This is a small hostel on the ground floor of an apartment building in the San Lorenzo quarter, Rome's university district. It's not the most centrally located, but you can walk to the nearest metro stop (Policlinico, on line B) in about 7 minutes, which is just two stops east of Termini, Rome's main railway station and only transfer point between the two metro lines, and also two stops west of Tiburtina, another major railway station. The #310 bus runs along Viale Ippocrate right in front of the hostel and connects it with Termini, about a 5 minute ride. As a last resort, you can walk from Termini or Tiburtina in about 15 minutes, as I did one night after missing the last runs of the metro and the 310 bus, and having no clue which night bus I could take.
There are lockers inside the dorms, although my six bed dorm only had five lockers (I was able to get one, luckily). There was one night where a sixth person was in the dorm, and it sounded like they had an extra locker somewhere in the common area that he could use, so you shouldn't be completely out of luck.
You have to use the buzzer at the front door of the building to be let in; access is available 24 hours a day. However the dorms themselves don't have locks, so you really do want to make use of the aforementioned lockers for any valuables.
Beds are not assigned so it's first come, first serve. Try to arrive as early as possible if you really want a bottom bunk. You'll have to make the bed when you arrive, but you're not required to strip the bed when checking out. Towels were available to rent for €2 if I remember correctly, but I had my own.
All dorms have an ensuite bathroom as far as I'm aware. There are also two extra single-person bathrooms in the hallway, and they both have showers. I actually ended up showering in the hallway bathrooms most of the time because the bathroom in the dorm was being used, or because it was really late and I didn't want to disturb other people in the dorm. Hot water was always available when I was showering, but it may run low if too many people are showering at the same time.
My dorm only had one electrical outlet in the actual sleeping area; luckily I got the bed that was right next to it. There were also two outlets in the ensuite bathroom. In addition there were some outlets in the hallway that I used one night to charge batteries for my camera. However I wouldn't recommend using the hallway outlets to charge anything too valuable like a smartphone or laptop.
Free wifi is provided throughout the hostel, and there is also a free computer in the common area. However, there is no printer available. If you need to print a train/airplane ticket or something else you should try to do that beforehand or maybe locate an internet cafe with a printer somewhere in the area.
The common area is fairly small and includes the aforementioned computer, a sofa, three kitchen tables, and the kitchen facilities. A refrigerator/freezer and oven/stovetop are available for use; I can't recall if there was a microwave or not. Cookware, plates, and eating utensils are available. Label any food you're storing in the fridge or it will be thrown out. Free breakfast is also provided in here, but I had my own food (or went out for breakfast) and didn't take advantage of it. I think they offered cereal, milk, juice, and a fruit tart.
I ended up here because the rates were a bit more reasonable than what hostels near Termini were charging (I scheduled myself to be in Rome close to Easter without realizing it at first, and rates do go up a lot around that time at hostels and hotels in Rome). But overall the hostel was fairly clean and not a bad place at all to stay. read more