Venice isn't normally a late night town, so I didn't really mind that much. But I was in the lobby at 11:30 when they turned out the lights. There were still several people having a conversation, reading, etc. in the lobby. We were told by the guy at the desk to leave the lobby.
I asked the guy at the desk, "Can I make a phone call?”
"No, you shouldn't have waited this late to call."
"But it's only 5:30 pm back home."
"Call in the morning" I was told.
"But it'll be 3 am!"
"We're closing, go to bed." This would have been easier if we actually had access to the lights. They automatically go out at 11:30 pm in the rooms; we have no way to turn them off before then. Plus, there is cheesy pop music piped into the halls until midnight. So even after the lights go out, we still have to put up with the horrible music. If we did decide to stay up and talk to a roommate, you have to sit on the floor of your room.
Even worse, the ceilings are open, so when the girl in the next room was awake all night coughing, I was up all night. Plus, it was HOT. The first night I sunk into the mattress and had a horrible night's rest. So I traded out the mattress with the top bunk and it was much better. There are no locks on the doors so they give you lockers large enough to put your pack in. BUT usually they are in a different room than the one you're in. So last night, Jill and I switched the numbers on the locker to correspond with the beds beside them. Sometimes you have to make an executive decision even if it's not yours to make.
The hostel didn’t have toilet seats. They had a regular toilet, just didn’t have a seat. If I ever make it back to Venice, I will NEVER stay at this hostel again.
