Agora Youth Hostel

Agora Youth Hostel is an alternative hostel in the centre of Catania right near the colourful morning fish market. The rooms are incredibly hot during the summer and stuffy with inadequate cooling (just ceiling fans), squeaky bunk beds crammed into rooms where there are loads of holidaying young Italians who come in late and usually end up sleeping more than one to a bed. But it is a cheap place to stay and they do have a bar.

The bathrooms are small and often dirty as there are not enough to cater for everyone. They have made some efforts with bright paint around the place but it still remains grungy. Downstairs they are doing renovations and it is quite spacious. There are computers with internet connections, a nice lounge with TV, and a small kitchen plus some useful tourist information. The restaurant/bar attached is a great place to get food at night for as little as eight euro for huge plates of risotto or pasta. It has funky music and is used in the morning also to serve the breakfast -- bread, cereals, coffee, tea, etc., which is adequate and self service.

The major drawback about the entire hostel and the bar is that not a single member of the staff seems to care about actually serving their customers. There is definitely a feeling that you are an inconvenience to all of them and that the least you bother them the better. It is hard to actually get any service at the table and the staff at reception often do not even bother to check you in. For example they may just indicate where your room is and how you find sheets.

In any case, it is the cheapest option in Catania and if you are on a budget then perhaps also the only option. The hostel is about a 20 minute long walk from the station, do get a bus to the duomo from where it is just 5 minutes through the fish markets. Alternatively if you arrive by bus from another town, ask to be let off near the fish market.

— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
December 2005