Quadrille – Gdynia's Alice in Wonderland palace

On a quiet street in Gdynia's Orłowo district, ten minutes from the Baltic cliff, an eighteenth-century palace and its historic park have been turned into one of Poland's most theatrical small hotels. Quadrille takes its cue entirely from Lewis Carroll: the name recalls the dance performed by the characters in Alice in Wonderland, the restaurant is called the White Rabbit, and an intimate cellar pub is named for the Mad Hatter. The MICHELIN Guide gives it Two Keys, and in September 2026 Quadrille was named one of only five hotels in Poland to hold that distinction. Open to guests aged sixteen and over, it belongs to the Relais & Châteaux association and counts 32 rooms, split between individually designed palace suites, each named after a writer, and quieter rooms in the garden wing. Behind the restraint of the parkland setting lies a house built, deliberately, to feel like falling down a rabbit hole.

01The house

The palace at Folwarczna 2 dates back to the 18th century, and the whole estate sits inside a historic park that has been kept as the hotel's setting rather than built over. The management describes the complex as refined in every respect, with the park keeping it apart from the city while leaving it close to the centres of both Gdynia and Sopot. The surrounding grounds, a two-hectare historic park threaded with paths and water features, were already a local curiosity in Orłowo long before the hotel opened.

Inside, the Alice in Wonderland idea is carried through with some discipline: the name itself refers to the quadrille danced by Carroll's characters, the restaurant takes its name from the White Rabbit, and the 10/6 Pub is named after the Mad Hatter. A black-and-white checkerboard floor in the entrance hall nods to the chess game played by the novel's characters, and the interior design throughout is built to sustain the illusion rather than announce it with costume props. The materials are serious: wallpapers from the French house Elitis and the British Cole & Sons, which also supplies Buckingham Palace and the White House, furniture from the Danish manufacturer Fritz Hansen and the veteran Polish firm Paged, and lighting drawn from Artemide, Karman and Modoluce in Italy, VITA Copenhagen, Zuiver from the Netherlands and London's Areti.

02Rooms and suites

Quadrille has 32 rooms in total. Twelve of them are palace suites, each with its own design and named after a literary figure, from Jane Austen and Gustave Flaubert to Leo Tolstoy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, the Japanese poet Bashō Matsuo, Scheherezade, Charlotte Brontë and William Shakespeare. The Jane Austen suite, tucked under the tower with tall skylights, is dressed with plush bed framings and lamps shaped like ball-gown frames; the Flaubert suite plays on a French boudoir, with a dark-green chaise longue, corset-patterned wallpaper and a quilted white headboard. The Scheherezade suite takes Marrakesh as its reference, with Merbau-wood windowsills, hand-dyed leather poufs and multicoloured tiles, while the Shakespeare room pairs a wrought-iron bed with a claw-footed bathtub beneath exposed roof beams.

Insider tip

Adults-only (16+), Relais & Châteaux member, with the White Rabbit restaurant and Quadrille Spa.

Design purists are given plenty to notice, including handmade Portuguese Azulejos tiles among the suites, and one room built as a direct homage to Tim Burton's film version of the story. Quieter double rooms sit in the garden wing, away from the Palace itself, for guests who want the setting without the full theatrical cast.

03Where to eat

The Palace's restaurant, the White Rabbit — Biały Królik in Polish — serves author's cuisine built around seasonal ingredients, with both an à la carte menu and a tasting menu offered through the year. The autumn 2026 à la carte runs across starters, mains and desserts rebuilt each season rather than kept as a fixed repertoire.

For something less formal, the 10/6 Pub sits below the restaurant, its name a reference to the Mad Hatter and its brick-walled cellar rooms built for a late drink rather than a full dinner.

04Spa and wellbeing

Quadrille Spa occupies its own wing within the park, built, like the rest of the hotel, around an adults-only philosophy that admits guests from the age of sixteen. The a°quadrille water zone combines a swimming pool, jacuzzi and saunas, and the spa recommends scheduling treatments ahead of arrival, including duo-room massages for couples or friends and facials built on the Japanese brand Forlle'd and on Mesoestetic. The spa's Wellness & Spa Quality Manager, Krzysztof Szkarłat, has spent close to twenty years in the hospitality industry. The a°Quadrille zone runs from 9:00 to 21:00 Monday to Thursday and 8:00 to 22:00 Friday to Sunday, with treatments available daily from 10:00 to 20:00.

05The neighbourhood

Quadrille sits in Orłowo, widely considered one of Gdynia's most attractive districts, within walking distance of the cliff, the pier and the Gdynia Aquarium, and close to the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park. The setting keeps the hotel away from the bustle of the city centre while leaving Gdynia and Sopot within easy reach for an evening out.

06Making the most of a stay

Because Quadrille is adults-only from age sixteen, it suits couples, small groups of friends or a quiet work trip rather than a family holiday, and the hotel markets itself explicitly on that basis, for weekends away or spa days built around treatments in the duo parlour. The Palace is also used for weddings in its park, which includes a fountain and a pond alongside its paths, and for small conferences, reflecting Quadrille's position within the Relais & Châteaux network of independently run houses. Given the fairy-tale room concepts, it is worth choosing a suite by its literary name rather than by category alone — the Scheherezade and Flaubert rooms, in particular, reward a longer stay.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.