Hola! This is an awesome website and message board!

My friend and I are going to Madrid and Barcelona over Christmas and New Years. She is a working professional and has more money to spend than me; I am a student.

I would like to stay at one of the great but inexpensive hostels mentioned on this website. She is concerned that our belongings may be stolen and wants to stay at a hotel. She thinks that hotels are more secure/safer.

Does anyone have any comments and/or facts regarding the distinctions between a "hotel" and a "hostel"? (Hostels on this website mention private rooms, two beds, and private bathroom).

Please advise. Muchas gracias!

I've travelled thoroughly throughout Europe and the Middle East, and found that Hostels are more fun, better placed and cheaper than hotels. Use your common sense at the Hostel, ie lock your private room. Never leave your passport or cash at your hostel- always carry it on you in a money belt. Beware of gypsies & Young boys and girls in the city. They're usually professional thieves. Don't carry a hanging pocketbook. Use a daypack. Be smart. The body language is completely different outside of the USA which makes it harder to read. Beware of men who say "NO Problem" Write addresses down on paper so you can easily show it to taxi drivers or locals. Use the language, it will get you better access to the city's offerings. Hope this helps.

While one can NEVER be certain, I'd say that as long as you lock your hostel (called "hostal" in Spain/Spanish) door, just as you would do in a hotel (called, um, "hotel" in Spain/Spanish), that you can feel confident your things will be secure.

A youth-hostel (called "albergue juvenile" in Spain/Spanish) is another matter though, but I don't think you're asking about these. Still, it's good to mention - be sure to lock all your things in the available locker and don't put your valuables under your pillow while you sleep. In the youth-hostels in Italy, I always wore my "neck bag" to bed, under my shirt, and I always had my credit cards, cash, and password next to my body and not accessible to "hands-in-the-dark" as I slept.

vivaciousgirl, are you june17 on The Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree message board? If so, I answered your question HERE regarding the distinction between "hostel" and "hotel" but I'll copy it for you below:
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hotels, hostels, & youth-hostels in Spain
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june17, a hotel is as we all know a hotel to be. But a lot of people confuse what is a hostel when referring to Spain because the rules are different here (and in other Spanish-speaking countries) than in English-speaking countries. Here's the long explanation.. Hope you have a cup of coffee and a danish for this explanation.. hehehe.. :
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Confused about the word "HOSTEL"? Do you think a hostel is a YOUTH-HOSTEL? You would be right.... in the English-speaking world. But Spain speaks Spanish (big surprise!) and therefore the rules are a little different.

The English word "hostel" = the Spanish word "hostal"
The plural word "hostels" = the plural word "hostales"
The English term "youth-hostel" = the Spanish term "albergue juvenil"
The plural term "youth-hostels" = the plural term "albergues juveniles"

We often see the curiously plural, English-ized word "Hostals" in English sentences when talking about Spain's family owned and operated budget establishments (similar to pensiones in Spain & Italy) but this is incorrect. One will not find the word "Hostals" in any dictionary, English OR Spanish, because it does not exist.

Plural of the Spanish word "Hostal" is "Hostales". We English speakers have abbreviated the phrase "youth-hostel" to mean "hostel" and it is this abbreviation that confuses travelers to Spain and Latin America.

If you ask a Spaniard, in English, whose English language skills are basic, "Where is the nearest hostel?" that Spaniard will most certainly send you to a "hostal". But if you ask the same Spaniard "Where is the nearest youth-hostel?" the Spaniard will distinguish the sentence with the word "YOUTH" and send you to an actual youth-hostel, or "albergue juvenil" in Spanish.

Furthermore, the Secretaría General de Turismo, María de Molina 50, 28006 Madrid, Spain writes in its Spain fact sheet a short description in English of the different kinds of lodging in Spain:

quote:
­­­­­­--
Accommodations
HOTELS & HOSTELS:
A variety of hotel-type accommodation is available including apartment-hotels, hotel-residencias and motels. The term residencia denotes an establishment where dining-room facilities are not provided, although there must be provisions for the serving of breakfast and a cafeteria. Detailed information is available from Federación Española de Hoteles, Orense 32, 28020 Madrid. Tel: (1) 556 7112. Fax: (1) 556 7361; or ZONTUR, Gremio Toneleros 24, Polígono San Castelló, 07009 Palma de Mallorca. Tel: (71) 430 483. Fax: (71) 759 155. Grading: Most accommodation in Spain is provided in hotels, classified from 1 to 5 stars (the few exceptions have a Grande De Luxe category); or hostels or pensiones , classified from 1 to 3 stars.
­­­­­­--

In the last line, they are equating hostels with pensiones (even if the only difference is the number of rooms) and giving them both a range of 1-3 stars. Clearly, youth-hostels do not fall under the star-rating system. And if the General Secretary of Tourism of Spain translates the Spanish word "hostales" to the English word "hostels", that's good enough for me.

What is a hostel in Spain?

In Spain, hostels are not youth-hostels. (remember, "hostels" are called "hostales" in Spanish) Instead, hostels are most often family owned and operated budget hotels. Sometimes hostels are called "pensions" by English speaking persons but this would be incorrect. Spain has both hostels & pensions and while they are extremely similar in style, purpose, and operation, the only difference may be the city's ordinance on what constitutes a hostel or pensión, merely by its number of rooms it has in operation.

Hostels in Spain are generally simple, very basic lodgings. Hostel rooms are private, typically for 1-5 persons and usually only having 1 or 2 beds. Rooms are very sparsely decorated if at all, having no more than a bedside table, maybe a small desk and chair, and an a stand-alone closet. Sometimes they have televisions, air conditioning, balconies, and bathrooms. Many times you'll find hostels which have a down-the-hall shared bathroom & shower. Sometimes the room will ONLY have a wash basin with the actual bathroom & shower down-the-hall and shared by other guests. MANY hostel owners are renovating their rooms to include a (VERY!) small complete bathroom with shower, toilet, & washbasin because more and more people require them. You'll likely get and keep your own key to your room's door and will return it at the end of your stay. Hostels are almost always housed in the upper floors, rarely on the ground floor, and only sometimes will the building have an elevator. Rarely do hostels accept credit cards as payment, mainly because of the high fees imposed on the hostel owners for taking them - plus the equipment is costly.

What is a youth-hostel in Spain?

Youth-hostels (again, called "albergues juveniles" in Spanish) are generally as you would find them around the world; bunk beds, rentable towels and sheets, large community rooms where up to 15 persons sleep. The restrooms are usually "community" as well. Lockers are often provided, but locks are not so bring your own. Youth-hostels are typically the cheapest form of lodging anywhere, except for camping that is, and an excellent way of meeting fellow, mainly youthful travelers.

So that's it! Hostels, Hostales, Youth-Hostels, Albergues Juveniles. They all mean inexpensive lodging in Spain, allowing you to spend your savings on things that REALLY matter like Spain's wonderful food, transportation, and other fun stuff.
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Saludos, MadridMan

Thank you Madridman for the extremely detailed definition and difference between a hotel and hostel.

But what I was really getting at was regarding the security and safety from theft in a hostal. My friend who will be travelling with me, had a cousin who said that hostals were unsafe - that there is a higher chance of being robbed.

Are hotels more secure than hostals?

Thanks.

vivaciousgirl, see what I just added to my posting above, regarding the security of rooms. And also remember, your word "hostals" doesn't exist in any language. A "hostal" in English is a "hostel". Plural of the Spanish word "hostal" is "hostales". It's an often-made mistake by us English speakers and how we tend to English-ize foreign words.

But to your question, "Are hotels safer than hostels?" That's a tough one. Well, generally, the doors are thicker in hotels and the locks are heavier. Many/most hostels tend to have thinner doors and regular house-like-keys. I've even had a few hostels which gave me a kind of skeleton key to my room and a regular keyhole that you can see through! I was surprised! But most have regular keys and locks. I think hotel buildings are a bit more secure just because they have a reception desk at the front door. To the contrary, hostels' reception desk is generally through an upstairs LOCKED door (to which you'll have a key) and most times at night there will not be anyone at the reception desk. SO, I guess the only people you might have to worry about in hostels might be the other occupants and/or the cleaning staff. If it's the family themselves who clean the rooms, I think you would have less to worry about because FIRST, they're most often VERY honest people, and SECOND, because they don't want to risk a bad reputation by being being "black marked" as an place where something was stolen. Generally, hotels and hostels BOTH leave the door open as they're cleaning and they may have to periodically leave the room, go down the hall, to get more towels or sheets.

Saludos, MadridMan

[Originally posted by Janet Lees on 11-11-2002]

How common is hotel theft in Spain. We intend to carry our passports, cash and possibly camera with us at all times. Are there any other things that might be stolen from hotels? Our clothes are ordinary, we won't be taking real jewellery. What should we watch out for?

Janet

[Originally posted by Anchovy Front on 11-11-2002]

No doubt MM will move this topic to Safety and Security Issues, where in the archives there is a thread about my experiences with hotel security.

Have a browse through it, http://www.madridman.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=000031 and then let me say that after all that happened, I have stayed in many hotels throughout Spain since then and the first thing I do is rent a safe in the room .

I have no worries about not taking my valuables with me when I go out, providing they are locked away, even though I should be neurotic about leaving stuff in a safe after my experience But it should tell you that you shouldn't worry about it as I am sure it was an isolated incident.

I usually translate "hostal" as "small, mom-and-pop hotel" (yes -- I know -- very heterosexist language) and "albergue" as "hostel." Those seem to be the closest equivalents, at least when translating into American English.

Shazz, why should one be beware of men who say "No Problem"? Isn't saying "no problem" a way of saying "you're welcome"? I am very curious because a Spanish guy once said "no problem" to me after I said "thanks", and now I am wondering if he was making fun of me or was thinking about picking my pockets!

When in Spain or most other countries, we never take all of our valuables and passport with us at all times. We usually just take a US drivers license and a copy of our passport. I think you are much more likely to lose a passport while you are carrying it with you than if you leave it in your hostal or hotel. It seems most anecdotal "crime in Spain" reports we hear on this site and others are problems that happen in the street and not anything being lost from a hostal or hotel room (excepting Anchovy Front's incident). Of course I haven't experienced any crime in Spain either way and I've spent a long time there.

Some hostals have made me feel safer than others though. Sometimes they like you to hang your room key on a central rack and I don't like that idea.