Each time I go to Poznan I stay in a different place. The first time, a few years ago, I was driving and stopped in a B&B on the outskirts of what is reputedly Poland’s equivalent to Birmingham.I’ve been a couple of times since, to speak to designers and hoteliers about hotel design at the Poznan Hotel Invest fair. I enjoy Poznan and the heart of the old town, the town square, is beautifully restored. I also enjoy the Poznan showgrounds not least because every time I go there is a steam train – my host was astonished when I ran away on arrival the first evening to catch this image, amongst other photographs.As is common elsewhere in Eastern Europe there is huge investment in new hotels, (see seven of the Polish hotels featured in our Review columns including Noma Residences, Westin Warsaw or Angelo Katowice). Development has been led by many individual investors, although chains such as Rezidor, Starwood and Hilton have also been very active.
This time around I stayed in the City Park Residences . This is the development of an old Polish army barracks by an individual investor. The architecture renovates, added to and refurbished the old superbly to create apartments, a small shopping mall and the ‘aparthotel’ bearing the name. I had been shown around the development on my last visit but this time I stayed and had a really good look. I always insist on staying for all Reviews as it is only the experience of staying and sleeping in an hotel that enables one to write intelligently about the design.
So why, you may ask, is this just a Miniview rather than a full Review? Although I stayed the requisite two nights I was speaking at a conference and this took me out of the hotel for much of the time, and reduced the opportunity to take the photographs I need for a full Review. In part it was disappointing because this is a very good piece of architecture, and the construction detailing was good, the quality of the interiors quite high although flawed. Without a true focus though I felt unable to write a full Review and it has been sitting at the back of my mind since, nagging me to write, so a Miniview it is.
