Learn Hardcore Polish: Dziś nocuję w hotelu obok parku. - Today I am staying overnight in a hotel next to the park.

Literally, dziś means today, but because the verb nocuję is about spending the night, the whole sentence is naturally understood as tonight I’m staying overnight.

Context makes it clear that the action happens during the night of today. So dziś can cover what in English might be expressed as tonight when the verb itself implies night-time.

Why is it nocuję, and not śpię or zostaję?

These verbs focus on slightly different things:

nocować → nocuję: to spend the night somewhere, to stay overnight (typical for hotels, hostels, etc.)
spać → śpię: to sleep (emphasis on the act of sleeping, not on accommodation)
zostawać → zostaję: to stay/remain (very general, not necessarily overnight or in accommodation)

Dziś nocuję w hotelu… focuses on the idea that your place of overnight stay today is a hotel next to the park.
You could say:

Dziś śpię w hotelu… – understandable, but feels more like “I’m sleeping in a hotel” (less standard for talking about accommodation).
Dziś zostaję w hotelu… – could work, but sounds more like “I’m staying (not going anywhere else) in the hotel today,” not specifically about one night’s lodging.

How is the verb nocować conjugated, and why does it become nocuję?

Nocować is a verb of the -ować type. In the present tense its stem changes and you get -uję in the first person singular:

Present tense of nocować:

ja nocuję – I stay overnight
ty nocujesz – you (sg.) stay overnight
on/ona/ono nocuje – he/she/it stays overnight
my nocujemy – we stay overnight
wy nocujecie – you (pl.) stay overnight
oni/one nocują – they stay overnight

So nocuję is exactly the regular first person singular present tense form: I am staying overnight.

Why is it w hotelu, not w hotel or w hotel with some other ending?

The preposition w (in) with a static location (where something/someone is) requires the locative case.

hotel (nominative, dictionary form)
w hotelu (locative, used after w for location)

Compare:

Mieszkam w Warszawie. – I live in Warsaw. (locative)
Jestem w domu. – I’m at home. (locative)

So w hotelu means in the hotel / at the hotel as a place where you are staying, not a direction.

When would I use w hotelu and when do hotelu?

w hotelu = in/at the hotel (location, where you are)
do hotelu = to the hotel (direction, where you are going)

Examples:

Dziś nocuję w hotelu obok parku. – Tonight I’m staying in a hotel next to the park. (location)
Idę do hotelu obok parku. – I’m going to the hotel next to the park. (direction)

So the choice depends on whether you’re talking about being somewhere or going somewhere.

Why is it parku, not park or parkiem after obok?

The preposition obok (next to, beside) always takes the genitive case.

park (nominative)
parku (genitive)

So:

obok parku – next to the park

Other prepositions that also require the genitive include koło (near), blisko (close to), naprzeciw (opposite), etc.

parkiem would be instrumental (used with prepositions like z – with, or to describe tools/means), so it would be wrong here.

What is the difference between obok parku, koło parku, and przy parku?

All three can mean something like near/next to the park, but there are nuances:

obok parku – right next to the park, beside it (neutral, very common).
koło parku – near the park; often interchangeable with obok, slightly more colloquial in some regions.
przy parku – by the park, at the edge/side of the park, suggests being directly adjacent and somewhat “attached” to it (like a building by a park).

In most everyday conversations, obok parku and koło parku will sound almost the same to learners in meaning.

Can I change the word order, for example: Nocuję dziś w hotelu obok parku?

Yes. Polish word order is relatively flexible. All of the following are possible and natural:

Dziś nocuję w hotelu obok parku.
Nocuję dziś w hotelu obok parku.
W hotelu obok parku dziś nocuję. (more marked/emphatic)

The differences are mostly in emphasis and rhythm, not in core meaning.
Putting dziś at the beginning is very natural; putting it after the verb is also fine.

Does Polish have articles like a or the in a hotel / the hotel? How do I know which one w hotelu means?

Polish has no articles (no direct equivalent of a/an/the).
The phrase w hotelu by itself can mean:

in a hotel
in the hotel

Context (and sometimes word choice) decides:

Dziś nocuję w hotelu obok parku. – Usually understood as some hotel next to the park.
Dziś nocuję w tym hotelu obok parku. – tym explicitly marks that hotel next to the park.

So, w hotelu is neutral, and you interpret it as a or the based on the situation.

How do I pronounce the special letters in Dziś nocuję w hotelu obok parku?

Key points:

dziś – sounds roughly like jish in English (the d is almost merged with zi):
- dzi ≈ like ji in jeans
- ś – soft sh, tongue closer to the palate than in English sh
nocuję – no-TSOO-ye:
- c = ts (like cats)
- uję – oo-ye
w – usually pronounced like English v.
hotelu – ho-TEH-loo, stress always on the second-to-last syllable: ho-TE-lu.
obok – O-bok, stress on O.
parku – PAR-koo, stress on PAR.

Remember: in Polish, stress is almost always on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable.

Is nocuję a one-time action (just tonight), or can it also mean a repeated habit?

In this form and with dziś, nocuję is clearly about tonight (today) – a concrete, current situation.

But in general, the present tense in Polish can express:

Right now / today:
Dziś nocuję w hotelu. – Tonight I’m staying at a hotel.
Habit / repeated action (with adverbs of frequency):
Często nocuję w hotelach. – I often stay in hotels.

So context and adverbs (like dziś, często, zwykle) decide whether it’s one-time or habitual.