Zakopane Hospitality Living Lab
A property that sells nights and collects evidence at the same time.
Vika Home is being rebuilt into a place where hospitality solutions are used by real guests, measured in real operation, and shown to buyers who want to see before they decide.
The location
Zakopane, at the foot of the Tatra mountains, roughly two hours from Kraków and its international airport. One of the few places in Poland with a genuine two-season tourist economy: winter from December to March, summer from June to September, plus weekends all year.
For a test environment this means a high rotation of guests with very different expectations — families, groups, couples on a weekend break, business guests off-season. A product is judged here by many different people within a short time.
Photography pending
The idea
Standard product testing in this industry happens either in a laboratory or in a showroom. Both settings share the same weakness: nothing is at stake and nobody behaves normally.
A living lab reverses that. The property operates commercially, the guest pays and has expectations, the staff have limited time. A solution that survives here has answered the only question that matters commercially — does it work when nobody is watching over it.
For manufacturers, this is an entry route into the Polish market that starts with evidence rather than a price list. For hoteliers, it is a place to see a solution in operation before spending on it.
The guest experience
The guest is not a test subject and is never treated as one. They come for a stay in the mountains and should get a better one than they expected.
That is exactly why the feedback is worth something. Nobody is asked to evaluate a mattress. We see whether they sleep well, whether they mention the bathroom, whether they come back, and what appears in reviews without prompting.
The demonstration experience
In parallel, the property works as a demonstration environment for B2B visitors. A hotelier planning a refurbishment can spend an hour here and see installed solutions, ask what they cost, what broke, and what the housekeeping team thinks of them.
It is a different kind of conversation from a trade fair. Nothing here is set up for the photograph — it is simply in use.
How a solution moves from the room to the market
The same loop for every category — sleep, bathroom, scent, wellness.
- 01
Guest uses the solution
- 02
Guest experience
- 03
Feedback
- 04
Operational data
- 05
B2B presentation
- ↺
Commercial rollout
Currently available
Currently available
What already operates and can be shown today.
Guest rooms
Sleep systems, textiles and amenities in daily use by guests.
Common areas
The first scenting and guest-experience solutions.
Property operations
Housekeeping, laundry logistics and the daily routine of a working property.
In development
In development
Work in progress. We mark it as such rather than presenting it as finished.
Bathroom Lab
Full bathroom refurbishment — tiles, sanitary ware, fittings, lighting, water-saving. In design and sourcing.
Hotel Sleep Lab
A dedicated comparison area for sleep systems. Manufacturer selection in progress.
Private SPA
Sauna, hammam and minipool as a private wellness area. Partner selection in progress.
Smart hotel layer
Access control, automation and energy monitoring. Under evaluation.
What is being built right now
The Living Lab is under construction. Below is where each part of it stands today — not a wish list, a work plan.
Zakopane Hospitality Living Lab
Guest rooms and common areas are being rebuilt into a permanent demonstration environment.
Expansion in progressBathroom Lab
Layouts drawn, tiles and sanitary ware being selected. Refurbishment planned as one continuous stage.
Design & sourcingHotel Sleep Lab
Talks with mattress, topper and linen manufacturers about the first fully installed sleep set.
Manufacturer selectionPrivate SPA
Sauna, hammam and minipool suppliers under review for the wellness area.
Partner selectionBukowina Operations Lab
Sourcing laundry, drying and dosing equipment for the demonstration room.
Equipment sourcing
What we will measure
Each installed solution will be described by the same set of indicators. We publish figures only once a full test cycle is complete.
Guest rating
Data collection starting soon
Operating cost
Data collection starting soon
Consumption
Data collection starting soon
Maintenance
Data collection starting soon
Return on investment
Data collection starting soon
Conversion
Data collection starting soon
Guest feedback
Data collection starting soon
These indicators will be filled with figures from our own locations. Until a solution has run a full test cycle, we publish nothing here.
Come and see the Living Lab.
Visits are arranged individually — the properties are rented to guests, so we agree a date that works around bookings.