Dal

Just returned from the Dal hotel, staying there from April 9 -13, first thing to mention is I was on a room only basis, so cannot comment on the breakfasts, the hotel is approx 8km (5miles) from the city centre, however, this is not to much of a problem, as, after a 20 min stroll, and 25mins on the tram, you are right by Golden Gate and the entrance to the beautiful city of Gdańsk, when I first arrived at the hotel, it was approx 11pm, and despite a 24hour reception, it was a elderly security guard who gave me my key, and not the usual female (or male ) receptionists, the hotel foyer had marble floors and walls, and was very clean and tidy, with a few large chairs, with a table and magazines, my room was a decent size, with 2 single beds, 24inch t.v., unfortunately, NO English channels, (but if you can get by with the c.s.i. Franchise, and NCIS in Polish, then you should be able to get by, also,the room had NO air con, or fridge, but this wasn’t a problem,it also had wall to wall carpets, writing desk, and the walls were nice pastel colours, and it also had a small balcony, but not big enough to have a chair outside, so there is nowhere to sit, one minor irritant is that this hotel is like a lot of others around Europe in that the plug sockets have what I would describe as a 1inch long pin, approx 4mm in diameter, sticking out, which prevents travellers from using there travel adapters, which was a pity for me personally, as I always come away with a travel kettle, there was ample storage space for cloths etc and in the bathroom was a toilet with hand basin, mirror, and good shower with lashings of hot water, one point to mention, is that when you step in the shower, it’s a ‘part screen’, ‘part shower curtain’ type, so you must make sure the curtain reaches either side of the screen, otherwise the floor becomes very wet, but this will be obvious when you get in the shower, so didn’t pose a problem, there is a beautiful 1 mile long beach just a 10 to12 minute walk across the road, and through the park, from the hotel Dal, the park has lots of picnic tables, and swings and rides for kids, both tourists and locals alike, and I can imagine this area being extremely popular during the summer months, the 4 days that I was there I would take a walk along the beach and promenade to the kiosks and the very nice restaurant called GRUBA RYBA, which served breakfasts and snacks, along with tea and coffee etc, I would come here every morning, before I went into the city for the day, finally, a very big thank you to AGNIEZKA back at the hotel, who gave me endless information about where to get the trams, and tips on what to see in this vastly underestimated city, the vast majority of people who come to Poland for a city break nearly always choose Krakow or Warsaw, but Gdańsk more than matches them both for things to see and do, and I had a fantastic time while I was there, would I stay at the Dal again?, yes, I could honestly say I would, for those tourists who like to be where the action is, obviously stay in the city centre, but for those who don’t, and want to be out of the city centre and with the added bonus of a glorious beach just a short walk from the hotel, you could do a lot worse than stay at the hotel Dal. Tips for getting around. From the airport. Come out of the airport and straight in front of you you will see the taxi cab firm NEPTUN, I paid 62zloty (£14) direct to the hotel door, journey time was approx 20 mins, coming back to the airport was only 49zloty (£11), the difference being that its slightly more after 10.00pm which it was was when I first arrived. Getting to the city centre from the hotel. Come out of the hotel and onto the main road. Turn LEFT and follow the road around to the traffic lights, carry straight on with the shops on your right, walk on for 10mins and will pass both the large Police station and then a Tesco’s, keep walking and at the next set of lights you will see a KFC on the corner, across the road from KFC on the same side is the tram stop BORA KOMMOROWSKIEGO, (all the tram stops are clearly named and marked), take tram no8 to BRAMA WYZNNA, get off the tram and straight ahead of you is the official LOT airlines building, walk down the steps and under the underpass, when you come up to street level keep to the right of the building and after just 80 yds you have Golden Gate, ( this is also the meeting place for the free walking tours of Gdańsk everyday at 10.30am, look for the guide carrying a bright yellow umbrella, walk through Golden Gate and you have a 400mtr long st, walk the full length of this street and you will pass Jacks Bar, and countless others, the Hard Rock Cafe, cafes , restaurants etc, walk through another gate, (basically a large arch), and you will be at the Motlawa River, here you will find even more restaurants and cafes, including the Hilton Hotel with its ‘High 5’ bar, non residents can go to the rooftop terrace on the 5th floor, ( hence the name) and buy a drink, and take in the fantastic views down the river, on the other side of the river opposite the Hilton you have a lot of cranes and construction going on, but surprisingly very little noise, these looked like high end flats and apartments, right on the river, when these are finished, ( and occupied) I can honestly see Gdańsk becoming THE city to visit in Poland, my very last tip is, if you wish to take an excursion out of the city, catch the train from the main train station, ( DWORCEC GLOWNY), one tram stop BEFORE BRAMA WYZNNA,to the lovely seaside town of SOPOT,it’s just a 20minute train journey and well worth the visit, you need to use the SKM train company, and the cost was just 7.60zloty RETURN ( £1.70) absolutely ridiculous?, SOPOT itself has a wide 600Mtr long pedestrianised street which leads down to the fantastic 2mile wide beach, added to that is a 400mtr long wooden pier, as with Gdańsk, there were plenty of eateries and bars ,and there was paragliding on the beach when I was there, the Hotel Sheraton and the Grand Hotel with it’s beautifully manicured gardens were just two of the the hotels in this upmarket town, all in all I had a memorable time in Gdańsk , with memories that will live long in the memory,and would advise anybody to go there now, before the secret gets out. I’ve given as much information as I can for trip advisor readers and hope that it is some help.