Forty hotels on their way to Warsaw

Forty hotels on their way to Warsaw

More than 40 hotels are either planned or now under construction in Warsaw. In the next few years the accommodation on offer in the city will increase by over 5,000 rooms

Warsaw is the fastest-growing hotel market in Central and Eastern Europe and its growth is directly related to the development of the office segment, which has seen record-breaking figures in recent years. The demand for hotel rooms in the Polish capital is mainly being generated by corporate clients. This can be seen in the prices of accommodation and the occupancy rates, which are sometimes several times lower on weekends than on business days.

Corporate clients still make up the largest group of hotel guests in the city. But Warsaw’s tourist market is also growing. Its transport connections with the world are improving all the time as it becomes more popular as a tourist destination. Both airports – Chopin and Modlin – saw a large increase in the number of passengers last year.

Hotel base growing fast

For several years now the demand for hotel services has been growing across Poland, resulting in the development of a genuine domestic hotel base. Both global hotel operators and the largest global investors are interested in Warsaw. “Each year several large hotels open up in the capital, and at the moment there are over 40 new projects, both in the planning and implementation phase,” points out Andrzej Szymczyk, the associate director of the hospitality department at Walter Herz.

According to him, more than 5,000 rooms are likely to be added to Warsaw’s hotel market over the next five years – as much as a third of the entire current market. “Warsaw is now recognised as a location by the giants of the hotel industry, thus every year we are seeing the debuts of new hotel brands on the capital market. In turn, the new brands that are appearing in Warsaw are strengthening its position among the most developed hotel markets in Europe,” adds Andrzej Szymczyk.

“Companies that had previously only operated in other sectors of the commercial real estate market are now investing in the hotel segment, often due to the need to diversify their portfolios and because of the potentially high profits to be made. It’s becoming much more common for hotels to open in mixed-use developments, through hotel operators forming new forms of cooperation, which are increasingly often coming in the form of classic lease agreements for new buildings,” he explains.

New brands make their debuts

This year we have already been witness to many interesting openings on the Warsaw hotel market. In March the 141-room Moxy (a Marriott International brand) opened in Centrum Praskie Koneser in Praga district. This brand is designed to fit into the co-living concept, and among its characteristic features are large common areas, such as cocktail bars, a work zone, a leisure area and a library.

At the beginning of April, the first Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Poland was opened on ul. Suwak in the city’s Służewiec business district. This is also a Marriott International brand. Its interior design has been given a ‘modern vintage’ style inspired by the achievements of Warsaw’s illustrious history of designers. It contains 190 rooms and five conference rooms. There is also the Suwak 7 restaurant and bar, which offers a wide selection of local craft beers.

The former Radisson Blu Centrum hotel on ul. Grzybowska re-opened in May 2019 after several months of refurbishment. It has been rebranded as a Radisson Collection hotel, higher up in the group’s hierarchy. Along with having 311 rooms, it has three restaurants and eight conference rooms – with the largest being big enough for 400 people.

Original hotel concepts

In the first quarter of this year, the four-star Vienna House Mokotów business hotel opened in Warsaw. The hotel offers 164 rooms, conference rooms, a recreation area and a restaurant. It is located in one of the buildings of the P4 complex on ul. Postępu in the Służewiec business district.

Recently, the first Motel One hotel in Poland opened opposite the Chopin Museum on ul. Tamka in the city’s central Śródmieście district. The premium design of its common areas is inspired by the life and work of the greatest Polish composer and pianist. Its modern interiors, with 333 rooms in four categories, are equally impressive.

The list of this year openings also includes a new Puro hotel on ul. Widok in the very centre of Warsaw, close to the new Rotunda building and Centrum metro station. The four-star hotel comprises 150 rooms, a restaurant, a bar and a terrace with a rooftop view onto the Palace of Culture.

The most interesting planned openings

Many new openings are planned in the next few years. Probably the most interesting project is the five-star Nobu Hotel, which is expected to open in 2020. The 120-room hotel will be situated in the combined buildings of the former Rialto hotel and a new construction on an adjacent plot. Nobu Hospitality is a global brand known for its lifestyle hotels and original restaurants. It was founded by Robert De Niro, film producer Meir Teper and top chef Nobu Matsuhisa.

Marriott International is also to write another chapter in the history of Warsaw’s Old Town. This particular investment includes adapting the historic Branicki and Szaniawski palaces on ul. Miodowa and transforming them into a unique hotel that will operate under the Autograph Collection brand. It will offer around 100 rooms and is due to open in the first half of 2021. It will also include conference space, a spa zone and a rich culinary offer.

On the other side of the river Vistula, the historic Kamienica Mintera tenement house on ul. Sierakowskiego is currently being converted into a five-star hotel with 118 rooms that should be opening in 2021. Its investor, the Port Praski company, also has plans for other hotel facilities in the former harbour area of Praga district.

BBI Development, meanwhile, is planning to develop the spectacular Roma Tower skyscraper in the centre of Warsaw, which will include a high-class hotel. The company boasts that this will be the finest hotel in the city. The mixed-use tower on the corner of ul. Nowogrodzka and ul. Emilii Plater is currently at the design and concept stage.

Hotels in office hubs

One of the buildings of The Warsaw Hub complex will contain 430 rooms in a hotel complex combining two of InterContinental Hotels Group’s main brands. The first Crowne Plaza hotel in Poland will offer 212 rooms and suites, while Holiday Inn Express will have 218 rooms. Both are conveniently located next to the Rondo Daszyńskiego metro station.

Fashionable restaurants with seating for about 270 people will be situated on the first and second floors of the hotel building. Both hotels are scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2020. The Warsaw Hub will consist of three high-rise buildings connected by a five-storey base, with retail, service, conference and co-working space.

Hospitality across the city

A new Best Western Plus is under construction on ul. Kosmatki in the Wawer district, close to Trasa Siekierkowska and ul. Wał Miedzeszyński. It is due to open in 2020 and will provide 100 rooms as well as a bar, a restaurant, a fitness club, a wellness salon, conference facilities and a co-working zone. The complex will also include an office building comprising about 4,000 sqm.

The opening of a Staybridge Suites hotel is also planned at the intersection of ul. Puławska and ul. Pileckiego in the city’s Ursynów district. This property is to be sold to individual buyers under the condo format. It is located close to Chopin Airport and the Służewiec racecourse. The hotel is expected to welcome the first guests to its 193 rooms in early 2021.

A Radisson Red hotel will also be opening in Warsaw in 2023. It will have 267 rooms occupying the lower part of the mixed-use 140m Liberty Tower, at the intersection of ul. Grzybowska and ul. Żelazna in Wola district. The hotel is to offer a restaurant, a bar, a gym as well as meetings and events space. Its investor, Golub GetHouse, plans to start the construction of the high-rise project next year.

Hotel by the synagogue

The construction of a new hotel is also planned by the Jewish Community of Warsaw at ul. Twarda 6 in the city centre. The spatial development conditions allow for the construction of a 80m hotel tower and a four-storey office building, on the site of the 19th century ‘White Building’ next to the Nożyk Synagogue.

Orbis Group and AccorHotels, which own twelve hotels in Warsaw under six brands, have also been planning new openings. The Ibis Styles Warszawa Włochy hotel will be added to the group’s portfolio this year. A Mercure-Ibis hotel complex is to open on ul. Sacharowa in Bielany district next year and will be managed by Orbis.

A new Louvre Hotels’ Royal Tulip hotel, the first of this brand to open in Europe, is also coming to the capital city. Royal Tulip Warsaw Apartments will be situated in the Unique Tower complex, which is under construction on ul. Grzybowska in Wola district. It will contain 448 apartment units, a reception, a restaurant, a spa and fitness zone as well as a business centre.

Echo Investment, in the meantime, is developing a 230,000 sqm multi-functional development on a 6.5 ha plot at on ul. Towarowa. The complex is highly likely to include a hotel.

Polish chain Q Hotel also intends to open a hotel in Warsaw – on ul. Nowogrodzka. Meanwhile, the first AC Hotel by Marriott in Warsaw is to open at Al. Jerozolimskie 144, next to Warszawa Zachodnia [West Station]. It will comprise 260 rooms, a conference room, a restaurant and a sky bar with views onto the city.