Although this hostel is set on a mountain with a beautiful fog that lifts over the Cinque Terre…read morearea each morning, I chose to stay here because 1) hotels were very expensive in the 5 Terre cities when I looked and 2) it seems walkable to the first of the 5 Terre cities: Riomaggiore. However, I clearly didn't think this through, as the hostel is on a mountain up a narrow, windy road with no sidewalks. Even though I was within walking distance to Riomaggiore, the route was not really walkable. And, when the wifi that was supposed to be available in "every area of the hostel" didn't work AT ALL in the room I was staying in, and when the wifi didn't work AT ALL on my laptop even when sitting right next to the router, and when the internet didn't work AT ALL anywhere even on my phone the day the clouds hung a little thicker in the sky over the mountain, I found myself wishing I had just stayed in La Spezia. La Spezia is an easy train ride (or bus ride) to Riomaggiore (or the other 5 Terre towns) and had many more amenities. Granted, you don't get the mountain view or a non-walkable walkable distance to 5 Terre, but in exchange you have access to more reliable wifi wherever you are as well as a library, a real grocery store and more city life. And, La Spezia is kinda cute.
Aside from the wifi issue, this hostel had some charm. Upon arrival, the owner took a good deal of time to orient me to the area. They had real beds (fairly comfortable, though the flat pillow sucked), big lockers (bring your own lock) and ample heating. And, if you didn't eat in town after hiking the trails, you could always grab a meal back at the hostel for a fairly reasonable price (4 euros and up depending on the meal and item) as well as alcohol. (Note: There is only a microwave and mini fridge if you plan to bring your own food, so don't bring anything that requires real cooking!) Plus, despite the fact that there were probably about 10 people per shower, I never had to wait for the shower and the water was always hot. That said, the showers were extremely small, so I was a bit bothered when I'd bend over slightly to try to wash my feet and hit my butt on the slightly moldy wall. Ick! Plus, this place advertises shuttles that can take you to Riomaggiore (free if you stay at least 3 nights; otherwise 1 euro) but the hours are very limited--morning shuttles that can fill up (you must sign up the night before) for 8:30 am, 9:00 am, 9:30 am, and 10:00 am and then returning shuttles from 7:30 pm, 8:00 pm, 8:30 pm, 9:00 pm, 9:30 pm, and maybe 10:00 pm. So, unless you find the local bus (1,50 if you buy a ticket in advance; more like 2,15 if you buy your ticket on board the bus, which is Italy's way pretty much countrywide), you are committed to a LOOOONG day of at least 9.5 hours. But, since the hostel kicks you out of your room each day between 10:30 am and 2:30 pm for cleaning anyway (they have signs asking you to leave the hostel entirely, but in reality you don't have to as long as you don't access your room or bathroom during the 4 hours), I guess that makes some sense, though having an afternoon shuttle option would make more sense; they could implement a quota for it to run if cost is an issue. As for the noise, it's fairly typical for a hostel that has rooms right off the common room: LOUD. The rooms upstairs suffer from the echoing acoustics of drunkards in the common room until about 1:30 am, while the folks below experience the sounds of chairs being dragged across the floor. The noise begins again in the mornings when the radio blasts from the kitchen and folks start congregating for breakfast around 7:30 am. And, there's some kind of alarm that sounds like the nearby (hourly) church bell that goes off. Definitely bring earplugs unless this place installs some soundproof hallway doors to stop the echoing noise.
Bottom line: If you want the view and don't mind the noise or lack of amenities, it's fine. Otherwise, wrangle some hostellers and just share a hotel room or find a hostel in La Spezia.
