View of the courtyard area of Cuma Youth Hostel
I reviewed the Cuma Youth Hostel last year when we got back from our trip to Poland (find that review here), however the hostel has made some changes, so I felt like it was worth mentioning again. Since we last visited, Cuma has added 4 rooms in what used to be the attic of the building. These 4 rooms are private rooms with private bathrooms and are quite nice. The bed in our room was comfortable enough AND the windows in the room had shades! It still wasn’t quite dark enough in the room for me to sleep without a mask (it’s broad daylight there at 4AM during the Summer), but it was at least a huge improvement over the see-through curtains that were in the other rooms on the lower floors and provides more privacy. Seeing as how there is no AC in this building (and most buildings in Poland), the upstairs can get pretty hot. It was hard to sleep several nights, even with the windows wide open, but days like that in Poland are pretty rare.
One thing to note about this hostel is that the pillows are pretty humongous (think sofa cushion). If you are particular about your pillows, you’ll probably want to bring one with you. The noise continued to be a problem this year as most nights we were there, it was a full house, and the staff didn’t seem to want to enforce the quiet time rules. That said, the staff is extremely nice and being on the third floor helped with the noise, though you could still hear the thud of slamming doors on the lower floors.
Noise aside, this hostel continues to be a place I would recommend. Whether you want to stay on the cheap in a dorm style shared room, or have a private room, this facility has something for everyone.
–Dan Thompson