Hostel Montestella is quite unique in that it's in a building which has several different hotels and hostels on each of its six floors. When you enter you have to find the reception among a few other reception offices. There is an elevator which takes you up to the hostel on the 5th floor, but it's an old elevator and it may be a scary experience for some.
The bedrooms are ok. The bedding and room are clean and simple. Security is there, but it's not great. Each room has only one key which is supposed to be left at reception. The doors don't seem very secure however, and anyone could walk in off the street and get into the hostel section of the building. It's kind of in a dodgy area too. It's very close to the station, but it's a bit scary to walk around at night.
There are some basic facilities at the hostel. There's a sort of kitchen and a dining room. The tiny kitchen has coke and coffee machines, a fridge, microwave, and two hotplates. There's not much in the way of utensils. If you are lucky you might find a pot with no handle to boil water in. Yogurt containers make good cups whilst staying at this place. You probably don't want to cook while here anyway as the kitchen is unkempt and dirty. There is no hostel atmosphere here and it's not a place that's designed to be fun.
The worst part about this hostel is the bathrooms are just so filthy. Not the kind of filth that you might expect at the end of the day when everyone has trampled dirty shoes in all day. No. It's the kind of dirty that shows that the showers have obviously never been cleaned -- ever. There is scum coating the walls and fluffy mould growing out of the corners. The drains are blocked in all six of the showers and there is no toilet paper to be found most of the time. It has quite possibly the filthiest bathrooms in any hostel in the whole of Europe. And to make it worse there is absolutely nowhere to put your towel and clothes. Not even a door handle to hang them off. You have a choice of the filthy wet floor or the toilet to put your stuff on. The water pressure, however, is good and you will probably even get hot water, but you won't be able to enjoy it because you will be standing in a pool of the last person's soap scum desperately trying to wash in the tiny cubicle without touching the walls and then get the hell out.
If the better hostels are full and you're looking for a cheap hostel near the train station, and you don't mind skipping a shower, this hostel may be a reasonable option.
Hostel Montestella is associated with some other businesses. The Stargate Hotel, which is located in the same building, shares a reception desk with Hostel Montestella. They are also associated with a couple of nearby internet places. You get half an hour free internet per days stay at one of the internet places which is also a laundromat. This one is ok. The other internet place (the one on Via Maghera that you walk past when walking from the train station if you follow the hostels directions) possibly should be avoided since we were overcharged for internet use there.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
November 2005
Location/Contact
2.2 Average from 5 Ratings
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