Monika and Piotr are a young couple who run a family, three-star hotel with attractions for children in one of the most popular tourist towns in Masuria - Mikołajki. Despite their young age and their two frisky sons, they can reconcile running a hotel with family life.

(VisitOn) Hotel Santa Monica *** is quite a new object on the market in Mikołajki. Where did you get the idea for a hotel?

Monika: My parents run a boarding house in Mikołajki, an aparthotel as well as seasonal holiday homes and hospitality have always been a part of my life. From an early age, with great commitment and interest, I helped my parents in running family businesses. When I got older - family holidays meant one thing: I became a "full-fledged" member of the crew. In my home there was always the subject of hospitality.

(VisitOn) How was the construction of the building?

Piotr: Initially, our intention was a guest house, which, however, during the conversations evolved to the rank of the hotel. At first we assumed that we would open an object with a dozen or so rooms and during the operation we would put off for expansion. Somehow it happened that the construction was going quite well and thanks to the financial help of a family the hotel grew much larger ...

(VisitOn) Family business from the beginning. How about bank financing? Such capital could help in building from the very beginning ...

Piotr: At the beginning of our journey, we were unreliable for the bank as investors, so we decided to ask the family for a small loan. In this way, from the very first steps, we can say that it is a family business

(VisitOn) Let's stay with family business for a while. For you, it's hard work from morning to evening. And what do your guests gain from this?

Monika: Being from morning to evening at the hotel, we can respond to the needs of our guests, their requests and wishes. Thanks to this, we know exactly what is happening in the property and what we must pay attention to.

Piotr: Sometimes there are owners or directors of various hotels who manage a place without leaving their office or even without being there ... What can such a person say about the guests who visit it? It is not uncommon that we know our returning guests by name and surname and we know how to prepare a stay for them so that they feel like they are in a second home.

Monika: It has happened more than once that our guests have become our friends and we meet them not only in Mikołajki, but also on joint trips or at home. It is amazing in our work that we have the opportunity to meet fantastic people.

(VisitOn) You run a child-friendly hotel. Was this idea from the beginning to create a place for a family vacation? Why did you choose a children's hotel?

Monika: It is natural that you want to be in a place that works positively for you, in which you feel like in a second home. We love the family atmosphere ... Going on vacation, even without boys, we were subconsciously always looking for hotels with a family atmosphere. Unfortunately, we have not always succeeded. After the first son was born, a hotel with attractions for children was already compulsive .. And believe us or not - there are hotels that are designated as child-friendly, but in addition to a playroom (often created from another room) did not offer nothing more for kids. In such situations, rest with a child turns into a constant search for a play area.

Piotr: I think that already at the stage of our travels together, we knew in which direction our object will go - a place where everyone will come as a long-lost family, where you know that you are "at home" and from which you will not want to leave ...

(VisitOn) Do you use the experience of other hoteliers?

Piotr: We are constantly developing and improving our offer, because, as we all probably, we are looking at solutions used in other places. By bringing a new idea, we talk to our crew and analyze whether specific activities will be beneficial to our guests or not

Monika: Being constantly in one place, you lose yourself in it, so we try to leave and take a distance, while watching other hotels, including those with attractions for children. Sometimes we spot something interesting - even a new type of slide or element of decor. After one of these trips we decided that it was time to refresh the lobby at the reception. Our guests were delighted with the change. We are currently working on the reconstruction and modernization of the restaurant

(VisitOn) Guests ... Each hotelier will say that the overriding goal of its activity is their satisfaction. What is important for you, apart from that, is it still important in running a hotel every day?

Piotr: We want everyone to feel good in our family hotel. Both our guests who visit Mikołajki and our staff. We make sure that the family atmosphere also prevails in the "backoffice", that's why we listen to our employees, we work with them both in the backoffice as well as in the front. We want our crew to know that you can count on us at any moment, so it happens that we carry tables, prepare a conference or a restaurant room for the event.

Monika: We know that a good working atmosphere translates into its effects. When guests see that our waiters are smiling - because they are simply unforced joyful, they feel completely different in our hotel. When you are in a place where people feel good - you just want to be there.

(VisitOn) What are your plans for the future? Is there anything you would like to implement into the hotel?

Piotr: Our next plan, which we will be implementing in the spring, is the expansion of the restaurant with a terrace space. We talked with guests who suggested that it would take a little more space - so we act.

Monika: I am dreaming of expanding the hotel ... It is true that we are limited in space, because the plot on which the hotel stands is surrounded on all sides by ownership plots, but maybe a little on the left, by the pool? A few rooms would fit ...

(VisitOn) And is there anything that you wish to each other when nobody listens?

Piotr: We always wish one thing: that guests who come to us feel at the Hotel Santa Monica *** just like us - means like in their second home.

Monika: And that our family hotel stays forever family.

Visit Hotel Santa Monica website and check their family offer HERE