OUr guidebook recommended this place and it was a stinker. I am not sure which was worse, the bolivian boys playing football in our hall at 2am, the excrement on the toilet seat, or the cigarrettes put out on the counter? I am not sure, but it was horrendous experience.

My boyfriend and I had a terrible time at this hostel. We found the place by approaching this hostel placement desk we found at the train station when we got in (the attendands were all wearing yellow shirts, and they book for several local hostels). It seems like a great system - they book the hostel for you and drive you there.

But once we got there we had to wait an hour for the front desk to check us in - not only were they extremely slow and disorganized but other guests kept cutting in line to ask questions. The sheets that came with the room were so thin that we could see through them and they're not big enough to cover the entire mattress, the bathrooms stink, and there are only two showers on our wing of the floor (and one of them is broken). The people at the train station also claimed that this hotels is only 300 meters from the old town, which definitely is not true. It must be almost a mile as it took me 20 minutes walking briskly to get to the old town this morning.

This a good location to stay, it was the nearest hostel to the train station, and it wasn't too far to walk to the main part of the town. If however, you want to be near the more interesting nightlife stay down in the 'Dizzy Daisy Kazimierz', this is the old jewish district where they are tonnes of interesting little bars and restuarants.

We hired a twin bedroom, and we shared a bathroom with another room (the occupants, we hardly ever saw). It was simple, and very clean, the room looked out on to a courtyard (you ain't going to get seaviews in Krakow).

The staff were friendly and helpful, and ran daily tours of Auschwitz. The breakfast was basic, but there are plenty of places nearby if you're fussy. We arrived very early (5am) from an overnight train, and they were happy to look after our bags.

Oh, and as you'd expect with a hostel, the prices were very reasonable (especially for a private room). Highly recommended!