Tried & Tested

Hotel check: Hotel Rialto

25 Oct 2011 by BusinessTraveller

BACKGROUND Originally an early 20th century townhouse, Hotel Rialto is a distinctive hotel that looks back to this era. A member of Preferred Hotels and Resorts, Rialto opened in 2003 and will appeal to lovers of art –particularly fans of Rennie Mackintosh’s art deco designs – as the exquisite décor of the hotel is perhaps its most memorable feature.

WHAT’S IT LIKE? A beautiful five-star boutique hotel, each of Hotel Rialto’s 44 rooms and suites are individually designed. The lobby’s French doors and stain glass features are adorned with art deco squares, maintaining the building’s signature style, and this is seen with every last detail, right down to the geometric-shaped faucets and sinks. Rooms are filled with carefully chosen antique furniture and are decorated to reflect the owner’s love of travel and art – there are several African and Viennese-themed rooms. Another great feature is the Orient-Express-style lift, which has mother of pearl buttons.

WHERE IS IT? Located a 15-minute walk from Centrum, where the skyscraper hotels are congregated, Rialto sits on the corner of a quiet street that branches off one of Warsaw’s main roads (Marszalkowska). Warsaw’s Old Town and the Royal Mile are a ten-minute taxi ride away, and it takes half an hour to reach Warsaw Chopin Airport by car.

ROOM FACILITIES I stayed in a corner suite on the sixth floor, which had three windows, plenty of light. The bedroom was separated from the lounge by mahogany French doors. My room was one of the Viennese-themed rooms, with a black and white-checked duvet, cream curtains with a horizontal black strip and subtle grey silk upholstered art deco chairs in the lounge, where a Tamara Lempicka painting of a woman in white floor-length evening dress hung on the wall. There was lovely parquet flooring throughout with a square design - I was told that in order to meet five-star requirements, the hotel had to have a certain amount of carpeting, so all the rooms have small rugs.

The bathroom had a separate entrance, a black granite floor, a standing bath, a bidet, a walk-in shower with grey, black and white mosaic tiles and a rainshower head. All the silver faucets were geometric, as were the sink, toilet and bidet and drawer handles –the toilet paper was folded to match when I arrived – and there was a metal square grid design on the ceiling. The mahogany mirror was beautiful, a central square surrounded by four parallelograms.

My room had the hotel’s own-brand toiletries, a Nespresso coffee machine as well as tea and coffee making facilities, a minibar, free water small flatscreen Sharp TVs in either room, a dark medium-sized desk to match the furniture, a cd player, a phone. Internet was €15 for 24 hours. A robe and slippers, sewing kit, vanity set and a hairdryer were also included.

The room had a porch area with a separate door to the bathroom, a cupboard with a safe and an ornate sliver coat hanger, also in art deco style. Each room has a little silver doorbell, and your doorkey is a large Victorian metal key, which you run along the keyhole to open the door electronically. The room has a central power switch, so if you feel like being green, you can switch everything off at once when not in use.

RESTAURANTS AND BARS Rialto’s 1930s restaurant dark red leather seating, with brightly-coloured abstract paintings of anthurium flowers hanging upon cream walls. A buffet breakfast is served from 6.30am-10.30am on weekdays, offering mini doughy, crispy pancakes with raspberry sauce, scrambled and fried eggs, roast potatoes, mushrooms, streaky bacon, pickles, yoghurt, cereals, pastries, breads, jam, platters of fish, meat, cheese and fruit, desserts and fruit juices. Coffee and tea is served to your table – waiters wear beige war-time-style uniforms and brown ties – and there is also an a la carte breakfast menu, which offers poached eggs on toast and pancakes with apples as options.

For dinner, as well as serving both Polish and international cuisine, the restaurant has a pre-war menu, which includes hearty dishes such as rarebit and game. Rialto’s glamourous bar is adjoined to the restaurant and offers live jazz music on Thursdays. Both the hotel’s restaurant and bar are open until 10pm.

BUSINESS AND MEETING FACILITIES There are two conference rooms with glossy black furniture (high-backed, art deco-style chairs surround boardroom tables) and more saucy paintings by Tamara Lempicka – apparently in the past, delegates have asked for these to be removed during meetings, as they can prove distracting. Both rooms have natural daylight and the largest accommodates 40 people theatre-style, and has a balcony. Wifi is free.

LEISURE FACILITIES There is a gym with Technogym equipment on the top floor, plus a dry sauna and a wooden-barrel-style cold plunge bath, open 6am-10pm. Beside the lobby downstairs is a cosy cigar room with chessboards, newspapers and a computer – smoking is forbidden, but you can sit back with a cognac while browsing through the hotel’s CD and DVD library.

VERDICT A homely, peaceful hotel full of character and excellent service.

FACT FILE

HOW MANY ROOMS? 44 guest rooms – six deluxe single rooms, 27 executive doubles and twins, and 11 one-bedroom suites.

ROOM HIGHLIGHTS The detail of the decor and the gorgeous bathroom.

PRICE Internet rates start from PLN 237 (£46) per night.

CONTACT rialto.pl

Rose Dykins

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