We’re not experts when it comes to child-friendly places and hotels. Maks has been traveling with us forever, since he was a 3 week old baby, so we are used to taking him wherever we go. When he was little, it wasn’t a problem – we needed a gondola for his pram and we could sleep everywhere – in a 5 star hotel, in hostels, in middle-class rooms somewhere in Mexico, in rented houses and apartments. In hotels, babies almost don’t exist… except for those where you are not allowed to bring your child with you. We came across one of these in Mexico, but luckily we managed to obtain the hotel service by pleading to let us stay (we had been on a plane for 12 hours).
As time moved on, Maks’s needs when it comes to attractions during travels grew bigger and yet we still weren’t looking for places dedicated to families. We think you can find attractions for kids everywhere and we never needed toilet seats for kids, footstools used with sinks etc. We look for such places when we go with our friends, when there are more kids and they all need some forms of entertainment. Sometimes we come across such hotels / places by accident. Sometimes child-friendly hotels fall short of our expectations of a good hotel, and even more often “child-friendly” means “with no good cuisine”. That’s why we don’t have a loooong list of good places but we’re going to show you what we know, because you keep asking for it 🙂 Remember that all the places we describe we visit ourselves, so it’s obvious we have limited time 🙂
Also, remember that these are VARIOUS places – various when it comes to prices and their characteristics – some of them are huge hotels with pools, SPA and every single possible convenience. Others are intimate, located somewhere far away. Whatever you want 🙂
Shall we??? 🙂
CHILD-FRIENDLY PLACES/HOTELS:
1) HOTEL DR IRENA ERIS KRYNICA ZDRÓJ
Dr Irena Eris’ hotels are famous for everything working perfectly fine. Comfortable rooms, amazing SPA, huge pools, great cuisine, beautiful surroundings. The hotel in Krynica is also great if you’re looking for a child-friendly place. Playroom with a babysitter, playground with a view at the mountains, 35 centimeters deep pool where your kid can play by themselves and all the gadgets that your kid would need in a pool. There are small beds and chairs for bikes.
Its huge advantage is a big menu for kids – pasta, dumplings, fish (salmon), small cutlets, meat-balls (in tomato or dill sauce), pancakes, soups, desserts. Even the poorest eater will find something for themselves… 🙂 The service of the hotel in Krynica is also amazing. They care for children. Usually, when someone asks you at hotel breakfast: “Do you want some coffee or tea?”, your child is omitted. Here, the service offer your children milk, cocoa or some fruit tea. Huge applause for their class in crisis situations. When we got to Krynica, Maks was so sick of the turns on the way to the mountains that he… threw up in the lobby. The service kept calm and smiley and some receptionist said to stressed out Łukasz: “Mister Łukasz, calm down. Would you like some champagne?” 🙂
You can read more about Krynica HERE and HERE.
2) DOM ZDROJOWY – JASTARNIA
Dom Zdrojowy in Jastarnia is a great option for those going to the Polish sea, who want a hotel where everything’s going to be fun even when the weather disappoints. It’s beautifully located in a forest right by the beach, which makes it unnecessary to go through the whole town with everything you own (I remember doing that as a kid!). You can just take a few things because you can always go back to your room if you need something.
If the weather is bad, you don’t need to leave it. They have a huge pool with a wading pool, jacuzzi and sauna, playroom with a babysitter, 2 restaurants, breakfast, lunch and dinner in one. As Maks likes to put it – “they think about kids here”. They give you cutlery, cups and plates for kids, and if you have a little baby, you will also get a bib. Once you get to the reception, your child is given a coloring book and in the room there’s a small bathrobe, chamber pot and a footstool they can use with a sink. There’s also a more elegant restaurant called Czwarte piętro, where you will find a table for coloring and a child menu. Older kids will fall in love with a ropes course located right next to the hotel – it’s not a part of Zdrojowy, but you can have so much fun there! 🙂 You can read more about Zdrojowy HERE.
3) MAZURSKA ARKADIA
Our last year’s discovery has been tasted this year with our friends and 10 of our children!!! It was almost like traveling with the whole kindergarten 🙂 There are no pools, no food and no child’s menu, but it’s a place perfect for traveling with kids, especially if you have more than one of them 🙂 It’s also great for 2 or more families with kids. There are always huge apartments perfect for two 2+1 or even 2+2 families in Mazurska Arkadia.
They have a playground, a trampoline and a huge playroom with lots of toys and table soccer for bad weather. BBQ, campfire and breakfasts on the terrace, because there’s a kitchen in every apartment. There are boats, pedal boats, kayaks and a small beach, which means there’s everything kids need to be happy. Maks doesn’t want to leave Mazurska Arkadia. Neither do we 🙂 The best proof that it’s a perfect place for kids? In May we took our friends with kids aged 7, 5 and 2 with us – they will go back to Mazurska in August without us, for their vacation 🙂
4) KWAŚNE JABŁKO
This is not a typical “child-friendly” place – you could also go to Kwaśne Jabłko for a weekend in two or with friends, especially since they make their own ciders. It’s intimate, quiet and far from everything. But there is a charming dining room that you don’t want to leave, a climatic living room with some toys and a lot of books for children. There’s a nice backyard, a BBQ spot and they say that soon there will be a cool playground for kids. They have self-made apple juice and delicious breakfasts. When we were in Kwaśne Jabłko in April, I wasn’t sure if kids would like their cuisine. Maks wasn’t really happy when he saw nettle soup and other vegan miracles on his table 🙂 They say that usually they have more “mainstream” options an on weekends they even serve home-made pizza loved by children.
5) GALINY PALACE – BARTOSZYCE
If I had to choose a place with the most attractions for kids, I would probably choose Galiny Palace. Beautiful, woody surroundings, lakes, bike lanes outside and playground, trampoline, a campfire spot and a playroom in the hotel. If you add horses, tennis courts, a farm for miniature animals with ponies to that, you get a great place both for adults and kids. If you walk through the surrounding fields, you’ll get to a small, intimate beach by the lake. Once you get there, you can rent a bike and a chair for your kid, which means you can organize a bike trip in the neighbourhood.
There are also nice, stylish rooms and delicious, Polish food in a hotel restaurant. It’s a perfect place for a weekend with family or friends and kids or for longer.
6) HOTEL DR IRENA ERIS – WZGÓRZA DYLEWSKIE
Writing about Wzgórza Dylewskie, I could repeat almost everything I wrote about Krynica 🙂 As you can see, we were there in winter. Again – pools, SPA, restaurant with a playroom, huge children menu and service that can feel what the kid’s parents need – “Maybe a table by the playground?”. You know you are in the right place 😉 You can read more HERE.
7) TATARSKA JURTA – KRUSZYNIANY
Tatarska Jurta is a place that always seduces you and makes you wanna go there. It makes everyone wanna go there, no matter your age and who you travel with and how. No matter the weather, because you can go there in summer, spring and in winter. Kruszyniany, where Tatarska Jurta is, is a magical place because this is where Tatar minority lives. There’s a small wooden mosque and a mysterious, Muslim graveyard. In Tatarska Jurta you will find food you’ve never eaten before and your kids will immediately feel at home. It’s mostly thanks to its owners – they support families, they’re warm and open to kids, because they have a lot of kids in their family as well. That’s why there are boxes with toys on every floor and in every restaurant room. There are also tables for parents right next to the playground that you can use in summer. There’s a lot to see in the neighbourhood, so both the little and the big will stay entertained. More – HERE. You can also read more about Tatar cuisine HERE.
This is our answer to your questions about child- and parent-friendly hotels / guesthouses / farm tourism spots in Poland. We like such places because they make things easier, but let’s not focus on them and nothing else. We like big hotels with playrooms and babysitters because Maks can’t wait to play with other kids and we get more time for the two of us or just for ourselves. But we don’t usually make decisions based on such things… We sleep with Maks everywhere and he can have fun everywhere as well 🙂 Remember that you can go on a nice vacation with your kid everywhere, not necessarily where they have playgrounds, pools, slides, playrooms and other stuff. A child can find their playground everywhere 🙂
PS. Our friends strongly recommend Hotel BoniFaCio as well, which is located near Warsaw 🙂 They say it’s a HIT for children 🙂 I trust them, so I pass the information on to you 😉
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