Heidi

HOTEL OVERVIEW

Look, I’ve stayed at plenty of places in Zakopane over the years, and Hotel Heidi honestly caught me off guard – in the best way possible. You know how most 3-star spots can feel sort of generic? This place actually has personality. It’s tucked away on Cyrhla street, which is perfect because you’re close enough to walk to Krupówki (the main drag) in about ten minutes, but far enough that you won’t hear drunk tourists singing Polish folk songs at 2 AM.

The first thing that hits you is how clean everything is – I mean, almost obsessively clean, which after traveling through some questionable accommodations, you really appreciate. The rooms aren’t huge, but they’re thoughtfully laid out with these little touches that show someone actually cares. There’s proper storage space (thank god), and the beds are legitimately comfortable, not just “hotel comfortable.” What really got me though was the breakfast situation – they do this spread with local mountain cheese and proper Polish bread, plus they’ll actually make you eggs how you want them instead of just having those sad buffet scrambled eggs sitting under heat lamps. The coffee’s decent too, which… well, if you’ve been to Poland, you know that’s not always a given.

Here’s what I really love about this place: the staff genuinely seems to know Zakopane. When I asked about hiking trails that weren’t completely overrun with tour groups, the guy at reception didn’t just hand me a generic brochure – he pulled out this hand-drawn map showing back routes up to Morskie Oko that most tourists never find. That kind of local knowledge is worth its weight in gold, especially during summer when the main trails feel like rush hour traffic. The location works perfectly for winter too – you’re close enough to the ski lifts but not right in the chaos of the resort area. Parking can be a bit tight (this is Zakopane, after all), but they’ve got a small lot and honestly, you can walk to most places you’d want to go anyway. I stayed here in both July and February, and somehow it maintains this cozy mountain lodge feeling year-round without being kitschy about it. For a 3-star place, it punches way above its weight – I’ve paid twice as much for hotels that felt half as welcoming.