The JW Marriott in Krakow: a 1920s bank reborn as a luxury hotel

Some projects announce their opening date before the first spade hits the ground. This one does the opposite. On Wielopole Street in Krakow, the monumental former headquarters of PKO bank is becoming a JW Marriott, and the investor refuses to commit to a timetable. “It takes time,” the project management sums up. In an industry that lives on opening dates, the admission is worth noting.

☰Contents

1. From financial bastion to luxury hotel
2. The dome, the parquet and the eagle
3. 120 rooms in the bank’s former offices
4. A gilded spa in the old vault room
5. Józef Wojciechowski, the Polish investor
6. Krakow’s hotel market is being reshaped
7. Our view: no date, and that is a good sign

From financial bastion to luxury hotel

This is no ordinary office block. Built between 1922 and 1925 to plans by Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz, one of the leading architects of interwar Poland, it boasts a monumental colonnade that makes it a landmark of central Krakow. Conversion works began in late September 2025.

Before the structural work, a preservation phase was carried out methodically. Conservation teams catalogued and protected the original decorative features: movable pieces went to secure storage, while fixed elements, period panelling and monumental fireplaces, were encased in made-to-measure casings. Bringing an early 20^th-century administrative building up to five-star standards then calls for heavy intervention: new partitions, excavated lift shafts, technical networks entirely rebuilt.

The dome, the parquet and the eagle

The future hotel’s signature lies in its state rooms. The banking hall, crowned by its dome, will become the heart of the hotel, beneath restored overhead light. The original parquet floors are receiving specific treatment, and the former directors’ office, a remarkable piece of cabinetmaking, will be preserved.

The most symbolic gesture concerns the exterior. The Polish eagle, a sculpture destroyed during the Second World War, will be reinstated on the monumental façade. The building’s shell will be cleaned to recover its original brightness, and the surroundings planted with greenery.

120 rooms in the bank’s former offices

The hotel will have 120 rooms and suites. The volumes of the former offices lend themselves to outsized suites, with lofty ceilings and views over the historic centre. A fine-dining restaurant, whose concept has yet to be revealed, and a permanent exhibition on the building’s history complete the programme.

A gilded spa in the old vault room

The interiors have been entrusted to London studio Suited Interior Design, and the conversion of the building to the firm URBA Architects. Beneath the dome, the former banking hall will house the bar, while the bank’s old counters will become a lounge.

In the basement, the spa moves into the former vault room, with a gilded bathtub and a circular pool tiled in gold. On the upper floors, duplex suites are arranged around a spiral staircase and 95 m² “Mindfulness Suites” round out the offer; the most exclusive accommodation is tucked into the dome, with views of St Mary’s Basilica in Krakow.

As for the timetable, the investor will not commit to a date; the interior design studio mentions a 2027 opening.

Józef Wojciechowski, the Polish investor

Behind the JW Marriott banner, the investor is Polish. Since 2017 the Wielopole Street building has belonged to J.W. Construction Holding, the property group of Józef Wojciechowski, one of the country’s wealthiest men, which bought it for more than 44 million zlotys. The developer, known for its residential schemes in Warsaw, has spent some fifteen years building a hotel arm that now counts more than 2,400 beds in Poland, including the Czarny Potok Resort SPA & Conference in Krynica-Zdrój and the Hotel Dana in Szczecin, and is looking towards the Seychelles.

Krakow will be its first step into top-tier luxury, and Poland’s first JW Marriott: the brand has around 125 hotels worldwide, nine of them in Europe. The programme announced by the group comprises 120 rooms, a signature cuisine restaurant, a JW Bar, a pool and a spa in the former vault rooms, plus conference rooms. The permit was granted in mid-2025 and work began in the autumn. See also the former Bank Handlowy in Kalisz, another Polish bank set to become a hotel, and the former Milan bank that Rosewood is turning into a hotel.

Krakow’s hotel market is being reshaped

The project does not exist in a vacuum. In summer 2026, Pekao bank prepared the sale of its own historic city-centre building, while some projects plan the reverse, converting existing five-star hotels into apartments. Krakow is deciding, asset by asset, between prestige hospitality and high-end residential. In July 2026, the roadway of nearby Dietla Street was even reconfigured to prepare access to the future hotel.

Our view: no date, and that is a good sign

Heritage conversion has become a reflex of luxury hospitality, and for good reason: a listed building tells a story no new construction can manufacture. Restoring a dome and reinstating a lost eagle reflects a sensibility that international guests know how to recognise, and Krakow lends itself to it better than most European cities.

But the most telling thing remains the refusal to announce a date. In an industry where the opening date is a sales tool, going without one amounts to admitting that the building site is in charge, not the marketing calendar. That bodes rather well for the quality of the restoration. The interior design studio mentions 2027: a plausible horizon, which the investor is careful not to turn into a promise.