Ekosamotnia

Can't believe we found this lovely little gem, so close to the centre of Krakow but right in the middle of nature. This home-from-home small hotel is in beautiful peaceful surroundings, right on the edge of a forest, which you can access for walks or cycle rides. The hotel's large gardens are where much of the fruit and veg used in the hotel kitchens is grown. The most noise you will encounter is the owl hooting in the middle of the night! Despite this, Krakow city centre is only around a 15 minute taxi ride. Taxis are cheap and the hotel will call one for you. You can easily find taxis around the main square to come back, but take the hotel's leaflet with you as Polish names can be hard to pronounce! I cannot fault the hospitality or the comfort in any way (thank you Maciej and team!). The rooms are very clean, spacious and beautifully decorated. Each room has a different theme. I suppose if I had one criticism it would be that I would prefer a stand up shower rather than a bath, but other than that the bathroom was lovely. Communal areas are well designed. There are books and games for guests' use, and lots of artwork and information about the interesting history of the house (which once belonged to an artist). Breakfast has to be one of the best I've had - if anything there was TOO much choice and I regretted not being able to eat it all! Cheese, meats, salads, homemade preserves and cakes, yogurts, jellies, and fresh eggs (laid by the hens next door), all served in wonderful surroundings overlooking the large fish pond. We ate dinner twice during our stay which was just as delicious and included home made soup, Polish dumplings, chicken with wild mushrooms, and freshly made cake. All in all, Ekosamotnia was the perfect base for our first visit to Poland. My only regret is that we only had five days there and could have easily spent longer, especially to go on some more walks and explore the local area. A good excuse to go back one day!