Hostel *Cue the Horror Music*

Okay... enough with the horrible movies about murder in hostels. 

My first bit of advice is: go with your gut. If you don't feel safe walking into the hostel then walk right back out.  Kind of like a hotel, if you don't like the place don't stay there.  

I usually go by recommendations of friends. 

BUT my hostel of choice in Krakow is Hotele Studenckie w Krakowie "Piast". 

http://www.hotelestudenckie.pl/index.php?hotels

In plain English, it's a student hotel, Piast is one of the about 5 locations. 

It's also the one I spent three months in when I was studying Polish via Jagiellonian University. 

It was clean, safe and fun, and today with a few new updates, it is still a good place to stay on the cheap. 

It's about a 25 minute brisk walk from Krakow Central, but the tram and bus are about 2-4 blocks respectively.  There are about 5 trams that take you to the center and run almost every 5 minutes and the journey is only about 13 minutes. 

While I'm sure there are closer locations, I just find that Piast works well for me.  

You can chose from single, double, triple or quad, tourist or normal. Normal just means that you get a tv and fridge.  Of course there is also an ISIC discount (hello 10%)

Piast is the cheapest of the Dom Studenckie's, and houses a cafeteria (with meals around 10-18 PLN), a hair salon, an aircon "pub", kiosk , post office, bank, and laundromat.  There is also 24 hour security and after a  certain hour you have to have your dorm ID card to get up the stairs. Next door is a Biedronka (grocer) where you can get everything from Brie cheese to face wash. They don't sell beer here though, but another store about a block down sells all that and more.  

But back to the actual dorm, like I mentioned my room didn't come with a tv or fridge, I took the single tourist class.  What you do get is clean sheets with extra blankets, cup, spoon, plate, hot water kettle towels, internet cable (which has improved since two years ago), plenty of storage space, a balcony (shared) and a bathroom (shared with another single or double).  

From the entryway "foyer" where you have a trash bin, hooks and full length mirror

Bathroom, typical toilet sink and shower

Why Hello there...Let me take a mirror selfie!

My half of the room, I felt poorly so I took a nap earlier and didn't bother to make the bed. Ooops

Other end of the "double" aka extra room for me.

Closet space. If you have a roommate you each get half. 

I paid for a single, but they were out so they upgraded me to a double.

Normal price is 60PLN per night which for 5 nights would have been 300PLN

but with my ISIC discount it came to 270 PLN or about 90USD.

Walk through of the dorm on my youtube channel :)
Here