HI - Como - Villa Olmo Hostel

Horrible
Ok, I went backpacking thirty-eight days to only Italy and visited more than fifteen cities staying in lots of hostels and seriously this is the worst hostel of all the fifteen-plus that I stayed in. Ok where to start, First the closing hours are so stupid, they close six hours in the middle of the day and maybe you think that it is not a problem and all the hostels do that and that is not true, only two of the fifteen-plus hostels that I stayed in did this and the other only close like two hours, this one closes six hours, so If you need to go back, If you forgot something, If it gets cold and you need your sweater, whatever reason, you are stuck in como just watching your watch and wait until they open, it is so annoying, this happened a few times. Then not only do they close six hours in midday, they also close at midnight, but they seriously close, we couldn't get any nightlife because of this rule, until we had to beg a guy we met there to let us sleep in his house, so we could go out, how pathetic is that? then we got back to the hostel and they charged us an extra night because we got there ten minutes after the checkout rule that was at 10 a.m., but they close at 10 a.m., so if you get a bit late you're stranded outside with your dirty clothes and you have to wander in that small city for six hours until they open, they say they close to clean but really they dont clean anything, seriously this was the worst hostel of all italy, the staff was ok, but the rules sucked ass so bad, the beds are nothing special. i hated this hostel so much, please go somewhere else.

Great
We had a very busy and hot time in Rome and than we came in Como. It was really nice! The hostel people were very friendly and helpful and also funny. the warm welcome every time when we returned was so nice! it was feeling like home!

Excellent
This hostel is everything a hostel should be. A big warm welcome, a plethora of information from the staff, great value meals, and warm spacious dorms and a great location.

I was going to Milan to meet a man I had met on the internet. He was supposed to be a manager of a human resource department for IBM. He and I have chatted on the internet for over a year and talked on the phone. When I arrive in Milan, I am supposed to stay at his guesthouse with him. He meets me at the airport, then says "Sorry, I am not interested in you, you are not what I expected, you are very overweight." So I was left stranded at the airport. I went to a casino nearby and gambled playing blackjack and won over $60,000. So I decided to cheer myself up by going to Lake Como. I arrived at the hostel and a lady said I looked sad. I told her what happened. She felt sorry for me. We enjoyed an espresso together then she said to take her private room stay for a week, enjoy Lake Como and regroup before going back to New York. I told her thanks. She brought me healthy meals to my room everyday like Mediterranean salads with Feta cheeese and green tea. She made me take sixty-minute walks everyday and told me that I need to keep it up when I return to New York. She said that when I lose two hundred pounds, the next man I meet over the internet will not turn me away when I go to meet him.

This hostel is unreliable and dishonest. During my recent visit my friend and I had clearly made reservations, our names taken and arrival time noted. When we arrived in Como, the hostel claimed that we did not have reservations because they had given our spaces away. I believe they take fake reservations just to insure full booking. Arriving late at night, we were stranded in Como with no place to go because of their dishonesty.

Three stars for the 10 till 4 lock out (they lock you out of the entire premises, not just the bedrooms). The staff are reasonably helpful except when you need the slightest favor or exception to one of the many rules which are numerous. It was clean enough and the evening meals were good but get here on the wrong night and you may end up sharing the 36-bed female dorm with a group of giggling schoolgirls.

We enjoyed our stay here. It is easy to reach from the station and easy walking distance to town. The staff were very friendly and knowledgeable about the region. The dinners were huge — one meal fed two adults. The only downside was the traffic noise, as it's on a very busy road — day and night.

I think the hostel was very nice--clean and quiet. The staff were very friendly and helpful. And it's possible when you check out to leave your bags there--for just 2.5 euros. This is a place I will definitely tell my friends about.

The girl's dorm is huge, but apparently the boy's dorm isn't so big. The dorm has half-height dividers in some spots, which helps a little bit. A lot of people rave about the meals here, but I found them very average, so the original chef must have moved on. The only good bit is that they have a deal where you can have a full three-course meal or just a one-course--pasta or the meat--and they price it accordingly, which is nice. The hostel is really friendly; I met heaps of lovely people here.

Very friendly staff, who offer a good dinner every night with options for vegetarians like myself. I met people from all over the world, and had an enjoyable three-night stay for the very reasonable price of 13 euros a night--breakfast included!!! There are separate dorms for men and women. You can lock your valuables in the locker that's provided with each bed. The usual HI lock-out exists from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The town is beautiful, with the lake dominating the town. I took the funicular (cable railway) up and had an incredible view of the city - it's cheaper to buy the ticket for the funicular at the hostel (3 euros). The hostel has a bar and laundry services. All in all, a very good experience, in a friendly and clean hostel. I will definitely come back here again. It's close to the train station and one can get to the airport in one hour from the hostel by the various options of train or bus. I had only one complaint--the showers lack force.

Awful! Alternatives? Well none, there aren't any other hostels in town. This hostel however is on the HI (Hostelling International) books and do I have a huge complaint! As I get there the woman in her thirties to greet me was completely stoned! I could not tell it was pot because she seemed to be under the influence of some heroin! Stoned as she was she still took me through the various checking in steps. I did not have cash on me and they did not have a way to accept payments electronically but she was alright to let me check in and being that it was late afternoon still I had plenty of time to get back in the town centre to get some money from an ATM and pay her later. When checking my documents however, seeing that I was born in a country and I had the nationality from another she felt compelled to liken such an irrelevant detail to the "Giro dell'Oca" or Tour of the Goose, which doesn't exist really, she was meaning to say "Gioco dell'oca" or Game of the Goose, a Monopoly like game. Notwithstanding however I could not see the relevance and I was left puzzled and suspicious that it was a regular commenting on nationalities of her that she found the HI hostel the ideal place to practice and give advice based on her ethnocentrism and purity? I gave her details of my background as I thought she wanted to know but she wasn't actually hearing me. Well, I collected my sheets, went to the dormitory, one is for the men, the other for the women. There were 20 beds in one 35 square meter room, each with a dedicated locker. After leaving my bag in the locker I got out of the hostel to get the money at the ATM. I wasn't feeling well though, it did not feel right she had to draw a parallel between where I was born and where I was a national of with some game. I could not get it and however shallow or serious her freedom of expression was uttered at that moment it did not make me feel it was fine. So instead of paying the 12 Euros for the hostel, after receiving advise from the local police I collected my rucksack and made the woman a little aware of the reason why I was leaving and went to an hotel in town and paid 60 Euros for a hotel where there was some comfort and a feeling of freedom, something that should come for free anywhere one goes really. I will be reporting this matter to HI.

The best thing I remember about this hostel was the food, absolutely fantastic. Even if the sleeping arrangements aren't as appetizing as the food - this hostel is definitely worth staying for 1 or 2 nights just for the food (and of course the city). I remember lots of bunk beds and one shower room... and hearing rumors from the boys side that they didn't have the luxury of a toilet. That was about 3 years ago... hopefully things haven't changed.