Globetrotters Gulliver's House

Not even close to worth 22 euro a night.
We stayed in this hostel for three nights, and my friends and I would all have to say that this was by far the worst hostel we have ever stayed at. There is a 3 a.m. curfew, meaning you literally get locked out of the place you paid too much money for if you don't make it back on time. Also, they lock you out of the hostel for five hours during the day for "cleaning," but upon our return the place was just as dirty as it was when we were forced out of it at 11 a.m. They also say that they offer breakfast at 7:30, but they don't unless you pay them 1.50 and tell them the night before. You also have to pay for towels to take a shower (dirty bathrooms), you have to mop up after yourself because the plumbing is so bad. They also don't have lockers, so your stuff is always out on your bed, ready to be stolen. Completely unsatisfied with my stay, would have definitely paid the extra 3 euro a night to stay anywhere else but that sh*thole.

There are definitely better options out there!
When my friend and I booked, we expected a clean, safe hostel. But, first, the hostel is very hard to find. The directions on the website from the train station to the hostel really make you backtrack which is a nuisance when you have your luggage and are tired. It is definitely not a ten-minute walk. Also, the hostel is not marked whatsoever. We just opened this huge wooden door and peeked our heads in to see if we had the right place. It was awkward. The rooms are very tiny -- ours had three bunk beds crammed into a small room. There were no lockers available so anything you didn't want stolen, you had to bring with you every day. There was only one unreliable laptop to use -- but there was usually a line-up for that. Breakfast was ok, nothing special. We definitely had a much better breakfast at our hostel in florence. The staff were friendly and he even offered us a glass of wine one night. The bathrooms were weird -- there was a brick wall in the shower with a huge hole in it and I just didn't get the impression that the bedding was clean in the bedrooms. I would not recommend this place to others. I am not a picky or high maintenance person in any way (trust me, I'm an outdoorsy, adventure girl), but when I am paying decent enough money to stay some place I do expect it to be somewhat decent which this place just was not. Stay someplace else!

A great place to make friends
This hostel may have its issues, but it was a gem during my Italian voyage. The reviews are a little outdated -- the couple does not work here anymore, and no dogs reside in this hostel. Instead, there were two lovely ladies working reception (Ali and Linda). Ali, in particular, made this hostel the best I've stayed in, whether it was making sangria for the guests one night, or just sitting around and chatting with us after we came back from a day of sightseeing. The hostel is small, so it's a great place to meet people, and you'll see travelers unwinding in the common room. There are a few downsides -- the lockout can be cumbersome (11 to 4), there's a curfew, showers are limited. However, this truly was a home away from home on my two-month European journey. Make sure to book the eight-bedroom dorm instead of the six, because the six is tiny. If you want to meet great people, this is the place for you.

Ok, minor infastructure issues.
This was an ok hostel on my three-month trip, stayed there for three nights. it's a good party hostel if you're into that sort of thing, but a warning that the internet was down when i was there and the showers flood.

Good location, clean, nice staff, perfect to meet people
This hostel is well located, and the rooms are nice and comfortable. The common areas are small so you are sure to meet people! The breakfast is ok. The shower is clean. But watch out, the bed is high and a guy fell out of it in the middle of the night, no barriers. It is close to the train station. I recommend this place!

Very clean and secure place to stay
the place is so clean and well maintained, the staffs were very helpful and they gave quite good informations about the city. in fact i should thank mr. philip for helping me in getting back my lost mobile. i would recommend this hostel to everyone!

Good and cozy hostel
I had stayed there for three nights in early Oct. 2007. This hostel was clean and comfortable. Staff were friendly and helpful (Feel free to ask them for assistance, such as free map/any advice. They will be very happy to help you). For the location, it was a bit hard for me at first but once I got familiar with the environment, it was no longer a problem. Also, it is pretty safe for a single female traveler like me. I would definitely recommend this hostel to you!

Good clean and centrally located hostel
I have stayed two nights in May 2007 and it was a great experience. The hostel was very clean (bathroom cleaned after every use!), cozy, and staff very friendly and helpful. As a single female traveler I have found it safe since the receptionist opened the door personally and remembered all guests, the area was also safe. It's a small hostel with three rooms and twenty beds, so if no one arrives at night, it's quiet. There's not much traffic on the Palermo street so you can sleep with an open window. In fact, it's pleasantly cool inside even with heat outdoors. For me the location was perfect, five minutes by foot from metro, ten minutes to Spanish steps and twenty minutes to Colosseum. The bed linen was very clean, bed comfortable, rooms spacious, I did not have to wait to take a shower. They serve free breakfast (bread, jam, nutella, cornflakes, croissants, cookies, coffee), there's a good bakery nearby and several not expensive supermarkets (ask the staff). I would definitely stay again in this hostel.

I stayed here in August 2006 for a few days. Gulliver's is in a pretty convenient location, though it is a little hard to find at first as it is located in a nondescript building on a side street off the Via Nazionale (though we did get accurate directions via e-mail from the hostel). Though people seem to have mixed feelings about the owner, Simon, I found him to be a little curt but also very helpful. He gave us free maps and extensive directions and information about all the local sites. The hostel is very clean and the rooms are big, with high ceilings. The wait for the bathrooms can take a little while as there are only two, with only one shower in each. Breakfast was simple, but nice. The hostel doesn't really have a social scene as the owners state that it's not one for pub crawlers, but if you want a place where you can get some much needed peace and rest, then Gulliver's is for you.

This place was great! It was clean, quiet, friendly, and helpful. Upon arriving they set me up with a great map of the city. They highlighted all of the main attractions and main roads and gave me an idea of how much time I would need at the busy attractions. The location is great and the breakfast was a step up from the stale rolls I was given in most other Italian hostels. There's a great restaurant at the end of the road where you can order a meal that comes with seven different kinds of pasta, bread, and wine for 13 euro. When I asked if there were any extras worth seeing they recomended the key hole in Piazza Cavalieri di Malta -- very cool!

It was a great hostel. The staff were very friendly and helpful. They did everything that they could in order to make our stay nice. The beakfast was great. Coffee and tea as well as pastry. A yummy way to start the day. They gave us a map with all of the major streets listed as well as the sights. They explained it to us and showed us how to get everywhere. They were lovely. There are two cute terriers as well -- Coco and Lilly. They are very friendly and loved to be pet if you like dogs. The rooms were nice and clean. The bathrooms were the same clean with no problems. Not even any waiting for the bathroom! Everything is only a ten minute walk. You can get to the Ancient city in ten minutes, and the Spanish steps, shopping, a good supermarket, and internet cafes as well as the central train station Rome Termini. That means you can take a train almost right to the door from anywhere, (inclunding the airport)! The Vatican is a thirty minute walk, not bad at all! I think that everyone should stay here to experience Rome! The kitchen you cannot use but you can store stuff in the fridge and cupboards, and use their bowls and utensils. But you should be out eating pasta and pizza and other yummy things anyway. It is not expensive. It is a quiet place which is perfect for an early start. Which you will need to beat the other tourists! we left at seven a.m. one day and they served us an early breakfast to accommodate us! Amazing staff. And I must say the blond girl is beautiful!

Much as I hate to do it because the owner -- presumably Simon -- was so rude, I have to give this hostel a good rating. It's clean, secure, and convenient. The breakfast is pretty decent for being free (hot drinks and a yummy pastry), they show movies every evening if you're back early (though I never was, and you shouldn't be either) and they make sure to close the lounge area at a decent hour. The bathrooms were clean, too, and always had hot water. Best of all, there were two adorable dogs always ready to play. Keep in mind that you can't use the kitchen, however (unless Simon decides he likes you), and since the rooms are all close together you just have to hope you get quiet fellow guests. But it's definitely a solid choice among all the risky hostel options.

This is a very nice hostel. My fiancé and myself stayed here in April of 2005 the two nights after the Pope's funeral. True it is small but very quaint and artistically done. There was a full house during our stay and we never had to wait longer than five minutes for the bathroom. We took our showers in the evening before dinner. This is a good idea for anyone who doesn't want to wait for a shower because it can and will happen at any hostel. I was just reviewing the other reviews before I wrote this one. There must be some pretty spoiled high-maintenance people that stayed here last year. Perhaps Simon didn't give you enough attention and that was your real problem. I found Simon and Sara to be gracious hosts. Simon seemed to be rather dry sometimes but pleasant and helpful all the same. The dogs were neither bothersome nor annoying. They were calm and quiet. The room we stayed in (bottom floor on the right) was great. I had such a fun time our last night there in the living room chatting away with all these people from all over the world. That was after the second night of great dinner recommendations from Simon. He knows his Italian food! Also, with the help of Simon's map, we were able to see all of Rome by foot with no problems. The only reason I did not give this hostel a five star review was because of the person they had working overnight. He turned the lights out in our room one night and out of only four people in there, one was sleeping (my fiancé), two were reading and one was playing a game on his cell phone. We all decided we would like the lights back on so we turned them on. He came back in the room and gave us a yelling at. So we called it a night. Lucky I had my headlamp!! I understand that there are rules in place when so many people from different backgrounds come together, in order to maintain some order. I just felt he could have been a bit more diplomatic in his explanation instead of yelling at us like we were teenagers. All in all though, I decided to take a risk and stay there after reading all the other reviews and I am glad I did. I didn't get to see nearly enough of Rome and I hope to come back again and stay at Gulliver's house. Oh yeah, I wasn't too keen about staying in the Termini area. I had heard bad things about it but Gulliver's house was on a quiet side street, it was walking distance from the train station and I felt very safe.

This was the first ever hostel I stayed at and was very pleased and surprised at how helpful and friendly everyone was. The rooms were clean, the beds very comfortable and my stay all around was enjoyable. Thank you to Simon for his awesome directions!!! You've got to patent a map and tour guide of your own! :)

For a small hostel, everything was as expected: beds are clean, and the showers/washrooms are well maintained. Location was good. Day staff were very helpful and the dogs are entertaining. One comment though: During our stay we were in the upstairs room, which felt very stuffy. There was an air conditioner, but it was never turned on. When I inquired about it to the night staff member, he said, "No air conditioning!" I assumed that it was because in a small hostel such as this budgeting for the air-conditioning cost was only calculated for the summer, and freakishly hot spring weather was overlooked. Needless to say I had a very sweaty night. So please for future guests' sake don't dangle something like that above our heads and not have it available for us!