HI - Florence - Villa Camerata Hostel

Florence

13 of 47

Address	Viale Augusto Righi 2-4, Florence Tuscany, Italy Map
Price	15 euros Check Current Prices by Date Here

Location/Contact

Details

This is a Hostelling International (HI) hostel. A membership card isn't required, but an extra fee will apply for non-members. You can get a membership card before your trip here.

Their Description

Features

Free Breakfast
Bar
Lounge / Common space
Food/Restaurant
TV
Washing Machine (laundry)
Phones (public or in room)
Currency Exchange
Swimming Pool
Travel information provided

The Hostelz.com Review

A hostel/campsite on the outer edge of Florence. It's a bit of a distance outside of the center of the city. It takes 15-20 minutes to reach it by bus from the center of the city, plus a 300m walk on the path through the woods leading up to the hostel building. It has a movie room, a TV room, a dining area, and a little market. Outside there is a courtyard, covered sitting area, and the camping areas.

The rooms and bathrooms are fairly decent. There are a lot of people around in the evening, but as with many HI hostels people tend to keep to their own little groups. Beds are also available outside in military style tents for 11.50 euros. There are cats that live in and around the hostel, so be warned if you are alergic.

— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review

Ratings & Comments

3.3 Average from 15 Ratings

This is an open forum, and unlike other hostel guide websites we don't censor out the negative comments.
We can't validate the legitimacy of comments posted on this site—so take what you read here with a grain of salt.

Comment by can1, Canada

September 2008

Beautiful!
What a beautiful place to relax in! This is a really nice hostel located in the country side. The downside, of course, is the distance from the city. If you are here for a while, i really recommend trying out this place, at least for one night.

Comment by Richard, USA

May 2007

It's in a beautiful villa in a country setting about a half hour bus ride from the train station, then a five- to ten-minute walk up the hill. Everything there was very nice. The only drawback was that you couldn't lock the lockers. They should either put locks on them or modify them so that you could use your own padlock.

Comment by James T., U.S.A.

April 2007

This is a good hostel, located very far outside the city. I can't tell you how long of a walk it is, because the bus ride was always so long I wasn't really sure how to get there. However the #17 bus does drop you off right outside their gates, but still a five-minute walk up the driveway. The amenities are nice at this hostel, i stayed in a four-person room, and that was only 15 Euro, so you can't beat that. Phone and Internet have to be paid for, so not great on your budget, Dinner was decent, but not exactly cheap. You can find prices just the same at a cheap restaurant in town, and the food will be a little better. Breakfast is just your typical roll, fruit, coffee, but plan on eating while you're in Italy anyway. Good store right on location for little snacks, and drinks (including alcohol). The showers were very nice, about eight showers in the one bathroom, but well sectioned off so you still have your privacy. The biggest issue was its location and the Midnight curfew. Midnight is not terrible, but it is so far outside the city, plan on ending your night at 11 and then finding a bus out to your stop. Decent place if you need to save money, but the location is not optimal for experiencing the city of Florence.

Comment by Barbara, US

March 2007

I stayed in this hostel back in december of 1999. The hostel was nice and the rooms were clean. I stayed there a couple of days during christmas time, and me and my friend had no problem getting a room with a reservation. The greatest disadvantage is that it's a bit far from the city center.

Comment by Stalar

September 2006

this is the worst hostel i've stayed in. the staff are very rude! they don't explain anything to you, and when you ask them, they will be angry! When I got there, they just did the registration and gave you the key. they didn't tell me when I should give them the rent, when I asked the female staff at the counter, she answered "When you leave," very impatiently. they didn't tell me where I could get the bed sheet, and when I got the bed sheet from the wrong cart, a male staff questioned me what I was doing there with a horrific look! and they didn't tell me when the breakfast and dinner will be and when and where I could buy the ticket, they didn't tell me what facilities they have and where they are and how I can use them. you need to explore everything there yourself like internet and laundry, and after you've found them and ask the staff how you can use it, they will think that ''how come you dont know that?'' and will answer you very angrily and impatiently. the staff there are simply like having a kind of despise and hatred towards their customers. I met a girl who wanted to use the internet service there but the internet was not working in all the computers, she told the staff but then the staff there scolded her that she was lying. The hostel is not very sanitary either. the rooms and facilities are very old. the floor is very dirty. and there are many mosquitoes. I got bitten by mosquitoes many times during my two-day stay there even though i did spray mosquito repellent already. the water pressure in the shower room and bathroom is very unstable. there are many people staying in the hostel and some people smoke there. they gathered on the G/F and smoked and the smoke spread to my room above, which was very annoying and unpleasant to non-smokers. and the location is very bad. It's on the hill and the way from downhill to the hostel is quite long. the pathway is covered by rubbles and stones -- it's quite difficult to pull wheeled suitcase up there. if you want to go to the city centre, it takes about half an hour to travel by bus, not including the walk down the hill. when I chose this hostel, I was attracted by its photos on the web -- beautiful renaissance villa. but after considering all the aspects and the bad experiences, i definitely think that it's not worth staying there. After all, it's not as beautiful as one may think it would be.

Comment by Benjamin Petty

July 2006

A nice hostel in a villa, situated a little ways from Florence, but not too bad by the number seventeen bus, it is a clean hostel, nice setup, only downside is the huge amount of French teenagers, which give the hostel a weird vibe. Nice courtyard and common areas, good place to stay in Florence.

Comment by Karen

August 2005

Do not stay at this hostel unless you like screaming 13-14 year-old French boys! Okay, maybe it is not like that all the time but it sure was when I was there. I felt like I was staying in an institution or a summer camp for kids. They failed to tell me that underage children would be there. My fiancé and I stayed there for two nights in April 2005. The staff were friendly — that's one star. I was put in a back dorm on the boy's side, which was okay with me because I was close to my fiancé and it was a dorm made up of women in their 20s to 50s (I am 33) — I guess that could be two stars. We had one or two (can't remember) single bathrooms, too. The problem was when the 100 French boys arrived screaming and running down the hallways and using our bathrooms. I don't have to say how gross boys are in the bathroom. About the dorm room: It was the most compacted dorm I stayed at in Italy, and I stayed in six. It had four bunk beds for a total of eight beds. There was probably 2-3 feet at most between the bunks. It was as wide as the storage lockers. Someone else was sleeping in the bed that was assigned to me so the advice from the staff was to take someone else's bed. I did and luckily there were no problems. It was too big and too impersonal. I didn't get to know anyone there. You have to take a bus into the city but really that was not bad at all (except for the cost). Factor in a 1-euro ticket into town and 1-euro ticket back to the hostel in your budget. Don't buy into the Villa thing. It is really like an institutional summer camp for kids.

Comment by Anonymous

September 2004

A very beautiful hostel on the edge of Florence with amazing views of the surrounding countryside. The food is a very good value, and a small breakfast is included for free. It is a large hostel with a nice atmosphere at night. It has lots of facilities as well, including a shop, a TV room and a big cinema room showing films for free! It is a long, hot walk to get here when carrying a big rucksack, and it's quite a distance from the city center, but it is worth it to stay in these surroundings.

Comment by Fred - Sao Paulo

September 2004

This is the worst hostel I've ever stayed at. In fact, it seemed like a prison to me. It's far away from the city (even though we had a car), the staff are the rudest ever, and there's an early night curfew and early morning lockout. Though the place was crowded with children, we did meet some nice girls. But we could not chat with them very much because you are not allowed to stay awake after midnight, not to mention that there are separate blocks for boys and girls.

Comment by Her

July 2004

It's well worth the bus ride and the walk up the tree-lined path. I've camped and stayed in the hostel on separate visits over the past decade, and it's still in my top 10 for hostels I love in Europe, cause, well, it feels so very European. How many times do you get to stay in an old villa?

Comment by Tamar & Chen

May 2004

The hostel is in a really beautiful place!! It's not hard to reach (there is a bus from the central station every 30 minutes or so), but the first time it can be a bit confusing. It is quite a walk from the bus station to the hostel, but it's a very pleasant place to walk, though a bit annoying with enormous backpacks. The rooms and showers are very clean, and there is a beautiful garden outside the hostel, and a nice snack bar (the hot chocolate is really good!:)). We had a very good time here and we definitely recommend it to everyone!!

Comment by Justin

March 2004

I went here in 2001, and I still rave about this hostel to anyone who might be visiting Firenze. The surroundings are gorgeous, and the hostel is clean and quiet (as long as you don't get a mammoth snorer in your 4-bed room). With a big ol' backpack the hike up the driveway isn't the very best, but the peaceful scenery makes up for it. The buses come very frequently, so I didn't have any problem getting into the city. Definitely recommended!

Comment by Jerry

January 2004

The bad things about this hostel are that you need to take a bus to go there, but the bus is very frequent, and you also need to climb uphill for a while before you can find the hostel. However, living in the hostel is self-sufficient, you can have a rather reasonable dinner in a reasonable price, a bar, TV room, and clean toilets. The garden is very beautiful.

Comment by Anonymous

October 2003

This hostel is in a beautiful setting. It is quite a distance from the centre but the buses come frequently so it isn't too bad. We went here in September and the hostel was full, so it might be worth getting there early. We stayed in a 'bungalow' which wasn't really worth the price, so it would be probably better to stay in the hostel if you can. I didn't think there was much of an atmosphere here, everyone was sticking to their own groups, but it might just depend on the time you visit.

Comment by Shadow

October 2003

Stunning! This hostel is situated in the most picturesque part of Firenze. But this is a part of the problem; it's quite far from the city center and once you reach the gates you think "ah I'm here!" WRONG! you have to walk 300 m to get to the building. I guess that's a part of the experience. Only go here if you like curfews because at midnight they switch off all the lights so you have no option. It's not the best option if you want to experience the night life of Firenze. But it is incredibly peaceful and beautiful.

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