Madrid - Hostal help!

Hello,

I have looked up hostals to stay at in Madrid on hostels.com and no matter what dates I search in late March and all of April 2006 it only comes up with 6 or 7 choices available.

3 are dorm room hostels we don't want. One is gay. And Hostal Playa and Hostal Madrid have too many bad reviews to want to chance it.

Do many not come up as available just because it's too far in the future?

Anyone have any other websites to check or have personal recommendations of good private hostals near central Madrid? Maybe websites direct to the hostals instead of using hostels.com.

We're trying to avoid Semana Santa and the other April festival I can't remember. We need 5 or 6 nights in Madrid.

Thanks,
Mike

Hi there!

That's probably right. I know a lot of the hostels (called "hostales" in Spanish - "hostals" is a Catalán word and otherwise doesn't exist in Spanish or English - these are budget hotels and shouldn't be confused with YOUTH hostels) won't accept reservations more than 3-months in advance. Probably better to wait 2-4 months beforehand and try again and you'll likely have better luck.

Errr... How about THIS one? You'll find LOTS of reviews about most of the hostels and hotels in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, San Sebastián, Santiago de Compostela, and.... errr... MORE! Just type the name of the establishment PLUS the city name into the search function for this forum category and you'll likely find these reviews.

Hmmm.. Let me think... ummm... (heheehe... ) how about MadridMan's Madrid Hostels page @ http://www.MadridMan.com/madridhostels.html ?! There, you'll find a link to EVERY hostel in Madrid which has a website (I think there are nearly 150 by now).

I always recommend booking DIRECTLY with the establishment itself. Through them, you'll know for sure exactly how many rooms they have available, you'll pay no extra fees, and no cancellation charges (unless you don't show up or don't cancel within 24-hours in most cases).

Good luck! Saludos, MadridMan

Hostal Madrid has bad reviews? Not by me it didn't .

I just entered Hostal Madrid just now, and I didn't see any bad reviews. Mind you I stayed in on of their apartments, but I visited someone staying in the Hostal, and they didn't complain.

Thanks for the info MadridMan!

Gazpacho - Sorry, I should have been clearer. A few people on tripadvisor.com didn't like Hostal Madrid. Said it was falling apart. One was as recent as April 2005.

I'm just paranoid about booking a room that turns out to be a mess.

Thanks!
Mike