We are said to be the house of stories. After breakfast - and we feed conscientiously, homely and locally - we exchange plates for maps. We tell you where to see the Kłodzko Valley from a different perspective, we tell stories, we evoke legends. Visitors follow these footsteps. They go cross-country skiing in the Stołowe Mountains, get to know the mysterious Riese complex in the Owl Mountains, watch the Włodzickie Hills from the level of a bicycle saddle. Because we do not simply invite you to spend the night - but rather to awaken your cognitive jam.
However, we do not want to give the impression that the house itself does not give a chance for discovery. On the contrary. During the renovation, we discovered e.g. a time capsule: with an almost 100-year-old newspaper and a handwritten request for prayer for those who built the house. And it was built by the Scholz family in 1841. Today, in the old-new walls - and these are thick walls, still winning with modern WiFi in the battle for good coverage, we have 5 rooms for up to 12 guests. The house is surrounded by 0.5 hectares of garden, colorful as impressionist paintings. There is also a room for workshops, a Russian banya with herbal twigs and a pond. Due to the lack of amenities, we invite families, but with older children. When coming with dogs, you have to somehow explain to them that our four cats always have the last word here.
We invite you to Gajów, where we found our own paradise.
Our house is like a medieval castle: the ground floor has no direct connection to the residential floors! We renovated it with care and admiration for the builders of the past, exposing and bringing out its most beautiful features: the old beams in the rooms, the beautiful ceiling in the dining room built from ancient logs, the stone and brick walls, and the worn threshold into the house. You won't see plasterboard walls here, only plasterwork done using old-fashioned methods and colorful wallpaper. The house is surrounded by over half an hectare of garden, and the nearest neighbors are approximately 200 meters away.
The house is old, as evidenced by the sign from 1841, but we've taken care to add more modern amenities, including private bathrooms. You'll sleep in old beds (each is 2 meters long), but on modern mattresses from a local manufacturer, with colorful bedding and several pillows (you can choose the best one for you). When we combine beds, we always provide a so-called "combination." A love bridge or an extra mattress.
We strive to be eco-friendly: we use photovoltaics, a heat pump, and a modern sewage treatment plant.
ZAWILCE ROOM - FOR 2 PEOPLE
The Zawilce room is full of lace (also handmade by Dorota), pictures, and floral curtains. It has two antique single beds with modern mattresses that can be combined into a double. A chest of drawers, two armchairs, and a table complete the décor. The room has a private bathroom.
ROSES ROOM FOR 3-4 PEOPLE
Ideal for a couple with 1 or 2 children or a group of friends, as the double bed can be separated. The room includes a large bathroom. The room has a rustic character, old beams, plenty of light, and a view of the garden. The scent of roses and rose decorations inspired the room's name.
DEAF ROOM - FOR 4-5 PEOPLE
Our largest room, designed for 4-5 people. A vintage single bed and two large beds combined into one king-size bed. The mezzanine also offers a mattress for 1-2 people – a favorite among teenage guests! The bathroom boasts a generous amount of wood. Perfect for families with children. The room's name is taken from the artistic tiles in the bathroom.
POPPY ROOM - FOR 2 PEOPLE
We've managed to create another room with a private bathroom in the attic. The atmospheric interior is covered with blue poppy wallpaper. Two single beds, which are connected to form a double bed, can be separated upon request. A blue display cabinet and many blue details. Blue as heaven!
YOGI'S ROOM FOR 1-2 PEOPLE
Our budget-friendly option is perfect for a couple or a single person. 140 cm wide bed, bathroom and toilet adjacent to the room. Note: the bathroom has a sloping bathtub; yogis and exercisers will be able to take a shower!
The breakfasts we serve are included in the accommodation price. We serve goat and cow cheese from local cheese factories: Polish, Czech and also from our Italian neighbor, who brews them according to recipes straight from the Dolomites! Most of the dishes are vegan: freshly made hummus, mandala salads, homemade preserves, honey from local apiaries, vegetarian lard, oat pancakes with plant milk and a whole range of fruits and vegetables from our own garden and greenhouse. For thrill seekers: aji charapita and other hot peppers. Waldek also smokes local trout and cold meats. We serve mineralized water, juices, coffee and teas to drink - always herbal, sometimes also red, black and green.
During breakfast, we are happy to talk and encourage our guests to return to the art of conversation. We tell stories about the history of the House and the region, we tell legends and anecdotes. After breakfast, we spread out maps and plan routes with our guests; sometimes completing a route requires solving a riddle!?!
When it comes to lunches and dinners, you can use the fully equipped kitchen for guests or use our garden combo, i.e.: bread oven (pizza or foccacia will be great!), grill, and smokehouse. We will also be happy to prepare something for you there for your evening meal. For sauna guests, we will bake flatbreads in the sauna oven and serve them with sauces, e.g. with tomatoes from our own harvest.
There are plenty of great places to eat in the Kłodzko Valley and the nearby Czech Republic - we've included some addresses below. We especially recommend a trip to the historic Bystrzyca Kłodzka (Dorota, from Bystrzyca, has many stories about this town from filmmakers) and a visit to our friends at the Zakręt restaurant (also recommended by SH). A very interesting experience may be a visit to the Biała Lokomotywa café in Nowa Ruda, whose owner knows a lot of history and creates a definitely unconventional menu (you can try, for example, coffee with quail yolk, spicy waffles with apples or real ice cream).
In GajRaj itself, we share with you an exercise room, a Russian banya and a garden where you can read, cuddle the cats or exercise a little before breakfast. We also organize workshops to which we cordially invite you. The topics are as diverse as our interests - from herbalism, through yoga, to sports. In July, we participate in the Góry Literatury Festival, hosting writers, artists and journalists - you can have breakfast with them.
You can go on various mountain hikes in the area. We especially recommend the Table Mountains - also in their non-obvious version, the Włodzickie Hill - with the most beautiful panoramas, the Owl Mountains - igniting the imagination of mystery hunters, and the slightly further Orlickie Mountains and the Bystrzyckie Mountains. In summer, we recommend the beach in Gorzuchów to cool down (clear water, you can find a quiet place to sunbathe). We also recommend visiting the nearby hills with the former Kamionka wulan and ravines. For those who want, we will plan your trip, tell you the legend and what you must see along the hiking route, and we will recommend a local restaurant or cafe.
We are absolutely crazy about hiking, so on site we will show you the best routes and show you as many possibilities as possible. However, to give you a starting point, we will briefly list the hiking and sports attractions in the area:
- Table Mountains on the Polish and Czech sides,
- ski slopes (the largest complex in Zieleniec, also uncrowded Przygórze, Sokolec and Rzeczka, Janovicky),
- running routes (Karłów - Pasterka, a little further Lasówka, Orlicke Zahori, Spalona; after running, we recommend something warm in the PTTK Pasterka/Szczelinka shelter or the PTTK Jagodna shelter),
- tennis courts (Tłumaczów - free, Polanica),
- road bike routes (they are everywhere here),
- swimming in Gorzuchów.
And something for Indiana Jones historians and contemporaries? And here the Kłodzko Land has a lot to show. Just walking around the surrounding towns can give you a taste of what life was like here in the past. In the area you can visit castles and palaces, currently being renovated thanks to the great effort of their new owners. Ask - we will be happy to tell you!
Our Bania in Gaju is a large sauna (8 seats), full of the scents of herbs and essential oils. We don't have extreme temperatures in the banya, but there is a lot of humidity, so this type of sauna is the healthiest and liked by women. Dorota will prepare scent ceremonies and herbal incense for you. If there is power, he will beat you with switches; in the spring and summer season we make them from twigs and herbs, including nettle! After the session, you can cool off in the outdoor shower or bathtub (outside the winter), or in the pond if you wish. To drink, we serve herbal drinks, tea from a samovar, and after the sauna, we bake flatbreads in the sauna oven.
We welcome children over 12 years of age, because neither the house nor the garden are suitable for curious children. There are plenty of places in the immediate area where young people can explore underground, climb rocks and see interesting monuments. You can find interesting volcanic minerals on the nearby hills. Around the house you can observe numerous birds that nest here and raise their chicks. On the last Saturday of April, we always participate in the "Paleni Carodiejnice" festival in Bozanov (Czech Republic).
The house, as befits a decent, old structure, has almost 80 cm of walls and is located at the end of civilization. Therefore, the Internet is not very strong, although it is possible to work. However, we are fighting for fast internet for you. For your convenience, we will prepare a substitute for an office. But why? People come to us to relax :) For hard-working people, we offer help with chopping wood for the sauna or working in the garden. Alternatively, for relaxation purposes, you can cuddle the cat!
