Italy - Day 1 - Rome - Alessandro Downtown Hostel

Thursday, December 6th, 2007

Initial Arrival

Having never stayed in a hostel before, I had almost no idea what to expect. I walked back to the Hostel which is only a few blocks from Termini an which is about 1/2 mile from the Colosseum.

The street entrance to the Alassandro Downtown Hostel

The entrance to the Alassandro Downtown Hostel

The check-in is on the 2nd floor (3rd floor in the US). When I got there they verified my reservation with my Passport (but did not keep it). Then I paid the remaining 41 Euro I owed for my 3 nights there. Then I was able to put my bag in the baggage room which wasn't the most secure thing, but it got the bag off my back.

They weren't ready for actual check-in until 3pm so I decided that I would grab lunch to kill some time.

When I got back I paid my 5 euro deposit for my key and I was assigned to room 105 (click here to see picture). It was only later, after going to the pantheon and trevi fountain, that I discovered that they put me in the wrong room. I should have been in 107 (click here to see picture) because 105 had been fully booked. That was a minor mixup and I think I wound up better for it in the end.

click here to see more pictures of Alessandro Downtown

- Go back to Day 1 summary -

- Contine Reading about the Pantheon -

Overall Thoughts/Review

Beyond my initial arrival, these are my thoughts about this Hostel. I'll give a short summary and rate them on a few areas.

THE GOOD -
Overall, the stay was OK. I feel as though I am safe at night and the staff is knoweldgeable and helpful. They all speek great english. The rates are good (15 Euro/night). The hot water was awesome and the location was great as well. And let's not forget the included breakfast and dinner (they aren't much, but they are free and good).

THE BAD -
This may be my inexperience talking, but I realy wasn't too happy with the state of the bathroom. Everything about it reminded me of the fraternity in college, and experience I could do without reliving. There was free internet, but, let's face it, access via 4 terminals that don't allow access to g-mail and don't allow access to thumb drives really is kinda useless. I'll have to go to an internet cafe to post these blogs and their pictures.

So out of a possible ««««« (5 stars):