Generator Venice: The Former Ostello Venezia on the Giudecca

Venice is not a hostel city. It has no real nightlife, it empties out after dinner, and most of its beds sit in hotels priced for people who never check the bill. Backpackers still come, though, and the best-known budget bed in town is on the Giudecca, in the old granary at Fondamenta Zitelle 86 that used to be Ostello Venezia.

Today that building is Generator Venice, a private hostel run by the Generator chain. It is no longer part of Hostelling International, and it is no longer the only hostel in the city: Venice has several hostels open all year now, in the historic center and over on the mainland in Mestre. What it still has is the view.

Why stay on the Giudecca

Most visitors never get more than a ten-minute walk from St. Mark’s Square. The Giudecca sits across a wide canal from it, so from the hostel’s front door you look straight back at the domes of the Basilica, the Campanile and the Doge’s Palace. You can’t get that view while you’re standing in the square, and it is worth crossing the water for even if you sleep somewhere else.

The trade-off is that every trip into central Venice starts with a boat ride. The Zitelle vaporetto stop is a few steps from the door, and the crossing to San Zaccaria, next to St. Mark’s, is short. That means a vaporetto pass is close to compulsory. A single ride costs about 9.50 euros in 2026, and passes run about 25 euros for 24 hours, 35 for 48 and 45 for 72 (check ACTV before you buy). If you’re staying three nights, buy the 72-hour pass and stop thinking about it. Our Venice transportation guide explains the tickets, and there’s a separate guide to getting in from Marco Polo airport.

What the building is like

The hostel fills three floors of the old granary. When it was Ostello Venezia, two floors were women-only and one was men-only, with no mixed dorms and no private rooms. Generator changed that: it now has mixed dorms, female-only dorms and private rooms, so couples and small groups can book a room together.

When I toured it, the top floor was the one to ask for. It’s a little smaller because of the roofline, but every room up there has exposed wooden beams. The other trick still applies: ask for a bed on the water side. From some of the top bunks you wake up looking at St. Mark’s.

The ground floor had two wheelchair-accessible rooms off the common area, sharing an accessible bathroom, one with two single beds and one with a single and a set of bunks for someone traveling with companions. OpenStreetMap still lists the building as wheelchair accessible, but confirm the current room setup with the hostel before you book.

Left: the accessible room with bunks; center and right: the top floor with its exposed beams (photos from the Ostello Venezia years):

Back then the common room by reception doubled as dining hall, computer corner and TV lounge, a little cafeteria-like but comfortable, and there were lockers both in the dorms and downstairs for people who had checked out but weren’t leaving Venice until the evening. Generator has refitted the place in its own style since then, so treat the photos on this page as a record of the building rather than a picture of today’s rooms, and look at the hostel’s own site for current photos, facilities and prices.

Before you book

• No HI card needed. Ostello Venezia was Venice’s Hostelling International hostel, part of Italy’s AIG network. AIG went into bankruptcy proceedings in 2019 and its hostels were sold or closed, so an HI membership gets you nothing here.
• Budget for the city tax. Venice charges every overnight guest a per-person, per-night tourist tax, hostels included, for up to five nights. It’s paid at the hostel and is rarely in the online price. Children under 10 are exempt.
• You skip the access fee. On set peak days between April and July, day-trippers pay 5 to 10 euros to enter the historic center. Overnight guests don’t pay it, but you still register for a free QR code at cda.ve.it.
• Bring your passport. By law the hostel registers every guest’s ID with the police. Staff copy or scan it and hand it straight back.
• Compare the other options. If a bed with a view matters less than an early train out, a hostel in Mestre near the station saves money and time. Our roundup of hostels in Venice is the place to start.

I found Ostello Venezia clean, basic, well run and friendly, and I’d still send a budget traveler to this address for the view alone. Who can get over waking up to San Marco across the water?

Address: Fondamenta Zitelle 86, Giudecca, 30133 Venice
Closest vaporetto stop: Zitelle
Rooms: mixed dorms, female-only dorms and private rooms
Website: Generator Venice