Where to sleep in Rome 500 meters from the station, the review of The Yellow Hostel, a clean and welcoming place suitable for young travelers but also for families.
About a year ago I started traveling differently than in the past. Before I was someone who always had a suitcase full of clothes with him when he left, even for a weekend. I lived with the "could always help me" principle. This was also allowed thanks to the fact that my trips were almost always by train or by car. As I liked to feel safe with my luggage, so did I in choosing where to sleep.
The choice always fell on a b & b or a hotel with half board formula. Last year a Rome I decided to try the AirBnb experience, renting a single room in San Lorenzo, in an apartment inhabited by two students. And I was fine.
This year, always looking for accommodation in Rome, almost by chance I ended up looking at hostels. I've always been wary of this type of accommodation, I admit I had some preconceptions. The trip was solo and included several stages around Italy and so I decided to try. Wandering around the net, I ended up on Hostelworld, a site that groups 33.000 hostels in 170 countries.
Among the various hostels, one of those that struck me most was the The Yellow, which on over 13 thousand reviews had a score of 8.7 out of 10. I decided to book only for one night, in case I felt bad I could always change and go to a hotel or a b & b.
Immediately the first positive discovery. On a price of approx 20€ (one bed / one night in a mixed quadruple room) I was asked to pay just over € 2 as a deposit for the reservation. Getting to the hostel was very easy as it is located in Via Palestro, a parallel of via Marsala, the road that runs alongside the Termini station, which is about 500 meters away. A real convenience.
I was greeted in the hall by a boy who was explaining the services in Spanish to a couple, then he did it in English to an Oriental. Very kind and prepared, knowing him I discovered to be of Portuguese origin. After checking in I went in chamber, above the hall. Precise above the hall because in reality The Yellow is a sort of widespread hostel. In addition to the building that houses the entrance, the rooms are also in the one next to it, reachable through an internal door and in the two buildings opposite.
Arrived in the room, opened with magnetic key, withdrawn without the need to leave the deposit I discovered to be inhabited by 2 other oriental boys and an Argentine girl. The bunk beds I found them wonderful as well as comfortable. Made of iron, a kind of cage with a fixed ladder. Under the low bed 2 huge drawers (in practice as half a single bed each) always in iron with wheels and a hook for the padlock.
White sheets and blankets were clean and folded, the read you do it yourself (I found that this works in all hostels). Courtesy light e electric socket they were positioned above the head, easily accessible but in a position where they did not bother. After a shower in the bathroom in the room I went to discover the other rooms of the hostel.
On the reception floor there is a bar room with comfortable sofas and tables where someone waited for the moment to leave or worked on the PC in a very quiet environment. In front of a hairdressing salon which offers discounts to hostel guests, recognizable by the bracelet, tourist village style. It is not difficult for parties to be organized in the hall, on Fridays for example there was a beer party.
On the floor below the reception there is a relaxation room with poufs for reading or relaxing and a TV with an xbox for video game lovers. Next to it was the kitchen room with the large table, very clean and organized. Of source, the common bathrooms, with shower and a magazzino where to temporarily leave luggage before taking the room or after leaving it.
warehouse video monitored and constantly closed key, available in reception from which they control what happens inside through a monitor. On the street, next to the main entrance, there is a bistro open for lunch and dinner, with attractive prices. Having never been there I cannot say what the cuisine is like. The reviews on Hostelworld however speak well of it.
In the evening I went to the hostel bar which is located in the building opposite the reception, which is also part of The Yellow. The main hall was full of guys drinking cocktails or beer and eating fried chicken and chips, or getting acquainted with good music in the background. A staircase led to the lower floor where you danced to loud music, again full of boys.
Check out at The Yellow è expected at 10, but they look very elastic. In the end I found myself very well, in fact I decided to stay another night, sharing the room with 3 Argentine guys, very nice. As I also wrote in the review on Hostelworld “at The Yellow I think I have found my home in Rome”.
