City Central Hostel Laciarska

The rooms were clean and nice, the staff were helpful, and the location was great. I recommend it!

For an affordable, centrally located hostel, I would recommend it despite the drawbacks. It's in a tenement building, with two renovated apartments of three or four rooms each, sharing a kitchen and bathroom. The kitchen has a TV, microwave, kettle, induction cooktop, and tea, coffee, and sugar. The decor is modern, with new paintings on the walls. Cleaning is clearly superficial in places: the floor is mopped, sheets are clean, and the toilet sparkles, but I found an empty beer bottle behind the bed. You can clean things yourself with supplies from the hallway cupboard. Thin walls mean you hear the roommates, and the hostel atmosphere could be a nightmare if you don't get along with them. It's on the second floor, up a narrow staircase, so carrying luggage is a pain. The location is very central, with the market square four minutes away and Burger King, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and plenty of unique restaurants nearby. Galeria Dominikańska, a pharmacy, and a 24-hour Żabka are just around the corner, with trams going in every direction. The city and the next-door hotel's cooling system make noise. In summer, it's too hot to close the windows, so you get the smell of food being cooked in that hotel's kitchen. I have no complaints about the service, though the entry directions could be clearer and the doors need signs. This is the first self-service hostel system I've found convenient, which is a big plus. The price is reasonable for this location.

A tiny apartment, and a disaster. The single room was so small it couldn't fit a wardrobe, just three coat hangers across, and there was nowhere to comfortably open a standard suitcase up to 23 kg. This was a renovated two-room apartment chopped into four rental rooms and called a hostel. You could hear everything next door and in the stairwell whenever someone left the apartment door open. No privacy at all, and the apartment itself was tiny, so sharing a room was out of the question. Nobody told us before arrival that the 150 PLN security deposit had to be paid at another building. Somehow the taxi fare isn't refunded. If you pay the deposit in cash, the receptionist says you can only collect it after 3:00 PM on checkout day. With an 8:00 AM flight, I guess you can say goodbye to that money. The lock on the “hostel...-APARTMENT” was unreliable, and people had trouble getting out. The service was unpleasant from the start, basically pay and leave, though the host was very friendly. First and last time. I hope the owner tries sleeping in this “great hostel” for a few days to see how pleasant it is :P

The self check-in worked well once we'd figured it out, and you can reach the parking on foot in about 10 minutes. You can pay for it at a discounted rate at reception when checking out. The rooms are small but clean, the location is great, and the value for money is excellent. Perfect for a weekend away!