Hello Tara! Welcome to the group! I have received the following emails from people who have stayed at
Hostal Bianco :
1)
Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 17:27:34 EDT
From: XXXXXX@aol.com
Hi,
first let me say that we used your web page to plan our 2 weeks in Spain this past Jan. and it was VERY helpful. But just thought you might like to know that hostal Bianco did not honor our reservation, had no knowledge of it, told us they had no room and really looks like a DUMP. NOT BLAMING YOU. Just thought you might like to take them off your list. However, Atocha is a
great street and we stayed at a hostal about 3 doors down from Bianco and had no problem. Parking was great the room was immaculate and the owner pleasant. So all went well.
Thanks for your help!
2)
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 12:48:00 +0100
<XXXXXXXX@westminster.gov.uk>
Thanks again for the info on your website - Madrid was better than I could have possibly imagined, but the reason I am emailing you is to provide a warning to all future visitors regarding the hostal for which I made a reservation, the Hostal Bianco (calle de Atocha, 81)
I made a reservation using their website reservation facility, but just to make sure I emailed them to ask if the reservation had been made, and would it be a problem if I arrived around midnight/1am. They replied
that the reservation had been made and as they were a 24 hour hostal my time of arrival woul be no problem.
When I arrived at 1am on the morning of 7th April, printed copy of my email clasped in my excited-to-be-back-in-Spain hand, they told me that there was no room. When I showed them the email, and asked if I was at
the right address, they told me that I was in the right place, but they were full, and they did not know who ran the website or who made the reservation, because they certainly had no knowledge of it. And with that we were thrown out on to the street.
I realise that this sounds like an enormous whinge, and arriving in a new city at an unearthly hour with no accommodation can be an invigorating experience, but I've got to the age where I try to avoid such excitement by booking ahead! Having no accommodation is annoying enough; no accommodation plus v.tired girlfriend plus no idea where you
are going to stay or even spend the next few hours until sunrise is quite another, so please save any other visitors this hassle and let them know that the Hostal Bianco is entirely unreliable (and, I might add, a total dump).
Apart from that Madrid was great, but if it hadn't been for the Hostal Aguilar (calle de San Jeronimo, I think) and the kind old man who let us in, the whole Bianco experience would have put an enormous downer on the whole trip.
Keep up the good work,
XXXX, South London.
********************************
That's all I have, Tara. So, of the above two, NEITHER had actually spent a night there.
I think, while still busy, Calle de Atocha will be MUCH MUCH quieter than the Gran Vía where you stayed last time. As for safety, it's hard to say, but *I* would say that Calle de Atocha area would be a bit safer, but at the same time, it's more secluded....in a manner of speaking.
Have a great time in Madrid and Spain!!
Saludos, MadridMan
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