So where to start with M&J Hostel in Rome. Specially considering our check in weas never made, because when we arrived they took abou 15 minutes to tell us we didn's have a reservation after all. Apparently you have to confirm 24h prior to your arrival that you will in fact stay in the hostel. Well that's very good and understandable if it were made clear BEFORE we started backpacking around Italy, for the obvious reason that we didn't had internet access like we do at home. So the problem was this was not visible anywhere in our printed sheet, except for one small tiny tiny 4 ou 5 word line in the middle of 4 pages of completely useless information. No email was sent apart to warn us of that - other hostels did that - no email one or two days before the check in, no text message, nothing. So we arrived and guess what, total strangers in town and NO ROOM for us, but they were king enough to offer us a MIXED dorm, because they don'd even own separate dorms. We were very badly impressed, also because we came to know that the free internet access and breakfast were inexistent to the type of room we had originally booked - that was not explicit or visible anywhere in the site or in the 4 pages of useless information they emailed us at the booking stage, so you have to be smart enough to ask for that or just throw your best guess.

Altough we did not stay we were not positively impressed by the place, the staff or the surroundings - the staff was not nice or helpful at any way.

So we thanked god for the existence of booking spots at the italian stations where we found a lovely lady who helped us book a much nicer place near the vatican. We were left with the feeling that we were kind of lucky not to have stayed at M&J, and that sometimes bad things come for the best of reasons.

First of all, this hostel is in a great location right by Termini station. Although the Termini area gets a bad press it's no worse than similar locations in other major cities (think Kings Cross in London, the Gare du Nord in Paris, ect). We always felt safe, but you'd be advised not to wander the back streets a little south of the hostel late at night.

The booking process was extremely easy, we called on the Autostrada heading into Rome and had a room confirmed within a couple of minutes. It's very easy to find, as it's located on a major road that cuts across the top of Termini station. The building itself if well signed. We had a double private room for 80 euros a night (so we can't comment on the dorms) which is very good value for Central Rome.

The room itself was recently renovated to an acceptable standard and came equipped with a computer, safe, "art works" and a private bathroom. The hostel has the expected hostel services, cheap breakfasts, book exchange, internet access and luggage room.

Overall, a reasonable place to stay but we did have a few problems which we'll list here. Make up your own mind how important these are to you:

A) Check in was extremely slow as reception was staffed by one incompetant man, who complained of being tired without any visable reasons for being so. He took 25 minutes to check in one person ahead of us, as a queue slowly formed behind us.
B) As we were checking in, the person who arrived before us came back from the dorms to complain about the state of her room. We obviously can't comment on how justified her complaint was, however he dealt with it extremely badly and continually cited their no refund policy (which is concerning, check your room before paying).
C) The room was JUST clean, it wasn't dirty but clealy not much effort is put in to the job.
D) There are a concerning number of unfinished fixtures around the building, leaving the odd loose tile and flailing wire. Our shower tap was held on with blue tape.
E) On our arrival we had to ask for towels, which were fetched from a mystery location by a silent laccy, begrudgingly, despite being included in the room rate.
F) The air con didn't work, though it did merrily turn a little green light on when you pushed the button.
G) Be aware that the private rooms are behind the reception, yet the reception staff clearly think they're located on Mars judging by the level of noise they make and allow to go on late into the night. By one AM on the first night we decided to ask, sweetly, if they would keep it down a little. This was met with baffled incomprehension. When told that they were making a lot of noise they protested that they were just checking people in.
H) On our second morning, there was no hot water. We asked about this and were told that there should be. The receptionist then disappeared and reported back that the hot water boiler had mysteriously 'turned itself off'. He claimed no knowledge of how to work a boiler and called someone else (never named, or seen) who, it was claimed, knew how to work a boiler. We were directed to the communal showers on the second floor, where there was no hot water either. Eventually, hot water was found in the communal showers on the third floor. This was fine for me, however my partner, who lets be honest has much higher standards than I do, refused point blank to use these and opted instead for an ice cold shower.

Despite all these niggles, we loved our time in Rome and for 80 euros a night you could do so much worse.

Good luck!

This was by far the worst place we stayed in Europe. I am shocked this place is still in business. We stayed here due to false advertising and exhaustion. Extremely expensive place. It did feel like they were taking money and providing nothing. They didn't even seem like they knew what they were doing? No lift, stayed in a dorm room. Only one other person showed up. The bunk beds are terrifying, no ladder. There are spikes that point down on the bottom of the beds... so if the top bunk fell down, the bottom bunk would get a body full of metal prongs. My hair got caught on this several times and our sleeping bag got caught underneath it and tore. Very, very hot and miserable. Only one single yellow light in the entire room, made it look unbelievably sleezy. couldn't read with that light. My boyfriend ended up sleeping on the concrete balcony because he was sick and the heat amplified all the symptoms. Absolutely no wind comes through the windows.

The bathrooms were so appalling we tried not to use them. They looked like they had never been cleaned. Dirt all over the floor, urine colored goo in the sink, pubic hair all over the shower floor. Want to use the bathroom/shower in the morning? Forget it. The line is crazy long... as someone mentioned, 2 unisex shower/bathrooms for over 40 people... doesn't quite work.

Breakfast was disgusting and at a bar a few doors down. It was a mess of sugar coated junk.

The staff couldn't ever remember what they told you/etc. They said free internet, then he was like "no... no free internet" and we said "yes.. you said there was?" and then he said "oh yes, there is, I have to make you an account" and then the account kept a tally price in the corner as we used the internet. In the end we didn't have to pay for it or anything, or at least we didn't mention it and got the hell out of this disease-ridden place.

Don't believe a thing this hostel says about its services. They claimed they have airconditioning (they don't, unless you have a private room), free wifi (they give you one free hour a day, and only if you PAY the 'PREMIUM PRICE' for your room), common room (the TV doesn't work). There is also no lift. The showers are disgusting, and are unisex, with no room to put your clothes. Basically you have to get naked in front of everyone and get into your stall to shower. There are only two showers and two toilets for an entire floor of about 40 beds.

My dorm room was terrible. There was a ceiling fan (and we were already lucky, the others didn't have any fans at all) but no air-conditioning, and we had to keep the window open at night to get fresh air but it also meant that we couldn't sleep that well because it was so loud outside. Someone else staying there told me they put him in a 10 bed dorm even though he had booked a 4 bed dorm.

My advice is, DON'T STAY at this hostel if you want to stay in a dorm room. I think the only people who like this hostel are those who stay in the private rooms, which are much better. There are other places close to the station which are better.