The two faces of Kraków

I studied in Kraków and when my Warsaw friends learn about my university past they invariably speak about how envious they are of my university past, Kraków, to them is a place where people live in a much more relaxed manner, entertainment costs less, it takes only a couple of hours to get deep into the mountains, and everyone seems to breath in a delightful intellectual and artistic atmosphere. My personal feelings were not always as positive as those. Whenever I tried to settle any of the numerous formalities connected with my studies, I invariably found university desk personnel out for lunch, on holiday or just refusing to process my applications for reasons best known to themselves. So I remember Kraków as place where you can enjoy cultural events and amusement, but not where you can settle daily problems efficiently. Having said that, how does the real estate market function in the conditions existing in such a city? We decided to study the issue, which was why "Eurobuild" went on an excursion of the city and its surroundings. We were primarily interested in the E-Hotel company which has implemented a unique method for constructing a chain of low-cost hotels. The first such has already been built, while the next are well advanced. Perhaps you may find the idea described in the article "How to own your own hotel" on that Kraków-conceived idea on project financing worth emulating elsewhere. There is also an overview of the office market in the section devoted to Kraków (page 12) and the latest information form the site where GTC is building the Galeria Kazimierz (page 14) and where ECE is is constructing the Galeria Krakowska (page 15). In a word, this March excursion into Kraków has born fruit not only in the shape of the mentioned articles but has also shown the city's two faces: one known to students and the other which modern, dynamic business has to look at every day.