I am trying to decide between 3 Madrid Hostals. What are your opinoins of these places in regards, to location, quality, safety? Any favorites I have not mentioned? Thanks!!
1) Hostal Martin
2) Hostal Chelo
3) Hostal Cervantes

Hi

I presume you have done a search on the message board? Loads of info on all of these. Probably too much, so sometimes it's easier to get the answers all in one spot isn't it?

1) Hostal Martin/Cervelo - a thumbs up from me for location/price/comfort etc etc. I have stayed here twice.

2) Hostal Celo - haven't stayed here, unfortuntatly, but there are lots of good comments from members of the board, and of course the oracle, Antonio, is the owner!

3) Hostal Cervantes - sorry I can't help you there, but again, there will be loads of info if you do a search.

Hmmmmm, haven't really been much help have I?

Jo

Jo,

I believe Hostal Cervantes is owned by the same family than Hostal Corbero . They're across the street from each other and are both very similar. I remember that because back in December JoeSambuca and IwalaniC stayed in them and were quite satisfied.

Saludos,

p

One of favorite all-time madrid hostas has to be the hostal luz c/fuentes 10 3er piso 915.42.07.59 Metro opera. With brand new room renovations, satelite tv and beautiful bathrooms, this place cant be beaten.

buen viaje

Chris

Hey, ChrisS, how're things up in Shoreview!?

Tara in South Mpls.

hostal macarena is my fav..its just a beautiful hostal. it should be a 3 star hotel its sooo nice! hallway music, elevator, balconies, 24hr desk, marble bathrooms, new beds, it goes on and on...
hostal macarena
cava san miguel,8
(34 91)365 9221

Hola Guapa!
You wax poetic about Hostal La Macarena in Madrid, (I had seen recommendations to it in older guidebooks) and I am wondering if any others reading this know about it? Apparently it used to be an old favorite of bullfighters. It sounds like it's dripping with history --but often that's an euphemism for threadbare and dusty. Dime, Guapetona, por favor: have you been there recently? Also, the link you include doesn't link. Does Macarena have a website?

Un millon de Gracias!!!

Juan

Hi Juan,

I know for a fact that Liz/Guapetona stayed there quite recently (last month) , and so was I just visiting some friends. I really can't help you with your question about the history, but my opinion is that the greatest thing about it is it's terrific location (quite hard to beat), the little balconies overlooking 'Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas', and the famous restaurant Casa Botín!!! Everything in the inside looks very new it must have been renovated recently. Minuses?, just that in order to fit a bathroom in every room, these(the bathrooms) are very small.

Definetely not dusty!

Saludos.

It's time I "threw in my hat" into this discussion since now I have firsthand knowledge of more hostels in Madrid.

Hostal Martín is in the same building as Hostal Cervelo and they work in tandem. In fact, the reception for both hostels is in the one-floor-lower Hostal Cervelo. Hostal Cervelo has apparently been totally renovated and really, especially in the salon, looks like a palace and in fact the building is protected under historical register guidelines. There's really some fancy woodwork, high ceilings, and beautiful architecture going on in the reception and sitting rooms. In fact, Hostal Cervelo has undergone more extensive renovation than has Hostal Martín, but that is not to say Martín is second rate to Cervelo. I took an extensive tour of both and spend Wednesday night, April 3rd at Hostal Cervelo, room 113, and it was just perfect.

Jesús, a VERY friendly and well-dressed 20-something, one of the English speaking owners of the two hostels, showed me many of the rooms, halls, and salons. My room, #113, was just 2 doors from the reception/entry and this concerned me a bit. But in fact, after about 9pm the phones seemed to stop ringing until the next morning. Well, to be fair, I wasn't IN the room from 9pm until about 3am, but after I returned the place was silent. I was even concerned about the street noise, but wanted to see what it was like. Calle de Alcalá, as I understand it, can be a noisy place, but the external wooden shutters, new double-paned windows, and internal wooden shutters seemed to block nearly all the outside noise. The double bed was very comfortable, the TV worked just fine, there was a desk & chair, and the bathroom was ALSO perfectly clean, along with the rest of the room, and was absolutely up-to-date. Jesús was a little concerned because I apparently chose this room which had the smallest bathroom of the two hostels. I could have chosen a similar room internally with a bathroom twice the size, but I preferred the baloncy/streetside room with a view of the action/traffic outside. SEARCH this forum for MANY previous glowing postings about Hostal Martín/Cervelo.

DETAILS: Working elevator, cheap coin-operated public telephone in the sitting room of Cervelo (much cheaper than pay phones on the street), hardworking staff, your own key, lock box your room, hot showers/water, EXTREMELY clean, TV with remote control, telephone IN room, the reservation room at Cervelo looks more like Mission Control at NASA with 6 working security camera/monitors showing halls and entryways of both hostels, multi-line telephones, and 2 or 3 PCs, great location close to Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, & Huertas.

Hostal Chelo , Antonio's family's hostel on Hortaleza, just north of the Gran Vía, was where I spent one night during my October 2000 visit, which housed me the night after the "Party With MadridMan: Version 2.0"

Antonio, perfectly English-Speaking, is one of the MOST knowledgable travel/tourism people I know for Madrid/Spain and he's always more than willing to help guests at his hostel. They're in the process of installing an elevator which, according to Antonio, should be completed in about 5-6 months. Antonio's parents are so sweet and kind and eager to help but they don't speak any English (this is common of parents/owners of hostels), but Antonio's sister also speaks some English. This is a hardworking family and the rooms are standardly sized by my hostel-experience although they do have a few larger rooms with 3 and 4 beds. The rooms are all cleaned daily as are the linens. I had a balcony room near the reception desk, but had no trouble sleeping with any noise.

Details: Good location near Puerta del Sol/Plaza Mayor, Gran Vía, clean rooms, no telephones in rooms, TV, neighorhood's sidewalks have been nicely replaced and trees planted and has a kind of Greenwich Village/SOHO/NYC look to it. Do a SEARCH in this forum for dozens upon dozens of (positive) feedback about this place.

I really don't know much about Hostal Cervantes ; only what I've read here and don't think much has been posted yet. SEARCH the forum to find those. It's located on Calle de Cervantes in the excellent Huertas district.

Pim, I'm nearly 100% positive that Hostal Corbero & Hostal Dulcinea are owned by the same family (not Hostal Cervantes). JoeSambuca and IwalaniC stayed in Hostal Dulcinea 's apartments last December and posted glowing feedback about them.

Saludos, MadridMan

OOOOOPS! MMan, you're absolutely right about that, I made a mistake. Maybe I got confused because Dulcinea is one of Cervantes' main characters¿?

Saludos,

p

hi juan,

i don't know anything about the history..sorry! certainly wasn't dusty..not by a longshot!! i can tell you that i looooved this hostal. i was there last month so i have first hand knowledge of Hostal Macarena. i was just offering up my personal experience from having stayed there..apologies for sounding poetic!! maybe thats just the kind of girl i am

Hey, Guapita, you can wax poetic anytime; much better than waxing prosaic!

Do you by any chance have an email address for Hostal la Macarena? I'm anxious to reserve bec. I'll be there May 15-18 (Fiestas de San Isidro) and it may fill up...

Thanks,

Juan

juan,

they don't have their website or email up yet...at least that's what they told me when i was there. i would just call or fax:

Hostal La Macarena
Cava de San Miguel 8,
28005 Madrid,
Phone: 365 92 21
Fax: 364 27 57

there's a young man named jose gonzalez from galicia who speaks english that works until 8 PM. it sounds like you speak spanish from your name..so sorry if this is extraneous..

Hostal La Macarena does not yet have a website or (probably) email either. But I'm sure they're working on that.

Hostal La Macarena - I stayed there more than 10 times and it was very good everytime.
I can highly recommend it. The owner is Ricardo Gonzalez. He is also the owner of the nice Hostal Sil in Calle Fuencarral.
Saludos
WBoeving

Thank you all for the great recs. on Hostal la Macarena. We're staying there in mid-May.

Juan, will you please return here and tell us about your experience at Hostal La Macarena? Thanks!!

So . . . I should assume by reading all this correspondence that the system for Hostal Cervelo (where I have a reservation) will be the same as for Hostal Martin . . . although the Web site says that credit cards are accepted, in reality it's only for an initial reservation, and that payment must be in cash? Yes?

Xacara, you're in luck. At the moment of this posting I was able to contact Carlos, the night person at "command central" of the two hostels via ICQ. He said that yes, both hostels accept credit cards. (my goodness. The marvels of modern technology, eh? How in-the-moment and how connected we can be!)

So I don't have to pay in cash???? That would be great!

Thanks, MadridMan! Wow!