Recently on a trip through Florence a friend and I stopped for the night.
The location of the hostel is very good. 8 minutes walk from the train station. The foot traffic around the hostel was average for the area, not too bustling and reasonably quiet at night.
You're a 10 minute walk from the main city bridge, 8 from the duomo, and 2 minutes from a little market down the street for snacks or water.
The hostel is in a very big city building housing others as well I believe. The rooms are large and spacious, but the general concept of this hostel seems a bit lost on them imo.
Upon check in you present your passport for viewing and legality, which... cool, I dig that. You are given a room key (that you must return to the desk on every occasion you leave (first for me, and unconventional. Not to mention stressful)), you're given one small very used body towel, and a micro bar of soap. None of these do you much good.
The rooms are bare. No bath mat for the shower that streams onto the floor, no complete shower door so the water stays IN the shower, the hair dryer does not work, and there were 2 rolls of TP... for 4 women.
The security of the rooms felt good, there were 4 of us women there in the room. Upon check in there were no instructions given to us on how to be a good hostel guest. Our room mate had us up at 5am, and continued to be loud until 7:30 (when we had to get up.).
They did nothing for the space outside of the rooms, and had so so so much opportunity for a Terrance breakfast, lounge area, outside bar set up, drinks and social nights, board games, get togethers, or even a simple heater lamp out and some table's and chairs. But it was bare. No life to this hostel if that's what you're seeking.
Do I recommend this place? Maybe, would I stay here again? If I were barebones backpacking- hell yes. If I were an adult hoping to enjoy my stay? No. read more