The phoenix that is Warsaw continues to rise from its own ashes, as it has done throughout its history. It has been destroyed and rebuilt again and again, from the early settlements of the 9th century to the devastation of World War II. When communism was overthrown in 1989, the air was still thick with the pollution of the old Eastern bloc factories.

Today the air is clear — the better to see Warsaw’s many skyscrapers, most of them office buildings. Warsaw has joined Frankfurt, London and Paris as the European cities with the tallest skyscrapers — no small accomplishment for a city where residents were waiting in line to buy toilet paper less than two decades ago. Warsaw is adept not only at reinventing itself, but at keeping the best of the old while welcoming the new with open arms.

Even with 16 straight years of economic expansion, 2006, may have been the best yet in terms of economic growth, and 2007 is keeping the ball rolling. Inflation and unemployment are low; wages and job development are growing. Factories are all but gone from the scene. Schools are graduating increasing numbers of people with degrees in finance, banking, marketing and management. The Polish banking market is expected to be the fastest growing in Europe for the rest of this decade.

But the city is not yet thoroughly Western, nor is it thoroughly modern. Poland joined the European Union in 2004, but has yet to adopt the euro; the zloty is expected to remain the currency until at least 2010. And it was just this May that the government adopted a resolution to remove 40-odd remaining monuments to Communist heroes and history.

These days, Warsaw is often described as “the world’s biggest construction site,” having attracted a lot of investment in the expansion of its new industries — information technology and telecommunications among them. Reinventing itself includes welcoming both products and investments from other countries, making Warsaw a generally rewarding environment for the business traveler.

LODGING

MARRIOTT WARSAW

The 40-story Marriott Warsaw’s 522 guestrooms start on the 21st floor, all with city views. Situated in the business district of New Town, the hotel is a popular home-away-from-home for business travelers. Its lobby bar is a classic Warsaw meeting spot, and its top-level Panorama Club has a posh atmosphere to go with its sweeping views. Guestrooms are spacious and comfortable, with warmly neutral walls, colorful bedspreads and modern baths, plus satellite TV and high-speed Internet access (for a fee). An indoor pool, fitness center and business center, several restaurants and 24-hour room service round out the roster. Jerozolimskie 65, tel 48 22 630 6306, http://www.marriott.com $$$-$$$$

HOTEL LE REGINA
Not far from the main hotel district and a quick walk from Old Town, Le Regina is a deluxe find. The long, low three-story building looks like a renovated carriage house or cloister, with attractive archways carried through into the interior theme. The 61 guestrooms all have flat-screen TVs and free WiFi. There’s also a spa area with a pool, sauna and fitness equipment; a 30-seat restaurant that’s open all day; a tiny lobby bar and 24-hour room service that’s surprising for a property of its size. Koscielna 12, tel 48 22 531 6000, http://www.leregina.com $$$$

HOTEL RIALTO

One of the newest hotels in Warsaw, the Rialto is a trendy boutique property housed in a renovated turn-of-the-century townhouse on a secluded side street in New Town. Its generally art-deco interior is supplemented by furnishings with unique foreign themes — such as a genuine zebra-skin rug in the African safari room. The sleek restaurant is the domain of noted chef Kurt Scheller. Other amenities include high-speed Internet access, sauna, steam room, fitness room, LCD flat-screen TVs, voicemail, DVD players and rainfall showers. Look for the hotel’s Int ernet-only rates, which represent a discount of 50 percent or more. Wilcza 73, tel 48 22 584 8700, http://www.rialtowarsaw.com $$$$

DINING

ATRIO RESTAURANT & BAR

Convenient to most major business hotels, Atrio is a relative newcomer that’s been drawing raves for its food and service. A modern sensibility is supported by its black,white and beige décor with modern wood beams, while the menu is innovative but not overly trendy, featuring both Polish and international items. Try the pork loin stuffed with blue cheese on a bed of wild mushrooms, the steak baked in red wine, or any of the pasta dishes. It’s also a good place for a breakfast meeting, with a menu that runs the gamut from light (yogurt, muesli and fruit) to American (pancakes, eggs, meats and potatoes) to Polish (cottage cheese, scrambled eggs and rolls). Jana Pawla II 23, tel 48 22 653 9600, http://www.atrio.waw.pl $$-$$$

RESTAURACJA GRAND KREDENS

The Grand Kredens is often recommended by expats, but when you enter you’ll wonder if they’ve been pulling your leg. It looks like one of those funky theme restaurants, decorated with bicycles, lampposts, street signs and the occasional stone wall; but it’s been this way for years. Located on the main drag of the hotel district, it’s a great place to go with an international group, offering everything from traditional Polish dishes to barbecued ribs, seafood, venison, veal, poultry and pasta all well prepared. Jerozolimskie 111, tel 48 22 629 8008, http://www.kredens.com.pl $$-$$$

DELICJA POLSKA

There are a lot of really good traditional restaurants in the heart of the city and this is a lovely one. Polish and international cuisine is nicely presented in an elegant throwback to a time of embroidered tablecloths, chintz-type wallpaper and lots of dark wood. There’s a small outdoor dining terrace surrounded by flowers. It’s the place to try wild boar tenderloin with dumplings, Polish-style roast duck with apple pancakes, or roast perch with coriander; appetizers range from classic pickled herring to duck carpaccio. Koszkowa 54, tel 48 22 630 8850, http://www.delicjapolska.pl $$-$$$

INFO TO GO

Warsaw Okecie (aka Frederick Chopin) Airport (WAW) is about six miles south of the city center. The 15-minute ride in a metered taxi costs $12 to $15. The Orbis shuttle bus runs between the airport and various city destinations, including hotels, every 15 minutes and costs $4. City bus 175 runs to and from the airport between 5:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and costs less than $1. You can also book a taxi ahead online at http://www.warsawlife.com/travel/taxi.php; it will cost $25. Several major hotels run free airport shuttle vans.

Most taxi rides inside the city — at least on the western bank of the Vistula River — run between $5 and $10. But traffic is fierce, and there is ample public transportation that’s also frequent, and cheap. More than 1,500 buses ply 200 routes. The first digit of the bus’s number tells you its type; 1 means all stops every day; 5 is the express version of 1; 3 runs only in peak hours and makes all stops; 4 is the express version of 3. There are also almost 900 tram cars running over about 300 miles of rail on 20 different lines, and Europe’s newest metro, which only runs a limited distance on the west side of the river. All public transport is covered by the same tickets, which are sold at private kiosks near every station entrance, and at post offices, bus and tram offices and at some shops and newsstands.

Just the Facts

Time Zone: GMT + 2
Phone Code: 48 Poland 22 Warsaw
Currency: Zloty
Entry/Exit Requirements: U.S. citizens require a passport; visas are not required for business or leisure stays of up to 90 days.
Official Language: Polish
Key Industries: Machine building, iron and steel, mining, shipbuilding, automobiles, furniture, textiles and apparel, chemicals

DIVERSIONS

To get a feel for Warsaw old and new, go to the Old Town (Stare Miasto), a neighborhood of cobblestone streets and alleys, palaces and churches that surround the Royal Castle Square (Plac Zamkowy). The square is lined with restaurants and shops, and in nice weather there are outdoor cafes and street vendors selling art. Postwar reconstruction did an amazing job of recapturing the sense of life in the 17th and 18th centuries throughout the district, and each visit is a testament to Warsaw’s booming economy, with more and more cosmopolitan places to eat and browse in counterpoint to the Royal Castle (Plac Zamkowy 4, tel 48 22 657 2170, http://www.zamek-krolewski.com.pl), the last residence of Polish kings, now a branch of the National Museum.

The highest point in Warsaw, if the least beloved, is the Palace of Culture and Science (Plac Defilad 1, tel 48 22 528 3190, http://www.pkin.pl), Stalin’s gift to the city complete with pillars, parapets and more than 3,000 rooms. Locals still say they welcome any new construction that blocks it from their view — but they no longer demand that it be torn down, and it does have an incredible scenic overlook from the 30th floor. Poland’s fastest elevators carry you up to “The Thirty,” as it’s known, which has an observation deck, a café, and event spaces. The recent addition of the world’s highest tower clock indicates a grudging acceptance of its place on the city’s skyline. Tickets are under $5.

To relax, visit Lazienki Park (off Ujazdowskie), established in the 17th century, with its almost 200 acres of classical gardens, paved paths, peacocks and a palace on the water. The war-destroyed and rebuilt monument to composer and native son Frederick Chopin is here, and if one of the frequent free Chopin concerts is on the calendar during your visit, it’s a not-to-miss treat.

Shoppers can head for Chmielna Street, just off Royal Way in the heart of the city. Prices in Warsaw generally will seem reasonable, and the clothing is relatively fashion-forward. Poland’s first megamall, Blue City (Jerozolimskie 179, tel 48 22 824 4555,http://www.bluecity.pl) — convenient to the major business hotels — boasts 225 shops and food outlets, a go-kart track and kiddie amusements, all under a glass dome. The American Bookstore (Koszykowa 55, Nowy Swiat 61 and other locations, tel 48 22 234 5637, http://www.americanbookstore.pl)has a great selection of English-language books, translated Polish literature and inexpensive English classics.

Western European cities, but there are ample cultural venues, such as the National Philharmonic Hall (Jasna 5, tel 48 22 551 7111, http://www.filharmonia.pl), home to the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. From late September through October, it hosts the International Chopin Piano Competition, with tickets starting at $20 (tel 48 22 573 2847, http://www.konkurs.chopin.pl).

There are plenty of good bars and clubs, including Sense (Nowy Swiat 19, tel 48 22 826 6570), popular with the upscale after-work crowd, and two popular bars in the Hilton Warsaw (Grzybowska 63): Axis, a bilevel urban venue with a DJ beat and bar snacks (tel 48 22 356 5575), and Pistaccio Lobby Bar & Lounge, a highceilinged, airy spot for people-watching (tel 48 22 356 5555). Someplace Else is an expat favorite in the Sheraton Warsaw (Prusa 2, tel 48 22 450 6710), with live music nightly. Venture just a few blocks from the main hotel strip to the underground Bar Below (Marszalkowska 64, tel 48 22 621 1850), a chic place that still manages to make strangers feel right at home, with international sports shown on a variety of screens and ongoing darts games in the back. It’s a microcosm of Warsaw, in a way — decidedly foreign, but happily capable of making you feel welcome.

George Mula has been doing business in Poland almost since the moment Solidarity won the first free elections. He has partnered with Jones Lang Lasalle and Lehman Brothers to build Wola Park, one of the largest shopping malls in Warsaw, and is the Poland partner of Europa Capital as well as head of his own investment firm for residential and retail projects.

Global Traveler: You’ve been in Warsaw for 18 years. How did an Englishman such as yourself become so integrally involved in the Warsaw business community?
George Mula: I became a member of the “Ski Club” — a private lunch club for people of Polish origin with a certain status in the London financial community. In the autumn of 1989, when Solidarity won Poland’s first free elections, Margaret Thatcher carried through on a promise she’d made, and 6 million pounds were put into a fund for transferring know-how to Poland. The Ski Club was the natural choice — particularly since English was not then much spoken in Poland — to take on the first phase of the initiative, which was to explain capitalism and financial markets to Poles eager to create a new economy. Once there, we were approached for help from all sides, which prompted several of us to create the Polish Investment Fund and raise the initial capital.

GT: What are the strong points for doing business in Warsaw?
GM: Warsaw was almost totally destroyed in World War II.
Any city that can rebuild itself must have an extraordinary character. It has great energy. And the level of general education is ery high, higher than in the United Kingdom or the United States. This represents a great natural resource. Young people have a fantastic opportunity to make a career here, and those who have gone abroad (mostly to the United Kingdom and Ireland) are highly prized workers in advanced, Western economies, so that’s a good indication of the kind of people you can find to work with you or for you here.

GT: What is your candid appraisal of some drawbacks.
GM: Well, the roads are awful, but the trains run on time. While the educational standard is high, the levels of applied knowledge, experience, focus and lateral thinking are much lower, which requires careful management. Professional advice is at a premium; the big international financial and consulting firms are here, but they are all stretched very thin, so allow extra time to get anything done. And, if you’ll forgive this last point, Poland is one of the last bastions of male chauvinism.

GT: What are your own favorite projects?
GM: We’re in the process of selling the largest logistics facility within metropolitan Warsaw. We’ve acquired 18 small shopping centers around Poland and it looks like we’ll sell them at the end of the summer, so that’s great. Our largest investment is in the residential sector, with some 1,100 units either selling or in progress, which we expect to grow to some 6,000 to 7,000 over the next three years. And I’m proud of being part-owner of the Jan III Sobieski Hotel on Plac Zawisky. It’s the third-largest hotel in Warsaw with 427 rooms and even has a celebrity chef, Robert Zowa.