This summer I have a flight out of Warsaw Airport and I could have booked Holiday Inn Express Warsaw Airport for $39 to pick up 40,000 points with IHG Rewards Club Accelerate 2019 summer promotion. I will be staying in the city center instead.
I stayed at Holiday Inn Express Warsaw Airport hotel in March 2019 on an expensive $93 bonus points rate to complete the IHG Rewards Club Free Nights Faster winter promotion and earned 25,308 points. The first time I stayed at this hotel was in July 2017 – Holiday Inn Express Warsaw Airport $58 night earned 34,828 points.
Holiday Inn Express Warsaw Airport has meant a windfall of IHG Rewards Club points. There also is a convenient free shuttle service to the off-airport hotel.
I had forgotten to check where the shuttle stop for Holiday Inn Express is located prior to walking outside around 11am on a Wednsday morning in March. As I was looking up the hotel phone number the HIX hotel shuttle passed by and stopped for people crossing. I waved to the driver and he let me in for the ride to the hotel.
My room was not ready yet. I had an interesting chat with the receptionist from Ukraine about her experiences flying low cost airlines in Europe. I asked her for directions to Warsaw city center and she explained where to pick up the bus outside the hotel and where to change for the Metro.
Holiday Inn Warsaw Airport has four floors. Room 416 is on the top floor near the elevator.
The view from room 416 was nothing to get excited about.
The bathroom has a blue light, which happens to be a lighting color I find appealing.
While the dispenser is labeled Dove Cream Wash, there would need to be a lab analysis report to convince Gary Leff.
Complimentary breakfast was standard fare of breads, eggs, beans and sausages. Cold meats and cheese, yogurt and fresh fruit.
Two stays at this hotel and I never managed to snap a photo of the lobby dining room. There are two computers in the lobby for guest use.
Bus and Metro to Warsaw city center
I had most of the day to hang out and headed into Warsaw shortly after noon.
Out the hotel and to the street to bus stop for 148 bus. A ticket cost 4.40 PLN (about $1.15 USD).
I rode the Metro 11 stops to Ratusz Arsenal where I exited and picked up a tram across the Vistula River to Praga, advertised to tourists in guide books as the up and coming urban renewal district of Warsaw.
Overall, I was underwhelmed by Praga. Ended up walking around a couple of hours, ate lunch and walked to Warsaw Zoo, before heading to Old Town, then back to the Metro for the ride back to Holiday Inn Express Warsaw Airport.
I did see a sign for the new Moxy by Marriott hotel in a complex with a Google Campus for Startups and the Vodka Museum, however, I did not locate the entrance for Moxy and headed out to find something more authentic in Praga.
Scenes from the film, The Zookeeper’s Wife, played in my head.
While a hotel in the city is preferable if you plan to sightsee in Warsaw, the location of Holiday Inn Express is perfectly suitable for a daytrip into central Warsaw if you don’t mind traveling about 45 minutes each way.
