I'm off to Madrid in April with my girlfriend. I have seen a number of hostels recommended on the message board - notably Hostal-Residencia TIJCAL , Hotel Plaza Mayor , and Hostal Persal . However, as I do not have a credit card, only a switch debit one, I am worried that I won't be able to secure a reservation and may miss out. Does anyone know if these hostel will take a reservation without a credit card and if so how true to their word will they be?

Also I do not speak any Spanish. If I email the hostels will this be a problem or do they speak English?

Many thanks.

[ 01-17-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

I have stayed at the Persal and some staff there speak excellent English.There may be a slight delay in answering as the non-english speaking staff will leave it for the others to reply.All Hostals want a credit card no. as some sort of guarantee youll turn up.You can do one of three things.Explain you dont have a credit card and see if theyll trust you.Dont book anywhere and choose somewhere when you land in Madrid-theres 100s to choose from in the main areas.The third option(and Im prepared for a bit of fall out on this)is to make up a cc number and give them that.As youre paying cash when you get there,there is no need for them to ever attempt to use it for a transaction.Underhand? yes a bit,but as someone who has fallen foul of cc fraud in the past,understandable.Ive had to use all three methods on previos trips and would say that whatever you do,youll get a bed for the night(s)

Most hotels in Spain ask for a credit card to guarantee the room anymore, but if you say you don´t have one, most are willing to give you the room on a 2pm or even 6pm hold, that is, they´ll tell you to call them if you are not going to arrive by that hold time, and once the deadline has passed, they´ll sell the room to whomever asks for it. I suppose this is more so in Hostales, since they get lots of people every day that show up off the street, without a reservation.
If that doesn´t work, just give them your debit card number. Most hostal employees won´t know the difference and they won´t try it unless you are a no show.