are these choices good hostels?

[sheisaeval]

Here are the top 2 or 3 hostels (or b&bs) I've chosen so far for the places I'll be going to. If you have anything better to add, or if you can recommend one of the ones on my list, or un-recommend any too, thanks for that.


London: Astor Museum Inn, Palmer's Lodge, or Ace Hotel
Paris: One of the MIJE hostels, or caulain court
Rome: Funny Palace, The Yellow, or Alessandro Palace
Venice: Santa Fosca, Domus Civica, or Aloggi Gerotto Calderan
Florence: Gallo D'oro, Emerald Fields, or Archi Rossi
Cinque Terre: Ostello Tramonti or MarMar dorms
Ljubljana: Fluxus or Vila Veselova or Most Hostel
Bled: Penzion Berc or Youth hostel Bledec
Lugano: Montarina or YH The Oasis
Gimmelwald: Mountain Hostel or Esther's Guesthouse
Vevey/Montreux: Riviera Lodge or Youth Hostel Montreux
Lucerne: Backpackers Lucerne or Tourist Hotel
Bacharach: Jugendherberge Burg Stahleck
Rothenburg: Haus Karin, Raidel, or Golden Rose, or the Hostel
Munich: Wombats or Euro Youth Hotel
Hallstatt: Gummerer, Seeblick, or cijan
Salzburg: st sebastion or YOHO
vienna: wombats lounge or wombats base
dresden: lollis homestay or mondpalast
berlin: circus, eastseven, or eastener


Whew. Good list, ok list, bad list? Any suggestions are welcome.
Also, which ones of those you would recommend me make reservations now or soon would be great too. I'll be traveling midJune to midAugust (yes, during the peak season, gah)

[jennifer]

Moutain hostel was just amazing!
Wombats Lounge is the new place to be, the Base is really cool too, but if you want more modern, choose the lounge. It's right beside the subway too!
For the rest, I haven't stayed there, so can't say! But good luck!

[herrbert]

On the Astor Museum Inn, I have seen some good reviews, but my experience wasa not that great. Only two showers on my floor, was a little crowded in the morning, and evenings. Also the beds were really short (and I am 1.74, so not really that tall). I will choose an other place when I visit London the next time.

On Berlin: the Circus, rules. I don't know the other two, and they can be really good, but if I would return to Berlin, I would choose the Circus again.

Can't help you on the others.

Reservations you can make, whenever you have your dates, and the number of days you want to stay. I don't see a point in waiting any longer.

[Eagle]

sheisaeval, I can offer a few suggestions for lodgings in some of the cities you'll be travelling to. Just to clarify the information in your Post - you re looking at both B&B's and Hostels?

> Rome: The Beehive is VERY popular, but is often booked up. I can recommend Alessandro Palace, as I've stayed there. It's only about a seven minute walk from Termini, so is in a very convenient location.

> Florence: have a look at www.hotelaldobrandini.it/enindex.htm to see if it might fit your preferences. Easy walking distance to SMN station (although it helps to have a map to easily locate the Hotel -- took me a few minutes).

>Cinque Terre: I'm not familiar with Ostello Tramonti? The "official" C.T. Hostel is www.ostello5terre.com/ in Manarola. I've stayed in Mar-Mar rooms but not the Dorms. The room was very comfortable, so I'm assuming the same standards would apply to the Dorms?

>Gimmelwald: Either of the choices you listed would be great. The Mountain Hostel is somewhat "compact" but well run and virtually right next to the Cable Car station. Good facilities including a "honeymoon loft" from what I recall, a mini-grocery store and the only Net Cafe in Gimmelwald (for Hostel guests only!); at least that was the situation last fall. Esther's is just across the lane and also close to the station. A fairly substantial renovation / expansion was completed to Esther's building last year (beautiful Swiss architecture!). Hopefully the rabbits are still in the pen at the front of the building? I checked the situation with the Pensione last week, and AFAIK it is still closed. That was the only restaurant in Gimmelwald. I'm not sure if Esther's offers dinners, but at least breakfast should be provided. Murren is only a short distance and there's a large Co-Op store there if you need to buy groceries or visit a restaurant.

>Rothenburg: I spotted this Post after I had replied to your other Post regarding suggestions for places to stay in Rothenburg ODT. I stayed at the Goldene Rose and had a great stay there. The room was very comfortable and the staff were great. In my case, the room had a sink with a bathroom down the hall, but that wasn't a problem as far as I was concerned. I spoke with some of the other guests, and I believe some of the rooms have complete "facilities". You'll have to decide whether you want to pay for these? While you can walk to the Hotel from the station, I chose to take a Taxi as my pack was about 60 lbs. and I'm a bit "older" (note to self -- pack LIGHT next time!).

> Munich: I stayed in a Hotel in Munich (conveniently only a short distance from Theresienwiese where the Octoberfest is held, although I was there about a week before the celebration last fall). If you want the name, post another note.

Hope this will be some help with at least some of the cities you'll be visiting.

Happy travels!!!

[sheisaeval]

eagle said:

sheisaeval, I can offer a few suggestions for lodgings in some of the cities you'll be travelling to. Just to clarify the information in your Post - you re looking at both B&B's and Hostels?

> Rome: The Beehive is VERY popular, but is often booked up. I can recommend Alessandro Palace, as I've stayed there. It's only about a seven minute walk from Termini, so is in a very convenient location.

> Florence: have a look at www.hotelaldobrandini.it/enindex.htm to see if it might fit your preferences. Easy walking distance to SMN station (although it helps to have a map to easily locate the Hotel -- took me a few minutes).

>Cinque Terre: I'm not familiar with Ostello Tramonti? The "official" C.T. Hostel is www.ostello5terre.com/ in Manarola. I've stayed in Mar-Mar rooms but not the Dorms. The room was very comfortable, so I'm assuming the same standards would apply to the Dorms?

>Gimmelwald: Either of the choices you listed would be great. The Mountain Hostel is somewhat "compact" but well run and virtually right next to the Cable Car station. Good facilities including a "honeymoon loft" from what I recall, a mini-grocery store and the only Net Cafe in Gimmelwald (for Hostel guests only!); at least that was the situation last fall. Esther's is just across the lane and also close to the station. A fairly substantial renovation / expansion was completed to Esther's building last year (beautiful Swiss architecture!). Hopefully the rabbits are still in the pen at the front of the building? I checked the situation with the Pensione last week, and AFAIK it is still closed. That was the only restaurant in Gimmelwald. I'm not sure if Esther's offers dinners, but at least breakfast should be provided. Murren is only a short distance and there's a large Co-Op store there if you need to buy groceries or visit a restaurant.

>Rothenburg: I spotted this Post after I had replied to your other Post regarding suggestions for places to stay in Rothenburg ODT. I stayed at the Goldene Rose and had a great stay there. The room was very comfortable and the staff were great. In my case, the room had a sink with a bathroom down the hall, but that wasn't a problem as far as I was concerned. I spoke with some of the other guests, and I believe some of the rooms have complete "facilities". You'll have to decide whether you want to pay for these? While you can walk to the Hotel from the station, I chose to take a Taxi as my pack was about 60 lbs. and I'm a bit "older" (note to self -- pack LIGHT next time!).

> Munich: I stayed in a Hotel in Munich (conveniently only a short distance from Theresienwiese where the Octoberfest is held, although I was there about a week before the celebration last fall). If you want the name, post another note.

Hope this will be some help with at least some of the cities you'll be visiting.

Happy travels!!!

Thanks!
Yeah, I'm doing both hostels and b&bs when afforadable, traveling solo and sometimes it's nice to have your own room, and a lot of the b&bs cost less than hotels in some places, and look pretty nice/comfortable.

[yeahfoy]

sheisaeval:

I am staying at Palmer's Lodge next week, so I can let you know about that one.

When are you going?

[SantaKlaus]

London:
I stayed at Palmers Lodge last year - it´s really good. It´s a little bit quiet (they have a bar but have to close it early) and you need a 2-zone travel pass as it´s not in the central zone (they sell daypasses for 4.90 Pounds at the reception). That aside, it´s a very nice hostel - good clean rooms, good service, a wonderful Victorian building, nice neighborhood.

Rome:
I stayed at Alessandro Palace - very decent hostel. I loved their free pizza in the bar, but you have to be very quick to make a grab!

Florence:
I know Archi Rossi, but last time I was there was 1995. It was very good back then.

Berlin:
Circus is indeed excellent, but worth a mention is also Jetpak, that one has just been voted "best hostel worldwide" on Hostelworld. It´s pretty small though and located in Berlin´s western part.

Munich & Vienna
I´ll admit that I work for Wombats´s so take it with a grain of salt when I recommend our venue above Euro Youth Hotel - although they are doing their jobs nearly as good as we do!
In Vienna, "The Lounge" is much closer to the underground station, but then "The Base" has a nice patio above the bar which I quite like a lot! Rooms and prices are the same.
There´s still lots of space during summer in all our hostels, but we get flooded with bookings already. Please book pretty soon.

[Danielle]

I stayed at the Astor when I was in London 2 years ago and had a generally positive experience. I was staying w/ a friend, so we sprung for a double private room. I can't vouch for the dorm facilities, but the room we were in was pretty nice and I'm sure the other rooms were similar. It even had a hot water heater for soup and tea. The best thing about it was the location - literally right around the corner from the British Museum, near several tube stops, walking distance to Leicester Square and Trafalgar Squares, and a Tesco about a 2 minute walk.

Also, in Paris just this past January we stayed at the Atel Little Hotel, which was a great experience. It's a 2 star hotel in the 10th Arrondissement (very residential area, near the Gare du Nord). I'm not sure what your budget is, but if you're staying with people, it worked out to around the same as a hostel (about 30 euros a night?). Nice private bathroom, TV, etc, and close to the metro and several bakeries. We reserved it through STA travel, but I'm sure you'll be able to find it if you just google "Atel Little Hotel Paris."

[me]

the places on your list where i've stayed:

Venice - Santa Fosca. wacky reservation system caused problems for me. but, it's venice after all.

Florence - Archi Rossi. they had NO reservations system! aside from the bidet's inexplicable placement in the dorm room, a pretty good place. be sure to get there early to beat others to a bed.

Salzburg - YOHO. a little kitschy, yet was never there for the nightly SOM showing. don't really have strong memories, yet fondly remember my time there.

edit: now i remember more. met a Brazilian woman at YOHO with whom i explored Salzburg & also Innsbruck. actuallly, i still exchange emails with her sometimes. so, i have a good association with YOHO.