Deborah on tour in Poland’s capital – Warsaw

I recently attended a trip with Global DMC Partners Connections (GDMCP) to experience what the historic city of Warsaw has to offer for meeting and event planners… 

Warsaw day 1 – our arrival

After an early start for the flight to Warsaw where we were met by Global DMC Partners representatives who transferred us to our hotel for the event. Chopin Airport (named after the country’s famous composer) is only a 25 minute journey to/from the city centre and there are several low cost public transport options.

Our first stopover was the Sheraton Warsaw. This hotel is in the south of the city in a quite upmarket area but only a couple of minutes from shops, bars and restaurants. It’s about a 20 minute walk to the old town (along the main shopping streets), and 15 minutes to the business district.  

This large 5* hotel had a complete refurbishment last year and to a very high standard. There are 350 bedrooms & suites and even the standard ‘Classic’ rooms that we were staying in were really spacious with a large lounge area. It has a large conference centre with 12 meeting spaces over two floors (Ground & 1st Floors) and ranging in size. The Grand Ballroom holding 600 in theatre layout and 360 cabaret. It’s worth noting however that most of the rooms, including the Ballroom do not have natural light – a key consideration for some meeting planners.

There is a large central area for registrations, networking and refreshment breaks and there are three primary restaurants – the Olive is the main restaurant with buffet service for breakfast and lunch.  As well as a Tex-Mex and an Asian restaurant, there is a small 4th restaurant located in the ‘Chef’s Kitchen’ which can be reserved for small groups.

Experiencing Warsaw itself

Once we’d arrived and checked in we realised we were starving so a few of us went for lunch at a nearby restaurant. The food was interesting (minestrone soup with a poached egg in the middle) but it was very good quality, well presented and cheap! Less than £10 each for a good quality lunch in a very nice restaurant.

Everything in Warsaw was cheap. The cost of living index for Warsaw shows general costs including restaurants are about half the price of those in London, so great value.  Several delegates found time for shopping and reported some great bargains.

Later that day after exploring a little of the city we met with our hosts, for drinks before leaving for an informal buffet dinner at the Warsaw Marriott Hotel. 

The 5* Marriott was one of the first ‘skyscrapers’ in Warsaw and has the highest sky bar in the city on the 40th floor. It was built in 1989 (Poland’s year of independence) as a symbol of transformation. It’s situated in the business district next to the central train station and opposite a landmark building – the Palace of Culture and Science. The hotel has 21 meeting rooms with the Grand Ballroom being the largest space which can accommodate up to 700 theatre style.

Warsaw Day 2

Having declined the opportunity to join the optional morning walk at 0630 (!), we gathered for the morning session for an interesting presentation on global sales and economy.   

The Emcee for the weekend was Sam McNeil from SongDivision. As well as being a great speaker, he & his team write ‘instahits’ (songs written in about 5 minutes based on answering a few questions about yourself) and provide various musical based entertainment. This is great idea for team building or general/meeting conference interaction. The rest of the morning was the 1-1 appointments with individual DMCs who gave me an overview of their destinations and how they could assist us on future enquiries. 

Discovering Warsaw’s history

After lunch we had a choice of activities and I joined the ‘Communist Warsaw’ tour run by a great guide from the Adventure Warsaw company.  The tour was very enlightening about life in Warsaw under communist rule and included a visit to a museum showing what the workers homes were like in the 50-80’s. 

After a much needed shower, we departed for dinner at Lazienki Park. This beautiful park houses the former summer residence of the Polish royal family until the early 19th century. Unlike the centre of Warsaw, which was devastated by bombing during WWII, these buildings thankfully suffered little impact. After a 10 minute walk through the park (reminiscent of Hampton Court Palace), we were treated to a short piano concert featuring works by Chopin in a beautiful and intimate theatre. This was followed by dinner in the orangery which leads out onto terraces overlooking the park and gardens. It is an elegant and impressive location for a large group private dinner.

Our final day

After further appointments with the DMCs, I went on the ‘Warsaw in a Nutshell’ tour which took us to the Old Town, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Most of Warsaw was completely flattened during the war and during the 1950’s and into 1960’s, the centre of Warsaw was completely rebuilt to look the same as it had done pre-war. So, the lovely ‘medieval’ market square with it’s old street and houses is in fact only 50 or so years old.

It is a city with over 100 museums and commemorative statues and sculptures are on almost every corner, much of it linked to events during the war, including a large museum in the vicinity of the former Jewish ghetto.   

The tour then took us to Praga on the east side of the Vistula River. This is traditionally the rougher part of Warsaw but is now slowly becoming gentrified and has an arty feel to it. The banks of the river have been turned into beaches so we spent the last part of our tour having a drink on the beach whilst watching a regular Saturday massive salsa class – pretty impressive given the heat!

Our final Gala Dinner took place at the Palace of Culture and Science, which is in the business district and only 5-10 minutes by coach from the Sheraton. This enormous building was one of the first built by the communists (1955) and is therefore a divisive building. Since independence there have been calls for it to be destroyed, but this now looks unlikely.  The Palace was built for ‘the workers’ as a centre of culture, as such it houses museums and exhibitions, a theatre, cinema, swimming pool as well as bars and shops. 

The dinner was held in a large hall which looked like it could take approx 150 in cabaret layout.  The food was good although service was slow.  There was plenty of space for a stage (the SongDivison crew were providing the music) and for dancing.

In summary

Warsaw is a compact city and all the large hotels are within a short taxi ride of each other. The Old Town is worth a look if any clients have an hour or so to spare when in the city. I wouldn’t call it a beautiful city as, except for the old town, the architecture is pretty bland and reminiscent of many Germany cities having been rebuilt at the same time. However, it does have a relaxed and safe feel to it with everyone we met being very friendly, plus there are some hidden gems in this city such as Lazienki Park. 

Costs are very low throughout the city making it a good value option for anyone considering this as a destination for an event, although DMC services would probably be required to assist with some of the more unusual venues.