During my wife and I’s trip to Slovakia earlier this year, we decided to visit Oswiecim (Auschwitz) and Krakow in Poland for a couple of days with my family. While there are quite a few hotels in Oswiecim, after a bit of looking around, I decided to book us a two-night stay at Hampton by Hilton – the only international chain hotel in the town. Having opened in 2018, the hotel is relatively new.
We booked a pair of connecting rooms – one a queen family room and the other a twin room – for a total of about 320 USD for two nights. Continue reading this review to see what the hotel was like.
Location
The Hampton by Hilton Oswiecim is located in the town’s center, about a three-minute walk from its main square. While I assume the accessibility by public transportation is decent considering the hotel’s central location, we got there by car since we drove from Slovakia.
Parking was about 7 USD per night and was a bit difficult to find. Arriving on the road in front of the hotel’s main entrance with the hotel on the right, it was necessary to turn left once. Then, there was a road making almost a full circle, leading to the back of the hotel – and to its parking lot.
The hotel was less than ten minutes drive from Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. By public transportation, getting from the hotel to the museum appears to take around 20 minutes.
Check-in and Lobby
The reception could be found above the hotel’s two-floor parking garage.
With the hotel appearing to be fairly empty during our stay and no one being processed at the reception desk at the time of our arrival, check-in was smooth. The staff was friendly and I appreciated there being a bowl of krowki (Polish toffee candies) on the reception desk.
Across from the reception desk, there was some seating.
In addition to a circular bench around one of the area’s support columns, there was also a couple of coffee tables in an area next to windows. They came with a large black couch and some blue and beige sofa chairs. Combined with a couple of abstract paintings on the wall, it made for a pleasant area to wait in during check-in and check-out.
On one of the walls, next to the elevators, there was also an artwork with the word “WELCOME” written in a variety of languages.
In addition to the reception, the ground floor was also home to the hotel’s bar and breakfast area and a business center.
The business center could be found to the right of the reception area. It was equipped with a conference table for eight and a pair of computers that guests could use for browsing the internet and printing out documents. There were also some sofa chairs.
To the right of the reception desk was a bar counter. Along a part of the bar counter were some bar-height chairs. There were also some standalone counters. Additionally, there were a couple of coffee tables with sofa chairs.
Toward the back, past the bar area was the breakfast area.
Seating in the breakfast area was similar to that in the other areas. There were some coffee tables with couches and sofa chairs and a counter. There were also dining tables with benches and chairs. Along the windows, there was a small kids’ corner with a small table and some toys.
Lastly, at the very back was the breakfast buffet. More about that later, though.
Queen Family Room
At check-in, we were assigned rooms 322 and 324 with the former being the queen family room and the latter the twin room. While the rest of this section focuses on the queen family room, the two rooms were basically the same other than the twin room having two semi-double beds instead of one larger bed and a sofa.
The hallways were uninspiring. That said, they were bright and clean – more than enough for the type of accommodation the brand is meant to provide.
Right past the entrance into the queen family room was a small hallway.
On its left side were a bathroom and a closet. While not too much of a problem, since the two were sharing a single sliding door, the closet couldn’t be accessed when the bathroom door was open.
On the right side of the hallway was the door that connected the room with the other one we had booked.
Just like the hallways, the bathroom was uninspiring but clean and functional. It was equipped with a toilet, a sink, and a shower. Only basic amenities (i.e. shampoo, conditioner, and soap) were provided. Other amenities like toothbrushes and razors could be purchased at the reception.
The shower was equipped only with a handheld head.
Further down was the main part of the room.
The corner behind the bathroom was taken up by a comfortable (but a bit too high) queen size bed.
With the bed’s left side being positioned against a wall, there was only one nightstand. In one of the nightstand drawers was a safe. Above the nightstand, there was a power outlet. There were reading lights on both sides of the bed. Above the bed was a photograph of Oswiecim’s main square, giving at least some character to the otherwise simple and generic room.
Behind the bed, next to the room’s windows was a sofa. Considering the number of people we had booked for the two rooms, it was turned into a bed.
Across from the bed and sofa were a TV stand and a work desk.
On the desk was a lamp and above it a mirror. Three bottles of water (two sparkling, one non-sparkling) were waiting on the desk when we arrived and were restocked the subsequent day. There were also two USB ports and a power outlet next to the desk.
As for the TV stand, in addition to the TV itself, it was also the home of some cups and glasses, an electric kettle, and a small selection of tea and coffee.
The room offered a nice view of Oswiecim Castle.
Breakfast
The room rate included a buffet breakfast which was served on the ground floor. It included some drinks and a fairly good variety of both hot and cold items.
Cold drinks included water, orange and apple juices, and milk. Hot drinks included six different types of teas and a variety of coffee drinks from an espresso machine.
Lighter things to eat included a few kinds of cereals, some fruits (apples and bananas), and some cut vegetables.
There were also cold cuts (ham, cheese, etc.), smoothies, and some pickles.
Then, there were toasts and some other bread and pastries. Butter, Nutella, three kinds of jam, and honey were offered with those.
Hot items included scrambled eggs, grilled vegetables, roasted potatoes, sausages, grilled onions with meat, and beans.
Additionally, there was a waffle maker. Little pots with waffle dough were provided so that one could make fresh waffles. A variety of toppings was available too.
Finally, there were some cakes and chocolate muffins too.
Bar and Dining
While there was no proper restaurant directly in the hotel, there was a lobby bar. In addition to drinks, a variety of snacks – both to be consumed there and to take back to one’s room – was sold. One could buy amenities including toothbrushes and so on here too.
The lack of a hotel restaurant was not an issue considering the hotel’s central location. There appeared to be quite a few restaurants within walking distance.
Two that we tried included Limoncello Trattoria less than a minute walk from the hotel’s side entrance (one floor below the lobby) and Chata na Zaborskiej Restauracja about a fifteen-minute walk away. While the former was an Italian restaurant, the latter was a traditional Polish restaurant. Both had friendly staff and tasty, reasonably-priced food.
Gym
One last thing worth talking about is the hotel’s gym. It could be found a level below the lobby, on one of the parking garage floors. It offered a decent selection of equipment. That said, there was only one of each machine.
While that wasn’t a problem at the time of our visit since the hotel was quite empty, it might be more of an issue when travel fully recovers.
Hampton by Hilton Oswiecim Summary
When it comes to non-luxury international chain hotels, I think the main thing one chooses them for is consistency and not having to worry or think too much about what a hotel is like when booking it. Hampton by Hilton Oswiecim delivered on that part perfectly.
The staff was friendly, the room was comfortable and clean, and the breakfast was good too. While some might have appreciated an on-site restaurant, considering that many establishments were just a short walk away, I didn’t find that to be a problem.
All in all, if you are looking for a decent and reasonably-priced place to stay in Oswiecim, then the Hampton by Hilton is definitely an option to consider.
