I stayed at the Praski for three days during a very warm November 2006. My friend in Warsaw was kind enough to drive me around and show me the sights so I can't say whether it's convenient to the Old Town. The hotel was clean and had everything you would expect from a budget hotel. The food on the third floor restaurant was good too. My room overlooked the zoo so it was nice to watch the bears.

To confirm The Praski is a good budget choice.

Just a couple of points to add to other reviews.

1. We stayed in Warsaw during the recent exceptionally cold weather (minus 9 degrees, though it had been even colder) and The Praski was very warm inside.

2. I too had three beds in my room, though no balcony. The decor was clean, but spartan making the room rather like a hostel dorm. However all was very clean, everything worked, and there was plenty of hot water for the shower.

3. The breakfast wasn't lavish but adequate. Two large bread rolls, orange juice, coffee/tea and a plateful of protein - you could choose cheese, sausage or egg, though not all three. So not a luxury buffet, but a good start to the day.

4. As well as the bears (hibernating when we were there) there is a pleasant park immediately opposite, and beyond that the zoo.

So if you want something clean, cheap and with good access to the old town then the Hotel Praski is a very good choice.

For our recent Warsaw trip, we were after a fairly cheap, central and clean hotel for our three-night stay. I think we found a fair compromise with the two star Hotel Praski. The hotel has around 30 rooms, and is located in an old tenement building. Some of the rooms have balconies.

The Hotel Praski is about 15 minutes walking from the Old Town, across the River Vistula and in the Praga area of the city. The area was least affected by the mass destruction of the city during World War II, and there are quite a few older buildings in the area (from the turn of the last century). This means that it is not as pretty as the Old Town, but not as grimly concrete as the new centre. You can get to the edge of the old town by tram, which are regular, new and clean.

I cannot say the Hotel Praski is a hotel without a view. From our fourth floor room balcony, we got a view of the busy four lane road passing by the hotel (and cars are noisy because of the tram tracks on the road), and directly opposite an excellent view of the brown bears in the zoo.

The hotel has two restaurants. One we ate at was Le Cedre with on-street access. While our meal wasn’t authentically Lebanese, it was huge and very nicely done. Our set menu meal (which comprised of 9 starter dishes, and excellent Chicken and Lamb Kebabs with rice and couple of beers came to around $70 for three (227 Zloty).

There is also a small Armenian Restaurant Karczma on the third floor. As well as having a name that sounds like a skin cancer, there was a bear skin on the wall (a little unfortunate given its position opposite the zoo), but ignoring that, it looked nicely decorated enough in a burnt orange. The sample menu offers such delights as Polish style tripe soup, and knuckle of Pork, but it certainly looks inexpensive.

In a nutshell, the room was fine. Three single beds were at each corner of the room. They were comfortable enough. One strange touch was that the bottom sheets were wrapped round a blanket rather than tucked into the mattress, but it worked fine. Someone made the beds up and did a quick tidy of the room each day. We even had a sweetie placed on our pillow.

There was a small portable TV, a wardrobe, a fairly large table and chairs, a large mirror and some sliding doors to the large balcony. Our room was a little larger than I had anticipated, perhaps 15’ by 18’. The walls had been covered in a grey speckled aggregate, which looked clean; the carpet was fairly new, and heavy pink curtains shut out much of the light from the windows. It was definitely two-star territory, but was modern, clean and tidy.

We also had a separate shower area and another for the WC and sink. The sink was the only thing that really annoyed me; tiny basin, tap about eighteen inches above it, and in usual Eastern Europe style, no plug. I guess the idea is to wash using running water, but my inexperienced skills meant that I just splashed water around the room, and at one point got a neck full of cold water as I attempted to clean my teeth. Worse, I banged my head on the tap as a reaction to the shock. Not a good vibe and I wasn’t a happy bunny. The shower however was great – spotless and with lashings of hot water.

The Hotel Praski was fine for the money we paid, if not exactly overwhelming. It did meet our overriding requirements of fairly central, clean and cheap and I’m sure worse can be found quite easily. Anyone wanting to hunt down a cheap Warsaw hotel will find it here.

We stayed at this hotel at the begining of December it was in a good location not far from the royal castle and the old town which was a tram ride across the river, or for the brave that doesn't feel the cold a walk across. I found the room very clean, warm, and comfortable and it didn't cost the earth. The staff were very friendly and looked after our luggage when we checked out at lunch, as our flight wasn't until the evening.