actors (one presumes they were) posing as guests. In one you would find a 'businessman' in a suit surfing the net, in another a robe-clad couple were having an intimate conversation on the balcony. A quaint and maybe bizarre way of inculcating the hotel in the minds of journalists, the approach could well have been symptomatic of the owners' awareness that they are entering a very competitive market.
The Hotel le Regina claims exclusivity not only for its presence in the Old Town and its PR methods, but for being Warsaw's first small 'luxury hotel.' How this concept differs from the 'boutique' variety has been a bone of contention among some in the sector, as both types market themselves as intimate settings with a small number of custom-designed rooms. Warsaw of course already has the Rialto to fit into the 'boutique' bracket. So what of the potential competition that might be about to break out between the two?
"I think our hotel is a little bit more spacious," says Stefan Radström, the Hotel Le Regina's general manager, comparing the Le Regina and Rialto. "When you enter [the Le Regina] there's a huge lobby and the corridors are wide. The Rialto focuses on its architecture and its Art Deco style, which is typical for boutique hotels. This hotel, on the other hand, combines the old palace setting with modern hotel design."
Although the Hotel Le Regina is the first hotel in Warsaw's tourist hub, that in itself raises an awkward question, because the bulk of the city's hotel revenue comes more from mid-week business travellers than recreational visitors. How can the hotel hope to compete for that crucial corner of the market, when it is situated some distance away from the CBD? Why hop in a taxi from the Old Town just to be stuck in traffic, when you could just walk across the street to your meeting from a downtown hotel?
"We are aiming to attract both business and weekend travellers," says Radström, "because even business people can appreciate something that's a little bit different. The rooms are designed for business people and there is a free Internet connection for guests. The main road down by the river also gives visitors easy access to offices on the other side of town."
According to Radström, the Orco Hotel Development Group is keeping an eye out on the possibility of expanding its 'small luxury' hotel network in Poland and Central Europe. Apart from the Le Regina, it has already developed such hotels in Prague (the Riverside Hotel) and Budapest (the Andrassy) and might be prepared to buck the trend in developing only 'budget' hotels in the provinces. That is, if they find a property with the same potential they obviously believe exists in the first hotel to appear in Warsaw's Old Town.
