Ostello Europa Villa Camerata

Quiet location with a parking. Villa is special, at least the lobby. I stayed in a room at the nearby building. It s not historical bu with a great views of the garden. Personnel is very attentive, breakfast just average among the hostels. If going to historical part it is best to leave the car and walk to the bus station, less than 10 minutes away.

Stayed here in 2009. A very great place to be with friends. The food is great and the rooms are comfortable. The foliage surrounding the establishment is very thick so you won't see much of Florence skyline, but it does block most of the sound from the city so you are guaranteed a quiet night. The building itself is quite old and luxurious, giving an antique and romantic feeling throughout the stay.

The hostel is in a wonderful building, or at least it was when it was built. It has long since gone to ruin, that said, it does have character and there are some nice features around the site. That is where the compliments end. The receptionist had all the charisma of a pine cone and overcharged us. When we pointed out the error she refused to accept she had made a mistake and eventually went through all the cash transactions made during the day to disprove our claim. Ultimately there was an extra note in the till which just happened to be the precise amount by which we had been overcharged. There was no apology at all or even acknowledgment of the inconvenience. Rooms are basic in the extreme, this is a hostel so I guess that isn't much of a concern. The general condition of the building is poor, mould and cracking paintwork surrounds us but at least it was outwardly clean. There are en-suite bathrooms available but my room did not and so mandated shared facilities. As before these were grubby and run down, mould on the ceilings etc but I did witness someone trying to clean in there. Towels are not provided and when we offered the advertised cash amount (€2.50) our receptionist friend said this was not enough so we gave up. The hostel is far from the city centre, we could get a bus during the day but had to get a taxi at night (€20). This might not be a problem for some but it is not particularly convenient. Overall we had a bad experience here, it was the only accommodation available at short notice but I couldn't recommend it to anyone. There are better hostels around.

Wouldn’t really recommend anyone staying here unless it’s an emergency or you can’t find a place near Florence where you have the possibility to park. The room smelled of chlorine (perhaps a good thing) and the bathrooms were horrible (closed during the night and the one for the women was closed most of the time during the day). Some of the toilets weren’t functioning or didn’t lock. The villa was once very beautiful but now it felt like an institution. The road to the villa was long and isolated and we felt very unsafe walking there at night. The bus trip to and from the hostel was also dark and felt dangerous at night. The staff was not polite and didn’t explain basic things to us (like the little weird paper you got for breakfast that told the time but they didn’t mention you had to bring the note to the breakfast in order to get coffee). Soooo weird breakfast.

We stayed here during the low season as it was the only place open for camping. If you are expecting this to be a fun hostel experience where you get to meet people and hang out in the common area, don't come here. The breakfast is just bananas and bread, the restaurant and bar are both closed. The staff is not helpful and pretty rude. The laundry is very expensive (7 euros). The not redeeming factor is that the property is pretty and if you don't mind the long walk to/from the hostel/campground, it's nice to be surrounded by trees and removed from the city. Also keep in mind that it takes 30-40 minutes by bus to get to the city center and the nearest grocery store is a 20 minute walk. It was not a terrible experience but just nothing like we expected.

If you like sliced bread for breakfast and mosquitoes, then this is the place for you. Honestly a lovely area, nice and big, good place to meet people and comfy beds. But the mosquitoes are unbearable and there's no screens on the windows. Showers are good and hot. You have to walk through 5 minutes of forest to find the hostel and the WiFi can be patchy though. Worth the money, just a shame about the mozzies, the place needs fogging.

It's really pretty and offers everything you could need in a hostel but the road to the house is quiet long and since it's private you have no other option than walking. The WiFi is good but doesn't reach the rooms just the community places. Must be great for camping!!

This place is a old house that important people of Florence lived in back in the days, the staff told me. There are a lot of big old mansions like this one in the area and it is nice to enter one and even get a chance to stay in one. The entrance where the reception's at is beautiful! Rooms are simple but ok standard for a cheap price. The hole place could use a fresh upp and some renovations tho. Sheets are included but towels are rentable. Breakfast is included which is nice, even tho it's pretty simple. The road to the property is in bad shape, but the taxi took us all the way to the entrance. Friendly and helpful staff!