The Hostelz.com Review
Location
Based a fifteen-minute walk away from the train station, Plus Florence Hostel is a massive, four-hundred-fifty-bed place aimed at young students who like to spend their short time in Florence with party, pool, and alcohol. Upon arrival you will feel how big the hostel is -- rooms come in all sizes, from private double to eight-bed dorms.
Long waiting times at the reception most of the day and trained friendliness put many travelers off from asking for information concerning sightseeing. No cash is taken anywhere besides reception, which also holds your passport till checkout. (Check out early when you're in a hurry, as thirty-minute waiting times are possible!)
Rooms and Bathrooms
A modern card system that gives you access to your room will not come handy when you need to charge it up for using it at the restaurant and bar. The rooms are modern and clean (as are the bathrooms), with air conditioning (if working) and flat screen TV included. There are lockers in rooms (when there are enough to go around and they are not broken) -- you need your own padlock. Bathrooms lack enough light and have no hooks, which means you have to drop your clothes on the floor.
Common Spaces
Even for Florence, this hostel is too expensive for the services offered. They charge extra for breakfast, laundry, and internet (although they give you fifteen minutes free by check in, and there is no Wi-Fi, despite offering it in June of 2008). The swimming pool, pool table, sauna, and small gym don´t make up for the high prices backpackers are charged. A self-service kitchen is in the basement, but only in the kitchen you are allowed to eat your own meals (and you'll have to leave a deposit for pans, plates, and cutlery). The restaurant and bar area, located on the beautiful rooftop terrace, is reserved for not consuming or bar and restaurant customers only. The view from the terrace overlooking Florence is great, especially during sunset and night. Common areas are all around.
Due to the late closing time of the bar, you might have trouble falling asleep when having a room close to it, meaning that not only screaming drunks but also drunks herding through the hallways on their way to the rooms might keep you awake. The floors are not soundproof!
Summary
Overall, this hostel gives young people a place to stay in the so-overcrowded city of Florence. It feels more like a resort hotel with young partying students than a hostel.
Based a fifteen-minute walk away from the train station, Plus Florence Hostel is a massive, four-hundred-fifty-bed place aimed at young students who like to spend their short time in Florence with party, pool, and alcohol. Upon arrival you will feel how big the hostel is -- rooms come in all sizes, from private double to eight-bed dorms.
Long waiting times at the reception most of the day and trained friendliness put many travelers off from asking for information concerning sightseeing. No cash is taken anywhere besides reception, which also holds your passport till checkout. (Check out early when you're in a hurry, as thirty-minute waiting times are possible!)
Rooms and Bathrooms
A modern card system that gives you access to your room will not come handy when you need to charge it up for using it at the restaurant and bar. The rooms are modern and clean (as are the bathrooms), with air conditioning (if working) and flat screen TV included. There are lockers in rooms (when there are enough to go around and they are not broken) -- you need your own padlock. Bathrooms lack enough light and have no hooks, which means you have to drop your clothes on the floor.
Common Spaces
Even for Florence, this hostel is too expensive for the services offered. They charge extra for breakfast, laundry, and internet (although they give you fifteen minutes free by check in, and there is no Wi-Fi, despite offering it in June of 2008). The swimming pool, pool table, sauna, and small gym don´t make up for the high prices backpackers are charged. A self-service kitchen is in the basement, but only in the kitchen you are allowed to eat your own meals (and you'll have to leave a deposit for pans, plates, and cutlery). The restaurant and bar area, located on the beautiful rooftop terrace, is reserved for not consuming or bar and restaurant customers only. The view from the terrace overlooking Florence is great, especially during sunset and night. Common areas are all around.
Due to the late closing time of the bar, you might have trouble falling asleep when having a room close to it, meaning that not only screaming drunks but also drunks herding through the hallways on their way to the rooms might keep you awake. The floors are not soundproof!
Summary
Overall, this hostel gives young people a place to stay in the so-overcrowded city of Florence. It feels more like a resort hotel with young partying students than a hostel.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
July 2008
Their Description
Plus Florence Details
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Plus Florence Reviews from the WebHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Party place I never book ahead so i guess its my fault it was expensive, ended up mixed dorm, very nice though. The view from the roof is unreal. there are lockers but no locks. My boyfriend and I had to leave early the next morning so we went to bed early, to wake up to drunk and stumbling a-holes in our room. in the morning we found puke all over our clothes that we had hanging outside -- not from our room but from either the room upstairs or the bar above. We made a lot of noise that morning. lesson: keep our clothes inside. — Krista , Canada (2010-04-29) Luxury I stayed for two nights in June 2009. After staying in some pretty crappy ho(s)tels, this place was perfect. It's very close to the metro, which is very convenient when traveling, and also very close to everything. Florence is pretty small. The lobby is very well decorated and the staff is very efficient. Not necessarily personal, but I'm not going to complain. They have an indoor pool, a deck, a night club (kind of lame to stay in, but it looked pretty cool I guess). No problems here. The Rooms, I stayed in a double. It had a bunk bed where the bottom was basically queen sized, a flat screen mounted television, storage, a desk with mirror, bed lights, fully tiled and gorgeous bathroom, very clean, bad lighting though in bathroom (dont plan on doing makeup), oh and air conditioning! I also visited friend staying in a six- to eight-bed room. Kind of small, but had private bathroom and a balcony type thing. Also, we drank inside the building. Not sure on the actual rules though. — sarah , USA (2009-08-05) Unpersonal The Plus is a clean hostel and close to walk to from the train station. Dorms are ok and clean. Lockers either broke or not for everyone. Internet is 5 Euro for one hour (you get fifteen minutes free at check-in) which is way too much. Sleeping in the dorms, you hear every step from the people walking past your dorm. There is a TV in the dorm and an air condition. They have a terrace with a great view over florence and there is also a bar serving drinks and food. Check out is a bit of a hassle (so is check in and everything you need from the front desk) because of endless waiting. So if you want to leave and take a train, check out thirty minutes earlier, because they keep your passport, so you have to wait. There was a party going on upstairs when I stayed there and people were laughing and talking till 1:30 a.m. and singing and talking on the way to their rooms. There is a pool, laundry, and a self-service kitchen. Laundry is expensive, so is the internet. Breakfast was 3.50 Euro. — kalahari tom , RSA (2008-07-01) another big moneymaker Calling from the station, I was offered a 22€ 8-bed dorm. The Lady on the phone said they have plenty of room. 12 minutes later I stood at the reception and the only bed they had left was a 28€ 4-bed dorm. "No, we had nothing cheaper!" was the word. I went there because they are offering wifi on every website and on the flyer, but there is none!! I was told that they have a pool instead, which doesn't do too well with my laptop!!! Spent the night in a 4 bed dorm but we were 5 people, one of the lower bunks is like a double bed, so couples feel free doing their mating rituals in the middle of the night. The question for the refund of 2€ because of 5 roomies wasn't received too happily. The place is brand new, with flat screen TV in the rooms, but no money for enough and proper lockers (our room had 2, only one was lockable) Internet is 5Euro an hour!!! and breakfast is not included. No hooks in the bath room! 450 beds means you wait a long time at the reception and the bar upstairs means that you will not get enough sleep when your room is closer to the bar upstairs. It is one more European hostel that feels more like an expensive resort than a backpacker hostel. The location was good, the upstairs bar and roof top is great. But over all, there is a better place to stay in Florence, without 20 year old students getting noisily drunk all night and puke around! the place — opb.travel , RSA-GER (2008-06-26)