Review: Raffles Europejski Warsaw – Accor’s best European hotel?

This is our review of the Raffles Europejski Warsaw hotel in Poland, part of Accor Live Limitless.

Why Warsaw? Good question. It certainly wasn’t in my plans at the start of the year. However, when I earned Diamond status in Accor Live Limitless for 2025, it came with three Suite Night Upgrade awards.

As I explained in this article, Accor suite upgrades are locked in at the time of booking. You pay the cash rate of, I think, the room two categories below your suite. You need one voucher per night.

I was looking for a good place to use them when I read a rave review of Raffles Europejski Warsaw (“the best value true luxury hotel in Europe”) by someone whose opinion I respect.

When you do my job, good hotels tend to come onto your radar automatically so I was intrigued to hear about one I didn’t know. I had only been to Warsaw once, 20 years ago, so it seemed a good opportunity.

The hotel website is here.

I paid cash for my stay and the hotel did not know I would be reviewing it.

Where is Raffles Europejski Warsaw?

When I was last in Warsaw I stayed at the InterContinental (website here) which had just opened. It was a good choice – a new build hotel in a skyscraper – but wasn’t great for tourism due to its location. Warsaw is a bit like Frankfurt, with a modern city centre built after the war and a pleasant old town slightly off centre.

Raffles is directly on the edge of the old town which, despite the name, was rebuilt brick by brick after the war. It means that you get to spend more of your time in the most pleasant part of Warsaw compared to the business-focused hotels near the railway station. It’s also very close to the opera house and indeed Marriott’s Hotel Bristol (website here) which is behind it.

Let me save you some time and trouble. Take an Uber everywhere. It is laughably cheap – under £15 to/from the airport, under £5 for a one-way trip across the city – and it isn’t worth getting your head around the railway system or metro unless you want to try it out. I waited for 25 minutes for the half-hourly train from the airport and then realised the station was so far from the hotel that I needed an Uber anyway.

The hotel originally opened in 1857. After war damage it operated only as a restaurant for some years before fully reopening as an Orbis hotel. In the 2010s it underwent a thorough renovation, closing for four years. The end result puts it at the level of other grand dame hotels in Europe. It has been under Accor’s luxury Raffles brand since 2017.

The entrance is very low key – you can see a portico on the far right in the image above. The area directly outside the door is not a through road (at least, not at present due to construction) so it was quiet.

Once inside you are met with a very old school lobby area. Check-in is done seated – on bizarrely low chairs – and staff will walk you to your room.

Beyond reception you have a large seating area which leads into a ballroom, along with a corridor which heads off to the left. You pass a cafe and bar before ending up in the main restaurant.

Here is a PR shot, although there is substantially more seating than this:

My room at Raffles Warsaw

I had booked a Heritage Suite which apparently “captures the essence of luxury and draws inspiration from Polish artists to create an unforgettable experience with separate oval living room and wonderful views of Saxon Gardens and the Warsaw city skyline”.

Using two Suite Night Upgrade vouchers for my two nights, I reduced the rate to the price of a deluxe room. I paid PLN 3,562 (£684, so £342 per night) against the standard rate of PLN 9,067 (£1,740, so £870 per night).

£342 is still pricey for Warsaw – you could get a suite at InterContinental Warsaw for that money without needing any vouchers – but Raffles is very much a step above.

Let’s take a look at my Heritage Suite. If you scroll back to the hotel exterior photo above, I had the corner room two floors above the doorway.

The key feature is this beautiful circular living area, which is probably the loveliest hotel room I’ve had all year.

It is exceptionally well furnished – you don’t really see the quality of finish in the photos – and the sun was streaming through the full height windows in the afternoon.

To one side you have a built-in desk / minibar / bookshelf combination. A lot of thought had gone into everything, down to the silver coffee cups. There was a full (not free) minibar, a Nespresso machine, a kettle and all the bits and bobs you’d expect, including a guide to the hotel’s huge art collection.

(I should add that, after being walked to my suite, I was asked if I wanted a coffee. I said I did, and the staff member went off and returned five minutes later with my drink – from where I don’t know. It’s similar to the butler service that a good St Regis hotel would offer.)

The living area is connected to the bedroom by a narrow corridor – there is a mirrored cupboard to the right so it looks wider than it is in this picture:

The bedroom itself, to be honest, is pretty unremarkable. There’s not a lot of space around the edge of the very large bed although it was perfectly comfortable.

The bathroom, however, was stunning.

Someone seriously went to town on the marble. It was genuinely jaw dropping.

The ceiling above the sinks is actually a false one to allow overhead lights. When you walk down to the bath the whole space suddenly opens up:

There is a large shower to the right of the bath, with the loo in a separate area with a door.

Toiletries were by Blaise Mautin, a brand typically seen in a Park Hyatt.

Other rooms

As this was a cash stay I wasn’t in a position to tour other rooms. It’s worth noting that a lot of the rooms overlook the internal atrium pictured below – it gets the sun but you don’t see any of Warsaw from your windows.

The two glass floors at the top are not part of the hotel and are presumably office space.

Food and drink at Raffles Europejski Warsaw

The main restaurant in the hotel is the Europejski Grill. I didn’t eat here in the evening but I was there for breakfast.

Here is a PR shot:

The long narrow space doesn’t do it any favours but it is very well decorated. In summer it opens out onto a terrace:

The breakfast buffet is surprisingly small but does have a strong focus on local products. It’s not often you find halibut, pickled beetroot or marinated mushrooms put out.

You are encouraged to have a cooked to order item from the a la carte menu. Here are the crepes I had on my second day, all very classily done:

Breakfast is a very civilised affair. It wasn’t at all busy, although it was around 9am when I showed up, and has the air of a dinner service to it.

As this a Raffles property, it has its own version of the Long Bar from the original Singapore hotel (PR shot). I popped in to claim the free drink I was offered as an elite member of Accor Live Limitless.

There is also an impressive cafe which serves dainty cakes:

The pool and spa

I want to touch briefly on the pool and spa in the basement. The pool is bizarre – a cave-like space which includes, out of shot, a large jacuzzi pool.

Unfortunately, given the odd shape, you can’t really swim in it and there isn’t any space for loungers around the edge, but it’s worth trying the jacuzzi part for the novelty.

Alongside spa treatment rooms there are a number of steam rooms:

I want to mention one little novelty which impressed. On the inside of the locker doors in the changing rooms is a wooden box. This is just large enough for your phone and/or glasses. You don’t need to hide them in your shoe or whatever else you normally do to ensure you don’t pull them out accidentally on your return!

Conclusion

Sometimes, when writing a hotel review, I worry that the readers won’t ‘get it’. A hotel like Raffles Europejski is very much about style and sophistication, about an aura of calm that seems to fill the place. You can’t get this across in a series of photographs.

You will therefore have to trust me that this is, almost certainly, the best address in Warsaw, and you’ll need to trust me that the location on the edge of the old town is ideal.

You can certainly pay a lot less to stay in Warsaw, but on the other hand there are few capital cities in Europe where you can pay so little to stay at the very top of the market. If you have Accor Live Limitless Suite Night Upgrades to use then this is, without a doubt, one that should be very near the top of your list.

Booking for cash?

Our luxury hotel partner Emyr Thomas at Bon Vivant can get you additional benefits if you book through him. You pay the same flexible rate as shown on the Accor website and you pay on departure as usual.

You will receive:

• Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
• Complimentary Breakfast for two daily for duration of the stay
• $100 equivalent Food & Beverage credit once per stay
• Early check-in / late check-out, subject to availability 

At the time of publication, there is also a ‘4th night free’ offer running for junior suites and above, so the Heritage Suite I had would be included.

You can contact Emyr via the form on this page of Head for Points.

The Raffles Europejski Warsaw website is here if you want to book direct or learn more.

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Accor Live Limitless update – December 2024:

Earn bonus Accor points: Accor is not currently running a global promotion

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