Astoria Hotel

I have stayed at this Hotel on every visit to Krakow because i did not want to stay in the touristy areas and my Polish friends recommended i stay in the Kazimierz area. It is a 3 star hotel so dont expect luxury, but dont expect it to be run down either, the place is spotless does a lovely buffet breakfast, has wired internet in all rooms, even single rooms are of a good size, they are spotlessly clean, virtually all staff speak perfect English and are very friendly and helpful if you wish to take tours exchange money etc they will arrange this all for you. Being central in Kazimierz you literally walk out the hotel door choose left or right and you have the pick of any number of fantastic cafes, art shops and funky bohemian bars, tip dont go out till about 11pm as most places stay open until "last customer leaves" so no need to try and get drunk as quick as possible as most Brits do over there, i have never seen any Brit stag or hen nights in this area, they tend to stick to the main market square in Rynek Glowny so you can be assured you will not be embarrassed by our imported lager louts :)

Once you return to the Hotel there is a night porter on call and the young chap who was working there would always open straight away and if you asked nicely enough a wee coffee was no problem before bed, nightly rates in summer are usually in the £50 area with breakfast, but i book through Travel Republic.co.uk and if you stay more than 5 days you get a discount last time i stayed there room and breakfast worked out at £35 a day for a weeks stay so a bargain.If you like hot weather go around June or after tems usually hit high 20's low 30's thats when you hit the touristy areas and sit in the main market square (Rynek Glowny) pic a table at the dozens of beautiful cafes and just sit back and watch life go by and relax and take in the beauty of the city. Writing this i just realised i have not been over for nearly a year, time i went on line and booked a week in July :)