Location
Centro di Educazione Ambientale Porto Venere is based on a hill, overlooking Porto Venere´s marina and the stunning, beautiful-colored buildings. Like the five villages of Cinque Terre, Porto Venere was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, and is as beautiful! It's just not that busy with tourists and that is what makes the town and this hostel a great spot. It is an ideal base to visit Cinque Terre.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The stone building houses a modern and basic hostel with fifty-two beds, all in very clean dorms with bathrooms en-suite. There are cylinder locks for the room doors. Lockers are in the room, so bring your own lock! (If you are lucky you get to sleep in dorm #1, with the best view onto the marina and village). Dorms come in two to six beds and the beds are hidden in wardrobes and pulled out if needed, so it doesn´t feel crowded at all.
Common Spaces
A common room around the reception area is open twenty-four hours. The included breakfast -- coffee, juice, pastries, butter and jam -- is served there. Well-priced vending machines make sure you don´t stay thirsty, and there is also a fridge for guests use. They have free Wi-Fi and the reception are very helpful, providing information about history and sightseeing in and around Cinque Terre. A supermarket, bars, and restaurants are very close.
Summary
Overall, this hostel is a very nice place to stay -- very basic, but clean and cheap. Once you check in, you will have a key, so there is no curfew and hardly a lockout. Check your arrival time with the reception -- opening time in the afternoon/evening is short!
— Recensione esclusiva Hostelz.com
July 2008