The Hostelz.com Review
At Alessandro Palace Hostel, the staff are lively, the bar is buzzing, and the pizza is free.
The Location
If you want to be smack bang in the middle of the most touristy, tackiest part of Rome, this is the best place to be. Located in the heart of Rome's transportation system, this is a great place to stay if it's literally just a pit stop, as the huge beast that is Termini station is just minutes away by foot. For those who want to be in a quieter, more cultural area -- look elsewhere.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Rooms are large with an odd choice of furniture -- what could have easily have been lockers is instead a useless set of cabinets without locks. (After our visit, the hostel did claim to be putting in lockers by December 2008). Some of the beds are built into the cabinet, so you go to sleep feeling like you're in a box -- it's all very odd. There's a bathroom in every room, which sounds nice and luxurious but the reality is not pretty. It's inevitable that when one person wakes up in a dorm room of eight or so people, everyone wakes up -- which results in a huge toilet queue come morning time. Other than the general bad planning of the bedrooms, everything is nicely clean and tidy.
Common Spaces
Hostel bars are few and far between in Rome, but Alessandro's proudly boasts about their lively hub, which is a great place to mingle. There are also free pizza sessions here (every night from 12th January to 28th February 2009) -- maybe this is to make up for the lack of kitchen. There are often nights planned in the bar so if you decide to opt out, it's likely you'll be home alone -- people who stay in Alessandro's are generally party animal types. There's a great computer room with internet, but it isn't free to use. In fact it costs more than nearby internet cafes.
Summary
This hostel is huge and noisy with a focus on partying and having fun. With it (of course) comes a hoard of friendly, outgoing travelers. However, if you take away the fun factor, what‘s left? The free breakfast is pretty good and it's all relatively clean, but you can find much cheaper hostels in better locations if you're willing to sacrifice the bar.
The Location
If you want to be smack bang in the middle of the most touristy, tackiest part of Rome, this is the best place to be. Located in the heart of Rome's transportation system, this is a great place to stay if it's literally just a pit stop, as the huge beast that is Termini station is just minutes away by foot. For those who want to be in a quieter, more cultural area -- look elsewhere.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Rooms are large with an odd choice of furniture -- what could have easily have been lockers is instead a useless set of cabinets without locks. (After our visit, the hostel did claim to be putting in lockers by December 2008). Some of the beds are built into the cabinet, so you go to sleep feeling like you're in a box -- it's all very odd. There's a bathroom in every room, which sounds nice and luxurious but the reality is not pretty. It's inevitable that when one person wakes up in a dorm room of eight or so people, everyone wakes up -- which results in a huge toilet queue come morning time. Other than the general bad planning of the bedrooms, everything is nicely clean and tidy.
Common Spaces
Hostel bars are few and far between in Rome, but Alessandro's proudly boasts about their lively hub, which is a great place to mingle. There are also free pizza sessions here (every night from 12th January to 28th February 2009) -- maybe this is to make up for the lack of kitchen. There are often nights planned in the bar so if you decide to opt out, it's likely you'll be home alone -- people who stay in Alessandro's are generally party animal types. There's a great computer room with internet, but it isn't free to use. In fact it costs more than nearby internet cafes.
Summary
This hostel is huge and noisy with a focus on partying and having fun. With it (of course) comes a hoard of friendly, outgoing travelers. However, if you take away the fun factor, what‘s left? The free breakfast is pretty good and it's all relatively clean, but you can find much cheaper hostels in better locations if you're willing to sacrifice the bar.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
February 2009
Their Description
Alessandro Palace Hostel Details
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Alessandro Palace Hostel Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Nice Location, Very Friendly Staff I stayed here in March 2007 for three nights. The place is just a walkable distance from the central station and easily accessible to main attractions in the city. The best part is of course the very friendly staff. There is no curfew and it's open twenty-four hours. So it was easy for me to check out at 5:30 a.m. and catch my train at 6 a.m. The rooms and beds are clean and well maintained. I will recommend to anyone to choose this hostel. Good luck. — Vijay , Indian, but living in Amsterdam(Netherlands) (2008-04-02) Just ok The rooms were pretty clean and breakfast was alright. Beyond that, can't think of much good to say. AC wasn't working in our room either night and they refused to give any kind of discount. Don't think I would stay here again. — Carrie , USA (2007-07-09) Pretty nice place. The hostel is really close to the train station and like a twenty-five-minute walk from the Colosseum and most of the big sights. Some days it wasn't all that clean as our room wasn't cleaned every day. The internet is relatively cheap. The people working at the desk were quite helpful and the breakfast is pretty good. But if you go in the summer prepare to sweat! It's just really warm in Rome in the summer and the A/C is pretty weak. And it doesn't turn on until like 9. But overall the place is pretty good. Breakfast included. No lockers in rooms. — Garrett , USA (2007-07-03) Good place this hostel was very clean as far as i saw. my room kinda sucked because some people got up at 4 am and decided it would be cool to turn on the lights while they took an hour and a half to get ready. that aside its not the hostels fault and the hostel itself was clean, the breakfast was good and the bar was a lot of fun. id stay here again. — Alana , USA (2007-06-19) Comfortable, well furnished, clean rooms. Reasonable bathroom. Beds made. Balcony (though not much use in winter!). Friendly and helpful staff, including the lovely girl behind the bar! Free pizza (though cold and quite limited, so it won't replace a meal, but it's free). Friendly residents, if you make an effort yourself. Only small lockers -- will fit valuables but not luggage. Breakfast mediocre. Noise from stairwell is disturbing at night. Met some great people thanks to a really good bar with beer at good price (3 euros pint or 5 euro for three bottles of peroni). Stayed four nights and didn't see a party, but the bar was busy every night. I found that people were friendly if you made the effort and broke the ice yourself. Could use lockable wardrobes in the rooms. — Mark (2006-12-24) I only stayed in this hostel for one night, after not being able to stay somewhere else for the full 4 nights I was in Rome. It is a relatively big hostel, which made it easy to walk in and get a bed. And it was pretty cheap, for good quality. There are some nice staff, one creepy one that I didn't even realise was a staff member until I checked out at 6am, and he was the only person around! But it has a bar, with a big flat screen tv, and they offer free pizza, which is free, therefore cold and cut small, but for people who are tight, really, you can't complain! My room was nice, 6 people, which means a little cheaper, but you make your own bed. There were two bunks and two singles. We faced the road, which wasn't that noisy. There was a bathroom, which was rather clean and new, within the room. I did find it a bit cold at night, but i put on another top and was fine. Generally worth the money, pretty good location. — snosie (2006-11-28) This hostel is really nice and in a great location, literally a five-minute walk to the main train station and about a fifteen-minute walk to all of the major sites. The beds are clean and comfortable and the bathrooms are in great condition. Breakfast is really good with unlimited coffee! The only downfall is the pizza party is about a fifteen-minute walk and when you get there the pizza is old, cold, and pretty crappy. But otherwise a really great fun place to stay! — Jen Z (2006-09-15) This hostel was pretty good. The rooms were clean and really spacious. We had a eight-bed room and it was huge! There was actual furniture, like desks and cabinets, and it was just really nice and impressive. The bathroom was cleaned regularly, and it was just a nice place to come back to at the end of the day. The air conditioning was really weak though, so that was a bit tough to take, but it was fine, and i would definitely stay here again. We were on the fourth floor though and it is such a long climb! but it was nice, and there was a clothesline up on the roof, so that was convenient. overall a really good hostel. — Lynn (2006-08-01) Why this hostel is "famous" I do not know. Beds were made daily and rooms were spotless. Great location. That was the upside. But the shower pressure and temperature sucked. The bar was cute but everyone seemed to have pre-made groups already. And if you are on one of the upper floors, it's a fair trek to get to your room. For thirty Euros PP/night it's not "all that." Very nice place but it's not a "must-stay." — Anon (2006-07-31) This hostel was great. It's got everything you need from internet to the bar at a reasonable price. The drinks are very cheap: 2€ a drink (we went out clubbing and let me tell you that 10€ drinks are very common in Rome) and the staff is fun and good looking. This place is a must among hostels and I will definitely go back. — Frank (2006-06-29) This hostel was extremely disappointing. In a nutshell:
1) The pizza parties don't exist anymore, though they are still advertised on the Web site.
2) Free tea coffee all day — nope. Only from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.
3) Guest kitchen closes at 6 p.m. so they can open the bar and make money
4) Our shower for 10 people was broken and it took four complaints over two days to get it fixed.
5) The staff, with one or two exceptions, were impolite, cocky and extremely unhelpful.
Due to "anti-terrorist laws" you currently cannot use the Internet or store your bags in the hostel. You can down the road but again the staff were very unhelpful about informing us of this.
Basically this hostel suffers from a serious case of false advertising. It's main aim is purely to make money and you end up paying for services that don't exist. Don't be fooled; you can find a better hostel for cheaper in Rome, and the six of us who stayed there definitely won't be making the same mistake again. — Isolde (2005-09-10) One of my favorite hostels. The rooms/bathrooms were always clean and the staff were always friendly and helped me out when I needed them. I met a ton of people at the bar downstairs and the free pizza was nice for us budget travelers. It's probably the worst pizza in Rome but it was free so I still ate it. My bag did get broken into there but nothing was taken, so make sure you take advantage of the small lockers downstairs. The only reason why I didn't give them 5 stars was because there were no lockers in the room. Why don't all hostels just spend a few bucks and equip the rooms with large lockers?? — Matt C - New York (2005-06-08) This hostel was great. We paid for a ten-bedroom and got a four-bedroom, plus the first night, we (my boyfriend and I) had the room to ourselves. The room and bathroom were really clean. It is located really close to the train station and Metro. The staff were really helpful, especially Chicho. My only complaint is that they said that their air conditioning was working, but I don't think it was turned on, and it was really hot in Rome. Also, the free pizza parties: get there early, because they only bring like 2 pizzas for 100 people. Overall, its clean, and cheap, and a fun place to stay. — Marisol (2005-06-08) Great location, safe, friendly staff, fun and great place to meet people as well. It was clean and I really enjoyed staying there. The staff were friendly and helpful. I would recommend it for single travelers. — Anonymous (2005-06-08) I stayed in this hostel in May for four days and it was pretty good. It's located right up the street from Termini train station and from the Metro. We stayed in a six-person mixed dorm and it was nice and clean. The bathroom was clean as well, except that we had a bit of a drainage problem with our shower. The front desk staff were very nice and extremely helpful. The bar is good to go to for a couple of drinks at night but not for a major party. Breakfast is cereal, juice and rolls with jam. Overall this is a good hostel...great location and lots of friendly people. — Christina (2005-06-07)