The Hostelz.com Review
From check-in to the moment you leave Hostel Ospitalia del Mare, you will feel welcome and find a very clean and spacious place.
Location
The hostel is located in a historic building that used to be a hospital, a nursery, and, in its early days, part of the port (it functioned as a warehouse). Easy to reach on foot from the train station and only a three-minute walk to the beach, Hostel Ospitalia del Mare makes the perfect base for exploring Cinque Terre and Portofino.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Rooms start with two beds up to eight. The rooms are big and come with private bathrooms and are exceptionally clean. Once you get the keys for the room and main doors, there will be no curfew or lock-out.
Common Spaces
There is a nice terrace, laundry, a fridge, and not-too-expensive vending machines. The hostel has no kitchen, but the reception will direct you to some of the local restaurants (some give guests of the hostel a 10% discount) with exceptional good and normally priced local food. Breakfast is included, but don't expect too much -- it is the basic Italian hostel tray. There are two for-pay computers for internet. Bed sheets and towels are also included.
Summary
Overall, the price is right and it is a great place to recharge your travel battery after much traveling. When you arrive in Levanto, you need to make sure that you show up at the hostel between 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. or 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. (Friday and Saturday, reception also opens between 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.).
Location
The hostel is located in a historic building that used to be a hospital, a nursery, and, in its early days, part of the port (it functioned as a warehouse). Easy to reach on foot from the train station and only a three-minute walk to the beach, Hostel Ospitalia del Mare makes the perfect base for exploring Cinque Terre and Portofino.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Rooms start with two beds up to eight. The rooms are big and come with private bathrooms and are exceptionally clean. Once you get the keys for the room and main doors, there will be no curfew or lock-out.
Common Spaces
There is a nice terrace, laundry, a fridge, and not-too-expensive vending machines. The hostel has no kitchen, but the reception will direct you to some of the local restaurants (some give guests of the hostel a 10% discount) with exceptional good and normally priced local food. Breakfast is included, but don't expect too much -- it is the basic Italian hostel tray. There are two for-pay computers for internet. Bed sheets and towels are also included.
Summary
Overall, the price is right and it is a great place to recharge your travel battery after much traveling. When you arrive in Levanto, you need to make sure that you show up at the hostel between 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. or 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. (Friday and Saturday, reception also opens between 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.).
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
July 2008
Their Description
Hostel Ospitalia del Mare Details
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Hostelz.com Guest Reviews
Dormitory keys are capable of opening other rooms The hostel itself is well situated and is very convenient to get to the Cinque Terre. However all the dormitory keys are the same and are able to open each other's rooms. Wifi is only accessible in the main room downstairs which is often used by town folk for meetings. Wifi was prone to crashing when more than four users were connected. Blackouts were common. While staying in off season with only 11 other guests, we experienced several blackouts in a week. Rooms were not cleaned at all during our ten day stay, dust accumulated very quickly. Cleaner merely changed the bin liner.
— Anonymous , Australian (2011-12-23) more expansive than other hostels i've visited in my life, but very good, i can accept to spend some euros more to have such a good place -- bathroom in your room daily cleaned, that's for me is not a little thing, 'cause it's like being in a hotel! levanto it's a really good point to start the visit of cinque terre. don't miss the golfo dei poeti, with lerici portovenere and tellaro, as beautiful as the little towns of cinque terre. and about the hospital atmosphere -- the fact is, it was actually a hospital and before also a church building. it is medieval, in my room in fact there was a medieval fresco. it's not so common! — la ela (2007-01-05) Very clean, hospitable with a good breakfast. Great town, away from the tourist bustle of cinque terra but perfect start off point to enjoy everything all the villages have to offer. Great pizzerias, shops, and restaurants in the town, convienient supermarket location. Go to the wine bar near the main square for a great glass of wine and hor'dours. Breakfast is addictive with yummy nutella. Showers are messy, but hot and strong. Cheaper than the other hostel in Monterosso as well. Would stay here again. — moe (2006-07-18) I'd have given it a five, but the siesta reception lockout bummed me out and the internet was pretty expensive there. Awesome rooms, clean, private bathrooms, decent breakfast, nice staff, a little weird being an old hospital. Cool bar across the street. Levanto is a great gateway if you are going to the Cinque Terre, easily accessible by train and not full of tourists. Love the town, and check out the Enoteca down the street it's awesome. Beaches are also pretty cool in Levanto, actual sand! — Benjamin Petty (2006-07-02) I stayed there in January 06. It was pretty deserted, but it's very clean, with hot showers with good pressure. Upon arriving since it was out of season, I was told there was no complimentary continental breakfast. I agree about the creepy hospital feel, but it was a relatively inexpensive place to stay and from which to explore Cinque Terre. — D. Walsh (2006-04-04) This Hostel is hard to find, roughly a 20 minute walk from the train station, but it is worth it. It is situated one block from the ocean and is near good restaurants. If you are going to hike the Cinque Terra, this hostel will serve you well as it is only one town away by train. The dorms themselves are fairly simple with 6 beds and a shared bathroom/shower. However, it is decently clean and the staff does their best to pair you with other backpackers. The only problem with this hostel was that we were stuck there with a large group of school children who were very noisy. Also, it can be hard to book multiple nights, so plan ahead. Be sure to walk to the beach at sunset-its awesome! — Emine (2005-10-31) I loved it here! The hostel is clean, bright, and two blocks from Levanto's beach and city center. It's the perfect place to stay while visiting Cinque Terre. There is the drawback of not being able to lock things in the lockers (though lockers are provided) but I just kept important things in my backpack and locked it with a zipper lock. — Silvia (2005-09-12) Overall this hostel was AWESOME. It is close to the beach, and to everything else that you could need or want. I would have given it five stars if they had better security, e.g. LOCKERS. — Danny (2005-08-03) Okay, this hostel has this totally creepy empty hospital feel to it. The price really isn't that great (18 euros as of January 2005) for making you feel like a patient in Creeperville. But Levanto has the best vegan pizza sold by the gram in Italy so if you're visiting Cinque Terre it's the best place to stay for sure. They have expensive Internet access so go online somewhere else in the town. Also they give you your sheets and towel in a baggy. Weird. I will go back but I will still be bummed about the price. What's up with the free Internet, guys? — xkeethx (2005-01-25) Great hostel. It's very clean and well-run. Levanto, as a town, is fairly quiet at night, though. I wouldn't give this hostel five stars only because of the quick train ride to the Cinque Terre, and the fact that the last train leaves Riomaggiore at 12:25. Levanto is removed from the Cinque Terre, which takes away some of the tourists and commotion. We liked Levanto's beach much more than the one on the Cinque Terre. The walk along the coast to get to the Cinque Terre is really nice and worthwhile, although it takes a while. I would definitely stay here again, and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the Cinque Terre! — Jimmy (2004-09-13) The location sucks. It's not near the station; it's a 20 minute walk there at least, and with a full backpack it's even worse. But the hostel makes up for it with very clean rooms, and by being very friendly. And it was pretty cheap. There's no common area, except the patio oustide, and that doesn't have any tables or chairs. But, boy, that sundown was beautiful. The breakfast was very nice. Stay here if you can't get anything in any of the other towns, or if you don't like tourist towns. This town was very quiet at night. — Kevin (2004-08-30) VERY clean! The dorms are huge! There are no lockers, but wardrobes. Breakfast was good and consisted of a hot beverage or orange juice, baguette bread, biscotti, cookies, marmelade and nutella. This hostel was hard to find! It is in Levanto(near the beach), the town just before Monterosso(which is the first of the Cinque Terre villages). To go to Monterosso is a 20 min walk to the train station and 5 min train ride. I loved it! — Marie (2004-08-29) This is a very nice, clean hostel with a great atmosphere in a friendly town. It is not, however, part of the Cinque Terre. It is actually a town away from Cinque Terre. The trains between the five cities and Levanto stop running at around 12 am, so there is no opportunity at all to partake in nightlife if you stay here. We really liked the place itself but had to leave because it wasn't in Cinque Terre. — Danielle (2004-07-09) This hostel is very nice, much better than most youth hostels I have visited in another countries. I stayed here in March with my class. It has a great location. There are large, private bathrooms in the rooms, and very comfortable beds. It's near reasonable restaurants. At night we went to the bar right in front of the hostel. — Liceo Linguistico, Alba (Cuneo) (2004-04-15) I stayed here last summer and still remember the fantastic bidet - I want to take it home! The hostel is clean, large, and friendly - but too expensive for me to stay more than a few nights. It's popular with single girls traveling alone and very safe. It's in a historical former hospital with cool marble floors. — Penny (2004-02-24)