BED BUGS!! Not only is this an uncomfortable place to stay, the conditions of the hostel are so unsanitary. I woke up with over a dozen bed bug bites all over my body and face, which cause a huge allergic reaction and swelling. When I woke up to this nightmare, I found bed bugs crawling through my sheets. I was supposed to stay here 3 nights, but refused to stay another night after my experience, so I checked out 2 nights early. I asked for a refund and the manager’s number, but the receptionist refused to give me his manager’s number and told me they are unable to refund me themselves (even though my card was already charged). I understood that the hostel was non refundable, but those terms should change if the hostel conditions cause a medical allergic reaction. It seems that they want to take advantage of their costumers’ wallets ($40 extra charge for a late check in, $5 to hold luggage, completely non refundable bookings).. never again. On top of that, there is no kitchen, the AC in many rooms doesn’t work, only 2 very small showers (one for men and one for women). The only good things about this place is the proximity to the train station, the lovely friends I made in my room whole helped me with my allergic reactions, and the very kind female receptionist. But, as a place to stay, I would stay away and pay a little extra for a hostel with better conditions.

Absolute horrendous hotel. It is branded as a hotel but it is worse than a hostel. I stayed for 2 nights and had the worse experience. Air conditioning was not working with only a small window in the room. Lots of mosquitos at night. Toilet’s flush was not working and was often greeted with an awful sight. Room floors are sticky. Bedsheets have dirt stains on them - they are not washed properly. Toilets stink as well. Receptionist had poor customer service. When I arrived at the “hotel” , he insisted that I tell him the date I make the booking for the hotel. I made the booking many months back, how would I remember the date I made my booking! To sum it up, I paid over 100+ € for 2 nights. My advice, choose a better hotel (even if it’s more expensive) or further as this “hotel” is not even worth 10€ per night

This hostel has a lot of bad reviews but to be honest it's actually pretty good! It's spotless and the man at the desk is very kind and helpful despite the lack of English we got the idea of what was being said. Of course it has it's faults one of the sockets hanging out the wall, the shower head was broken and there were ants in my blanket most likely due to air drying it outside but i didn't mind I have that problem sometimes myself at home but if I was to complain they for sure would have been happy to help. There isn't anywhere to keep your luggage safe so you either take the chance or pay for it to be locked up. The WiFi is bad in the rooms but perfect up the front. There is only 3 toilets for the whole place but they were very clean and I think I must have got lucky because they weren't busy at all. The air conditioning works well, It's in a brilliant location! It's nothing special but I would stay here again. If I was to change one thing it would be lockers! They need lockers. And there's no kitchen or anything such as fridges. The pictures are based on previous reviews about hair in beds and plugs dust under bed etc

The place is ok if you don't want to spend a lot of money, but don't expect anything good. There's only three toilets for the entire hotel, and every room has one bathroom, but our bathroom was out of order. The rooms are shared, so it's possible that you share room with people you don't know. The rooms are not very clean, and there are a lot of spiders and bugs all around. Our bed sheets had stains of blood... It's a third floor without lift. The only good point about this hotel is that it's close to Santa Maria Novella

Update: on my second day I found bedbugs....literally just crawling around on the mattress. Horrifying. Original: I think management and facilities have improved since the last reviews -- during my stay in January 2019, the front desk was very friendly, the bathrooms were clean and stocked with toilet paper and soap, the beds are made well and have clean sheets, the Wi-Fi works in all the rooms, and the list to the 3rd floor is working. The shower is indeed cold water yes, but that is true for many other budget accommodations. There is no longer a common area outside or extra seating. The location is very good -- minutes away from SMN and the rest of the Centro Storico sights.

The best: the location. Near SMN station and the local market. It is in the last floor and the building is a bit old. In general, it was clean. The heating was working properly the whole night. The bathroom inside didn't have a toilet, only a shower with hot water available and a sink. Common bathrooms are outside, one mix, one for men and one for women. Receptionist is not always there.

There are many hostels in this complex of buildings. This one is the cheapest. The location is really good but there are no lockers and the staff just barges into your room whenever they want. You wake up in the morning and you want to go sightseeing, you are stopped at the door by the reception and asked for your name. You are constantly checked whether you are transpassing or not, the man is constantly watching everyone. They make no effort to speak with you. Not only in this one, staff in all building is like that. They seem as if they are forced to work. I am travelling around Italy and the hotel staff are the rudest Italians I have ever seen. Just sad. Other reviews have been very harsh though. Rooms, bed and bathroom are really clean. For 1 night I would definitely recommend it but never for the 2nd night. Add +20€ to your budget and stay in another hostel.

The place is crawling with BED BUGS! My entire body is covered in over 100 huge, red, swollen bites. The bites cover my hands, neck, face, shoulders, back, waist, feet, calves and have made travelling an awful experience. My body itches and burns 24 hours a day, and despite all this, I received no compensation! Do not stay here. Spend an extra few dollars elsewhere so you don’t ruin your trip.

Although the people working here were friendly, they did not speak any English and had to resort to Google Translate to talk to me. The rooms itself are completely bare, there is no storage whatsoever, only the beds. I had booked a bed in a four beds room for women, but when I arrived there were five beds and one morning I woke up to a man sleeping in one of the beds. Because the staff doesn't speak English, I couldn't ask why he was in the womens' room. The beds are also very uncomfortable and unsteady. Especially the bunk beds are awful because you can feel every move of the other person. The wifi is also pretty bad: it disconnects regularly. It's also impossible to sleep in, as the door doesn't absorb any sound and you can hear every person in the hallway and at the reception. The rooms do come with a sink and a shower, but there are no towels. The toilets are separate and there are only three of them for the entire hostel. However, Hotel Paola is very cheap and really close to both the train station and the historic city centre. Most attractions can be reached by foot within a couple minutes.

I made a reservation through Booking.com and mistakenly canceled it. However, they neither refunded nor reversed the cancellation. My 180 euros have simply disappeared. Never make a booking here. They lack compassion.

It was not great, the air conditioning was working which was nice but it was leaking water! I met the best people tho!

Bad service:(( 1. I stayed for four days and the wifi doesn't work at all. 2. You need to pay to leave your luggage. 3. The air conditioner is broken. 4. There's a bug on my bed. 5. There's no locker in the room to keep your things. The price doesn't match the quality. I don't recommend.

I was a little worried when I booked it and I looked at the reviews, but when I first got there I was really surprised by how clean it is and how polite the staff is as well! There is an elevator that can take you to the 3rd floor (I had read that there wasn't one), there were no ants or bed bugs, my bedsheets had a very nice and clean scent, no sockets were hanging out of the wall and no shower head was broken. There was a bathroom in my room and it was very clean! Only disadvantages were that the bathroom door didn't lock and there were no towels provided, but I didn't mind because I had brought my own. It was also really fun interacting with my roommates and the location couldn't be any better. I'd stay there again.

After reading reviews for this place, my friend and i were terrified to stay at this place but once there it wasn't as bad as we thought. The rooms arent the cleanest and there are only two shower/toilet rooms (one for each gender) and one mixed toilet, for the whole hostel. It was surprisingly bearable because it is located very central in florence and you wont be spending that much time there. It was very exhausting to walk up three flights of stairs without a lift after a whole day out in the city.

NOTES : if you can’t make your check-in before 22:00, and you don’t want to pay more 40€ for late check-in (which you have to wait the confirm of the hotel, because they may refuse), so you decide to come the next day. Then I suggest you’d better skip this one and find another one, because according to this hotel’s word’s police, they will cancel your whole reservation as you don’t show up the first day, and you won’t be informed until get there the second day, moreover they won’t give you any of your money back. Be carful and nice trips!

We we're late on the first day because our train was late (out of our control) and even though we warned them of this they said they wouldn't have anyone there to give us the key. So we had to stay the first night in another place. When we got there the next day they had already cancelled our entire reservation. And they wouldn't give us our money back. Amd that's a good because that place looked like a dump and the bathrooms were shared by everyone and disgusting.

I stayed here for three nights and had the chance to observe the cleaning process every morning, it is pretty well taken care of I can assure you that. The bunk wasn't really comfortable but okay for a hostel. There are private showers in the rooms but the bathroom is outside. They give you a key for the room but as you'll share it with other people they can't assure the safety of your stuff. And it is located in the center so you'll be staying very close to the museums, cathedrals and the Arno River.

It may be preferred because it is cheap and close to touristic buildings, but do not leave your valuables in the room. Because the Indian cleaner was caught stealing money from a guest's wallet, but the old man at the reception didn't care. Additionally, beds and linens are not cleaned after a guest checks out.

Godfather Mareno is a friendly and thoughtful man that gives Hotel Paola its soul. I recommend anyone staying here, especially young solo travelers, as sharing a room with strangers creates a bond and makes up for a perfect environment to go on an adventure.

A place that employs a thieving cleaner who doesn't have a work permit. Stay away. Bad people who don't care about anything but money. Stay away. Their cleaner tried to steal my money and no one cared.

Me and friend stayed there for 3 days. The first night we got bite by bedbugs. There were a huge number of bedbugs. I wrote a message stating this to the hotel at night itself. Next day morning, the owner came with a staff and he said us bedbugs came from our bags because nobody else said any complaints before. Then we pointed out the walls which have blood stains over a continuous period. And also said him.. If its only 1/2 bedbugs we can think like that, but this is something in its extreme level. They are a lot.. May be more than 100 we killed that night ( small - big size). Suddenly the owner changed the topic like it might came from the French guests he had before, just before us. Anyway we said we can't stay so they gave another room. But later, we went through the reviews and realise that there were already a lot of bedbugs. So, yhe owner amd staff already knew about this and do nothing about this. Even try to put the blame on us. Very disappointed with their behavior and honestly this was the first time I am seeing a bed bug. I travelled many places and stayed in many hostels, but never had a worst experience like this. We were paying them amd still they are doing nothing for a clean and proper facility for their guests ( knowing there are bedbugs). I will not prefer this place to anyone, anymore. The only thing good about this place is its location.