Dla strony w języku polskim, proszę odwiedzić http://www.agroletnica.pl
Starting from July 2022, the agrotourism centre „Agroletnica” in Letnica near Zielona Góra in Poland is under new ownership and management.
This centre was known and loved by many guests from a large number of countries over the course of twenty years under the care of its builder and owner Włodek Sroka and his wife Lidia Sroka. Their unique location, building and environment, style of hospitality and the food Lidia cooked had guests coming back sometimes for many years. Many of them became dear friends of the Srokas. They also raised a family in the family home attached to this small country hotel. But after many years they decided it was time to retire and pass the baton over to a new owner.
David and Elena James have lived in Poland for many years, mainly in Warsaw for many years. We have not been deeply involved in the hospitality business – David is a UK origin Chartered accountant – so a steep learning curve awaits. However we are determined to welcome both the long term guests of Włodek and Lidia in the accustomed style and in addition build our own group of happy, returning customers, based on a sense of hospitality derived from our own family backgrounds as well as our faith values.
What is on offer here? First and foremost, the wonderful countryside of the Lubuskie region. We are in the middle of a huge forest, largely around thirty years old but many parts of it are older. The village of Letnica itself was Laettnitz before the second world war, and was part of Germany. There used to be a thriving brewery in the village because the water was of such high quality, and we run on our own supply of subterranean water, with an excellent balance of nutrients and high in iron, which is beneficial to the organism. We ourselves do not filter our well water, and we feel well in all senses of the word. The country house comes complete with a 12*6*1,5 metre swimming pool, (unheated but with summer being what it is here, you wouldn’t want or need to heat it). The use of the pool is free to guests with an overnight stay.
We are still in the investment phase, but one of the first things that our Letnica has added to the already very good country residence we had taken over from the Srokas is several adaptations to the needs of wheelchair and mobility scooter users. We have readapted one double room so that it is easily accessible with a wheelchair or mobility scooter, and that is the room closest to the pool. People who need it have priority to book it. There are several ramps facilitating access to different levels of the property as well as stairlifts to the upper floor and the basement, and finally there are handrails and other helps in the lavatory and by arrangement the walk-in bath in the private area can also be made available to someone unable to use the shower. Elena says that she has put together the access helps which she herself (as an MS patient with mobility issues) wanted from hotels which claimed to be good for the disabled, but was unable to find in practice. Our improvements to access are designed by the disabled for the disabled. We don’t claim that everyone will be ideally suited as disability comes in many guises, but there will for sure be a range of disabled people who will be very well served by what we have done so far, and there is more to come.
Additional novelties we have include a rickshaw for hire to guests and the ability to use a piano in the refectory. The old pingpong table is still here, the billiard table is gone and in due course will be replaced by a weight room for those who like to do barbell training. There is a jukebox instead of the old sound system and this combines the old and new technology to do some quite clever things. In addition we invested in a top of the range De’Longhi espresso machine with a broad repertoire of coffee recipes.
As a non-farmer (or „not yet a farmer”, as we prefer to say) the way that the term „farmer” is defined in law, we have to run this agrotourism business as a usual „działalność” and so there is a fiscal till, VAT invoices when required, etc. This is mainly of relevance to those who are from Poland and travelling on business.
We’re proud to announce that we’re still the home of the all-Poland blues harp workshops run by Mr Leszek Kowalczuk.
We also intend in October 2023 to produce an annual event „the 0% Oktoberfest” or „Oktoberfest zero-procentowy” in partnership with breweries which produce the interesting array of non-alcoholic beers. This will be accompanied by German music and will be a confident celebration of the shared roots this part of Poland has with Germany. Keep checking in here to keep up to date with how this plan develops. Why zero percent? We don’t have a liquor licence and we don’t intend to apply for one. We’re Gideons and would like to be faithful to the Gideons mission, and selling liquor and tobacco are against the rules. This is why you’ll also find Gideons New Testaments in our hotel rooms. These days it seems that the only way we Gideons can get our Bibles into hotels is to buy the hotel! (That’s a pleasantry, of course, but you may find an element of truth in it).
On that Oktoberfest note, guests from Germany who like to come to see the place their ancestors lived in are 100% welcome here.
Guests from further afield who would like to come to Europe and see both the natural base of this continent and also explore some world cities could not be better served. You have a good chance to see some of the wildlife of the region that may be unfamiliar to you, and in addition you can visit not only an array of smaller, charming towns like Zielona Góra, but we are also in day-tripping distance from four world cities, being less than two hours drive from Poznan, Wroclaw, Berlin and Dresden respctively. The best thing an American visiting Europe can do is hire a car and from our base in Letnica explore to his or her heart’s content. Again, this will be of particular value to Americans, Canadians and Australians (etc) wishing to rediscover ancestral roots in this part of Europe.
A large number of new attractions are on the way, including the big picture plan to help preserve endangered breeds of farm animals and we will keep readers informed in the blog section of this site. Electric bikes, specially marked forest walks, canoes and more are all in the pipeline.
By the way there is a Polish language site for Agroletnica at http://www.agroletnica.pl , which is the old site just with the new contact details and prices, while the main language for this international website for Agroletnica will be English as well as other languages. The articles in English are not necessarily just translations of the content in any of the other languages, and vice versa, but I will probably write in the language I feel like writing, and hopefully there will be enough info and enough content in each language.