Wroclaw

Stranger Hostel

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  • ul. Kollataja 16 / 3
     Wroclaw, Poland 50-002
    +48 (71) 344 12 06
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4
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Editor Pick

Stranger Hostel

Stranger Hostel

The Stranger Hostel is the original of Wroclaw’s four backpackers’ hostels, and if you arrive at the train station with a bag as heavy as the one I was (foolishly) carrying, it’s also the best-located. Diagonally across the intersection from the train station carpark, I was there within five minutes of my train’s arrival.

The entry to the building that houses the hostel is freshly and brightly painted and a beautiful old wooden staircase leads you to the second floor and hostel reception. Check-in was friendly, quick and efficient and included a free map and a tour of the hostel facilities (which included free Internet access and free breakfast until the early afternoon!)

The hostel rooms all open off a central hall, which houses the reception desk, brochure racks and a small store of souvenirs and travel essentials like toothpaste and earplugs for sale. I saw two bathrooms and both were clean and recently renovated as was the kitchen. My favourite room in the hostel though was the big colourful common room. In one corner is a raised platform that has earned itself the moniker ‘supercouch’ and scattered around the rest of the room were three or four two-seater sofas, some stools and for anyone who wanted to sit and write, a table and chairs. Another popular feature of the hostel is the big screen painted onto one wall and the projector facing it. Because I was only there for a couple of nights I spent most of my time out in the city, but the collection of DVD’s is apparently quite comprehensive, and I could certainly see the attraction of vegging out in front of a film for a couple of hours, perhaps something by Kieslowski with English subtitles.

I was impressed by the staff at the hostel as well. The young lady who was working when I arrived was in the mood for a casual chat, and in the course of that I learnt some interesting things about Wroclaw and how people feel about it, both as a city of recently arrived families and the upcoming football world cup in 2012 and the possibility to host the world expo in the same year. The only time I saw her without a smile on her face was when I asked if I could take a photo of the reception area with her in it. The guy who worked the next morning was equally as friendly and informative. From him, I had a thorough map-based tour of the old town, including suggestions for the best places to get coffee (always among the first questions I ask locals in a new place) and where to find some of the mysterious gnomes (not that I ever found the fishermen who are apparently beside the sand-island bridge).

With a location and staff like that, and some of the cheapest beds in town (50Zl) I’ll happily be staying there next time, too.

From journal Silesia's Cinderella City

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