Warsaw is the city where I am on track to pick up 3 hotel stays with 3 hotel nights for $300 to earn 43,000+ points. My first of three stays was Holiday Inn Warsaw City Centre. This stay completed two of my bonus points tasks for IHG Free Nights Faster (Jan 15-April 30) earning 2,000 bonus points for a February 2019 stay and 1,500 bonus points for IHG MasterCard payment.
A monument marker outside the hotel, erected in 2008, states the location was the site of a southern entry point to the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto established November 16, 1940. Outside the hotel door by the reception desk is a strip in the sidewalk showing the location of the former Warsaw Jewish Ghetto Wall.
Reminders of World War II are found all around downtown Warsaw.
Say What? Free Minibar
The receptionist at Holiday Inn Warsaw City Centre floored me when I checked in and she said, “Thank you for your loyalty and being a Platinum member. You have free minibar benefit.”
Having been traveling for 31.5 hours from Monterey to San Francisco to Barcelona to Warsaw, I cannot confirm those were her exact words, but “free minibar” was definitely part of the statement.
The Points Guy once asked, ‘Is it ethical to clear out the free mini-bar?’
As it turned out, I did not take any of the minibar items. I was not even in the mood for a Tyskie beer in the room before heading out to find dinner. The next morning I was still not in the mood for anything in the mini-bar before I headed to the Warsaw (Up)Rising Museum.
Hotel Review Holiday Inn Warsaw City Centre
Location was convenient for me arriving at the Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN) by Modlin Bus from Warsaw Modlin Airport WMI, the secondary airport for the city serviced by Ryanair from dozens of European airports. I reached the hotel about 2 hours after landing at WMI.
I will cover Warsaw Modlin Airport and Modlin Bus and train transportation in a separate post. The hotel is 1.3km from PKiN, about a 15 to 20 minute walk.
I made the mistake of trying to shortcut through the circular shaped major shopping mall across the street from PKiN instead of staying on the street and lost my direction. Took me about 30 minutes and a couple of unnecessary city blocks to reach the hotel.
While it looks like a direct walk from Holiday Inn to the Palace of Culture and Science, there is a major thoroughfare crossroad in the way blocking direct access between the points. There are no crosswalks for 500 meters. You have to walk to the left or to the right for a crosswalk to travel between Palace of Culture and Science and Holiday Inn Warsaw City Centre.
Cut to the chase. Everything about the hotel stay was wonderful, except for the pillows were too hard for me. I like soft, malleable pillows. I managed to sleep well anyway after 34 hours since being horizontal in my bed in California.
At check-in I was offered points or a hotel drink. I took 500 points.
I could have had three free beers at the Holiday Inn during my stay. I received a pre-stay email coupon for a free drink with the purchase of food at the hotel. I opted for points instead of a free drink at the hotel bar and there was a free beer in the minibar. Finally reaching Warsaw reinvigorated me to head outside and find a local restaurant to eat a meal.
Food and beer are inexpensive in Warsaw anyway. My objective is maximize points earned from my three IHG stays.
Room 1603 is top 16th floor of Holiday Inn Warsaw.
One of the nice features of the room were USB ports by the bed for plugging in mobile.
16th Floor Fitness Room
The fitness center on floor 16 offers nice views over the city looking south and west. Room 1603 faces east.
Kamienica Wolfa Krongolda “Pekin”, across the street from Holiday Inn Warsaw, is one of the few buildings to remain standing in in the downtown area of post-WW2 Warsaw. It was built in 1899 and nicknamed for Peking, China due to the large number of residences. The building is scheduled to be remodeled into luxury apartments.
Holiday Inn Warsaw City Centre Lobby
The lobby wraps around in horseshoe fashion from the reception desk to the bar and restaurant. The hotel can be entered from the bar/restaurant side or the reception desk side with a straight passage between the doors and the elevators in the center.
Holiday Inn Warsaw City Centre had an advance purchase room rate I booked 8 days before arrival at 259.80pln/$68.04 for the night.
I earned 4,957 points for the $68 stay.
- 638 base points
- 319 Platinum elite 50% bonus points
- 500 Platinum elite welcome amenity points
- 2,000 bonus points Free Nights Faster task: February 2019 stay
- 1,500 bonus points Free Nights Faster task: IHG MasterCard payment.
IHG Rewards Club standard reward night price for this hotel is 20,000 points.
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