Krakow's oldest hotel, operating on ul. Floriańska since the 17th century inside the Renaissance palace of Prospero Provano, host to Tsar Alexander I, Franz Liszt and Honoré de Balzac, and reopened in 2020 after a careful contemporary restoration.
"Liszt slept here. So did Balzac, and Tsar Alexander I. Three hundred years of guest book, restored in 2020, two minutes from the Cloth Hall."
Hotel Pod Różą, "Under the Rose", is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Krakow, taking guests on ul. Floriańska since the 17th century. The building itself is older still: it began as the Renaissance townhouse of Prospero Provano, an Italian merchant who arrived in Krakow with Bona Sforza when she came to marry King Sigismund I in 1518. The Provano palace was acquired and rebuilt as an inn in the 1600s; the rose carved into the keystone above the front door (above the Latin motto "Hospes Hospiti Sacer", let the guest be sacred to the host) has been the building's emblem ever since. Among the documented historical guests are Tsar Alexander I of Russia, Tsar Alexander II, Grand Duke Constantine Romanov, the Persian emissary to Napoleon Mohamed Riza, the composer Franz Liszt, and the French novelist Honoré de Balzac.
The building stands midway along Floriańska between the Florian Gate (the only surviving city gate of the medieval defensive walls) and the Rynek Główny. It is a five-minute walk to the Main Market Square in one direction and four minutes to the Florian Gate in the other; the Czartoryski Museum (which holds the Leonardo da Vinci "Lady with an Ermine") is two minutes away on St. John's Street. There are 57 rooms across four floors, including seven suites, 13 single rooms, 18 standard double rooms, four mansard doubles on the top floor, three Junior Suites, three standard Suites, and four LUX apartments. The hotel was completely renovated in 2020 with the work led by the Polish design firm Iwona Kilan-Stanisławska, who preserved the original Renaissance courtyard and the building's first-floor staircase while bringing every room to a contemporary five-star bath standard.
The hotel's restaurant, Pod Różą, occupies the glass-roofed Renaissance courtyard with the original 16th-century facade visible from every table. The kitchen runs a Polish-Mediterranean menu under chef Marcin Jędrzejewski; breakfast in the courtyard, framed by the building's three-story Renaissance loggia, is one of Krakow's most considered morning meals. The Royal Café and Bar, off the lobby on Floriańska, runs from breakfast to late night. There is no swimming pool in the building but the hotel has a small wellness suite in the basement with a sauna and a steam room, and an agreement with a nearby health club for full-pool access.
Hotel Pod Różą is operated by Likus Hotels & Restaurants, the same family group that owns Hotel Stary and Hotel Copernicus, and shares those properties' service template. The hotel sits at a slightly more accessible price point than its two siblings: a Floriańska address with the same staff training and concierge depth, for 20 per cent less than the Rynek-side properties. For visitors looking for a historic Krakow base inside the Old Town walls without the suite-only constraint of the Bonerowski Palace, or for a single traveller using the city as a long-weekend reading retreat, Pod Różą is the strongest answer.
An anniversary at Pod Różą works at the literary-history level, the building has hosted three centuries of guest signatures and the hotel keeps a facsimile copy of the original 19th-century guest register on display in the lobby. Book a top-floor Mansard Double with the dormer window onto Floriańska, dine in the Renaissance courtyard under the loggia, and ask the concierge for a private after-hours Czartoryski Museum visit to the Leonardo. The Royal Suite is the milestone version.
Pod Różą is a working-traveller's address, the fibre WiFi runs at 400+ Mbps, the small business centre off the courtyard has two private bookable rooms, and the staff handles same-day printing and translation. The location on Floriańska makes meetings at the Jagiellonian University or the National Museum a four-minute walk; the airport pickup is included on stays of three nights or more in Junior Suite categories or above.
For a single-traveller Krakow stay Pod Różą is the considered choice. The 13 Single Rooms, most historic-hotel single categories are afterthoughts, are properly sized at 18 to 22 square metres with the same Renaissance window detailing as the larger categories. The Royal Café holds a reading-table corner with a city-history library; the concierge will book a private Old Town walking tour with one of the city's senior guides; the courtyard breakfast room is a quietly civilised solo morning.
ul. Floriańska 14
31-021 Krakow
Poland
Rynek Główny 5 minutes on foot; Florian Gate 4 minutes; Czartoryski Museum 2 minutes; Krakow Airport (KRK) 25 minutes by car
57 rooms incl. 7 suites
Single from EUR 220 / night
Double from EUR 290 / night
Junior Suite from EUR 480 / night
LUX Apartment from EUR 720 / night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Operating as an inn since the 17th century; full restoration completed 2020
Renaissance glass-roofed courtyard restaurant
Royal Café & Bar
Sauna and steam room
Business centre with two meeting rooms
Fibre WiFi (400+ Mbps)
Concierge airport transfer
Czartoryski Museum partner access
From EUR 220/night. The LUX Apartments and Royal Suite book three to four months ahead for May, June and September weekends; six months ahead for Corpus Christi and the Krakow Film Festival.
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