Best part of KRAKOW to stay in - Hotel

Check out the Globtroter www.cracow-life.com/globtroter It is in Old Town close to Main Market Square. Double rooms are around $95 depending on the time of year. They are located in a courtyard off the street which is locked at night, so you will need to make arrangements with them for a late arrival. No breakfast, but there are good places to eat within a block. Auschwitz is about 80km west of Krakow; we made arrngements through Globtroter to tour the camp.

My partner and I very much like Cracowdays, about a five minute walk outside the old town section. We had been warned that the old town has a high concentration of clubs and discos and is exceptionally noisy, which we found to be true, so staying even a little way outside is preferable if you will be doing more sleeping than partying in the wee small hours.

Excellent breakfast with great variety and ingredients including home baked pastries and abundant fresh fruit, a small public area with free internet access, and very helpful staff made our stay very enjoyable. There are only a few rooms, though, so pre-booking is a must.

Krakow's old town is pretty compact, so anywhere within that area should serve your needs. The train/bus station is about a 10 minute walk from the northern edge of the old town.

I've stayed at Hotel Saski, which sits immediately off of the town square. It was reasonably comfortable, if not spectacular. I remember the breakfasts being particularly good, but I can't recall if they were included, or if I was eating at a cafe next door.

I liked Hotel Wawel (previously Wawel Tourist) which is on Ul. Poleska, a quiet street just off of Grodzka, the pedestrianized road leading from the main square to Wawel Castle. So it's quite peaceful, but you are only a few steps from the action. It's in a beautiful old building, but has been newly renovated. It looks like they've even done some redecorating since I was there about 5 years ago and it was really nice then.

Wawel
(on their tour page they have Auschwitz listed by its Polish name Oswiecim. Since this name actually involves diacritics not used in English it shows up as O?wi$cim-or something similar)

Another good choice is Wielopole Hotel. It is about a block from the Old Town. It's more minimalist than Wawel, but stylish and comfortable. They also arrange tours.

Wielopole

As for safety, I wandered all around Krakow by myself, often very late at night, and I never felt afraid. Just observe the usual precautions and you'll be fine. Keep in mind that Krakow is a university town so on the weekends you'll likely run into boisterous college kids, but they're not a problem.

Enjoy your trip!

I do not recommend the Mosquito Hostel. (I know you were asking about 3* but in case you got adventurous...) My friend and I ended up in a scary annex with a flimsy door and tremendous street noise. At one point I thought the fire engine was actually inside our room! Walking around the area is very easy and you will have to bus to Aushwitz anyway so I would stay somewhere in the Old Town.

One the plus side our hostel did have a nice buffet and they were flexible about making a sandwich to take with us. Best of luck!

My favorite is Hotel Saski just off Market Square.
It serves an excellent breakfast included in the
room price. The bus station with connection to
Auschwitz is a short taxi ride away.

We stayed at Pod Tujami, a small pension. It is a little bit out if you want to be walking to the Old Town, but it is a short tram ride away. They serve a good breakfast and provide free car parking inside their locked yard if you have a car rental. The owners were exceptionally helpful and spoke good English. They can organize a trip to Auschwitz, although we visited that on our own.