Hostel Montarina

The rooms don’t even have towels und you need to pay them extra. In addition the service don’t really want to interact with you and also the location is hard to get with car and also by feet because of the high ground. But positively there is a awesome pool and the yard looks beautiful. But if you want to more than 2 days, I wouldn’t recommend you this hostel by far!

This is the most honest detailed review you can get about this hostel and you can of course make up your mind whether you want to spend the night at this place or not. let's begin with finding the hostel which was very easy and because it's very close to the Train Station, a 5 min walk. The place itself looks like an old mansion and had a very big royal like garden and entrance as well. Check in was easy and full of instructions, and the lady almost explained everything. There is a very big dining hall which has all kind of kitchneries such as plates, cups, mugs, bowls, free to use and of course you'll need to clean them upon usage. A very tiny small kitchen with a stove and boiler to use for all guests. The Dorm: It's a close to the garden. Has 3 main big rooms A, B, & C, and each room holds 16 Bed or more, or at least the one I'm located in which is a male dorm, has 16 bed. 🤦🏻‍♂️ 16 bed and a night for 42 Swiss franc ? Ah and don't be fooled by the pictures they have on Booking showing only 6 beds as I was fooled too thinking that this is gonna be the normal 6 bed dorm. The thing is that huge dorm which has 3 main rooms and each room has almost 16 bed I assume, has only 2 toilets and 2 showers 😂 are you kidding me? Really? Every bed of course has its own light and the room itself has its own light and imagine that you should sleep with 16 person (Luckily not all beds are busy) but for now I have almost 10 busy beds and one skweaky door each and every guest including myself opens it and close it with its noise. Forget about Calmess and forget about sleeping if you happen to be a light sleeper like myself. Ah in case you need an ear plug to sleep you need to pay 1 Swiss franc, if you need a shampoo, if you need a towel, if you need anything you need to pay... Plus the 42 Swiss franc à night. That's the 1st night and I have no idea how I will spent that night with all this nonsense. Wi-Fi has no password... Great! But doesn't provide internet in the dorm 😂 it's down as we speak. 2nd night up ahead, I thought that the place is getting less busy with guests but turned out that it's not, very good business it seems. Forgot to mention that room "C" has 2 doors, one that takes you out to the garden and one that takes you in the mansion itself. And people who smokes really likes the second door close to the garden very much. All kind of people randomness are welcomed of course, from people leaving main doors open, leaving their bed lights tuned on, mobile notifications, etc.... Unfortunately the city is very expensive, and tbh this hostel is the least among them all. Of course you get what you pay for, but not like that. I also noticed that the distribution of guests wasn't random as I thought, 😂 Room C is mainly for all guests other than Americans, Canadians, Etc... As I noticed that room B consists of mainly American guests. Turned out to be a school or something. Bad smell from a shoes is almost covering the entire room when you step into it, NO PROPER VENTILATION but doors and small windows. I'm still wondering how 3 rooms x 16 bed = 48 bed use only 2 showers and 2 toilets...insane. Today I knew as I was searching the internet that the area of Lugano has one of the most invasive Mosquitos in the region. And it's called Asian Tiger Mosquitos. Make sure to cover up at night with long sleeves. The last night was so bad, people snorting, breathes, the bad shoe smell is covering the place, the bed that broke up all of the sudden, and the very small blanket that barely covers 70% of my body. To be honest, i had to write all of this as guests and people should know exactly what are they up ahead to. The place is close to the Italian Language Center so this is why most of the place filled with students. Peace.

Rooms are reasonably clean. The garden is gorgeous! Breakfast very good. But the best part is the staff, they are so friendly, patient and helpful! Our car got on the stair cases and couldn’t move, a staff helped us move the car in the heavy rain, we wanted to go back to thank him but couldn’t find him only after 30 seconds. We really appreciate his kind help!

Lovely hotel & hostel Very beautiful & kind service. Excellent swimming pool. Genders are separated in room for those are using hostel. Cheap as chips. Next to train station. Lugano is the most beautiful place I’ve been. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pros: beautiful building and garden, nice and helpful reception staff, the breakfast that you can buy is excellent and well worth it, and the proximity to the train station is useful. Cons: unfortunately this building and the cleaning staff are simply not conducive to the main purpose of a hotel: a good night's rest. We got a double room which in itself was good. However having the train station so near means that leaving the door or window open for ventilation was not an option as the train is incredibly loud. With no fan provided in the room (how hard would that really be?) it was hot, uncomfortable and stifling. Also the noise. I guess not much the hotel can do in this case but the noise from other guests reverberates through the halls of the building very loudly, the room door rattles with the slightest movement from the hall, I could hear people from the dorms below and could hear every step from our neighbour on the extremely creaky floorboards next door. Earplugs are a must here. Finally, the cleaning staff. On our first morning one of the cleaning staff knocked and opened our room door before we could even respond when we were still asleep. It was before 8am. No idea what kind of miscommunication with the reception staff can lead to that when it wasn't even our check-out day, maybe there is no communication? Then the second morning at 7:40am, we were sharply woken up by the cleaning staff that came to clean the room next to ours and seemed determined to do so in the loudest way possible: slamming cupboard doors in the hall just outside our room, dragging furniture across the creaky wooden floor, more slamming of unknown origin. I was in disbelief and looked out hoping it would just be the noise from some guests and not hotel staff that somehow were oblivious to the fact that someone might want to sleep past 7:40am! The cleaning protocol is utterly inconsiderate, I've never encountered something like this in a hotel before. On the first night I also received a cut when I stepped on a small piece of glass on the floor of my room. All in all for the price of 278 francs for 2 nights it leaves a lot to be desired.

Convenient location within 10 minutes walk from the train station and bus terminal. Local bus stops just outside the train station and can get to Lugano Centro and Monte Bre easily.The hotel is located up the slope facing the train station. There's a view of the train station from our room but it's not nosiy once the wooden doors of the balcony are closed.

From the station, walk all the way to the front of track 4, pass the car park and cross the small road. Go up the elevated road and you would reach the place. I was worried when I read about the dorm room could accommodate 16 people; so I requested for a bed on the lower bunk, at a corner; and my request was granted! So I had a bit more space to open my luggage. Perhaps I was lucky that the room was at most half full for both nights. I like the light & electrical outlet at bedside; also the big lockers outside the room. The staff were friendly, most facilities were clean. But I didnt like that the toilets were not gender-divided. Close to midnight, I actually came across a man who did not close the door when he was doing his business. Though there are not many toilets and showers, I had never encountered full occupancy. But I find the design of the sink to be quite gross. Overall the stay was comfortable and the close proximity to station was worth it.

Last minute booking here after I missed my train and had to suddenly rearrange travel plans. Staff super friendly and the lady even stayed late to let me in and kept good communication by email. I had a lovely big private room with comfortable bed and a sink. The hostel is in a superb location and in lovely grounds (I wish I had been able to stay long enough to use the pool!). As it is a hostel the facilities were fairly basic and there was some early morning noise from people as my room was next to reception (get a room upstairs if possible), but nothing unreasonable or unexpected. I would definitely stay here again and recommended it to others I met on my travels

The grounds are beautiful! There's a little grotto connecting the hostel to the hotel. We reserved a room at the hotel and it looks like it was actually called "Continental park hotel" but right next to the hostel. The room was small but clean and nice. The pool was refreshing, clean and plenty of room even on a hot day. There's also a ping pong table on the lawn. The location is perfect, close to the train and the lake. But what amazed me the most was the wonderful service. They were so friendly and accommodating. I'd definitely stay here again.

Nice Hostel with excellent surroundings, situated right next to the train station but not noisy. Welcoming people, good kitchen and an ok living dining room (a cozy corner is missing). Bunks are quite big but seem to be ok (ours was half empty). I came down here for cycling and will definitely come back again.