Hostel Review: Papaya Female Hostel

Papaya Female Hostel is located a couple of blocks away from Termini Station. Is near Termini Station but it is not THAT near. You’ll have to spend 15 minutes walking. I almost got lost trying to find the hostel but having Pinoys all over the place, I wasn’t shy to ask for directions. 

I was quite hesitant at first to book the hostel because they do not have their own website to book the hostels. You have to book via hostelbookers and pay a 10% deposit fee upon booking. I wanted to book with the hostel directly. However, not a lot of hostels can meet my criteria, so I just trusted to book using hostelbookers. Good thing everything worked out pretty well. 

When I arrived in Rome past 3pm, there was no one in the reception when I arrived.  I had to go to the hotel across the street to look for a receptionist to show me around. 

At €27 a night, I got a pretty good deal. Similar to Florence, Rome also had this tourist ta, which is paid in cash upon arrival - €2/night of stay in Rome. They also do printing services – it cost me €0.40 to print out my Vatican Museum tickets.They give out free maps of the city.

The rooms were spacious and well-lit.

The beds were clean and comfy.

 They have huge lockers for your luggage.

Rolls and rolls of tissue paper in the hallway.

The bathroom was spacious and well-maintained. I did some laundry in here.

Their rate includes breakfast – but it isn’t much. Just a croissant and coffee. You need more if you will be walking for hours and hours around Rome.

They have a kitchen, you can cook heat some food in the microwave and store the leftovers in the fridge. 

What I love the most is their elevator.  

Very classic and chic.

The elevator is small and there is only one that services all the floors of the building. nevertheless, I did not have any trouble using it. 

I have a roommate who is a grandma backpacking around Europe – with white hair, fanny pack and her pill box. I thought it was gutsy of her to travel alone and stay in hostels. During my last night in Rome, I packed until 1:00am because I had to sort stuff which I will be shipping back to Manila and those that I will bring to Paris.

Grandma: So where are the other girls (3/6 girls haven’t come in yet)

Me: Probably still out enjoying the city

Roommate 1: There’s no curfew

Grandma: Well, where are they? We have to turn off the lights and we have to get some sleep.

Me: You can turn off the main light, I can use my own night light.

I had an early start the next day – woke up at around 6am, the sun wasn’t even up yet. I resumed to packing my stuff.

Grandma to me: You are so rude. You slept late last night and woke up so early this morning. That is very rude.  

Roommate who came in at 2:00am (hostile tone): Well, this is a HOSTEL. You pay cheap and share a room with other people. People do what they want to do as long as they follow the rules. There is no CURFEW.

Roommate 1: You do as you please. Everybody knows that.

Me (chiming in): You can go to a hotel if you cannot deal with the hostel rules.

That shut grandma up.

Staying in a hostel will try force you to deal with different types of personalities. I could be the one who is pissed with people coming in so late or annoyed with the noise with people packing ‘til the wee hours of the morning. But I get that it is a hostel. To combat the noise, you use earplugs/earphones. At night, you use the personal night light if everyone else is asleep. It also comes in handy if you bring an eyeshade so you don’t have to be distracted with the light of your neighbor. It is general knowledge that you will have to put out with the other people – there are the nice ones, and the annoying ones.

I wasn’t really pissed with the whole drama. I was very amused. I was having a nice time in hostels so far. Save for that drama, Papaya Female Hostel was one of the nicest hostels I've stayed during my entire Europe trip.