Well, I just got back from my first trip to Madrid. I used this board extensively along with the standard tourist books to gather information before going, I feel that I should post my observations. We spent 5 nights in Madrid and 2 days in Sevilla (I love the AVE train).

In Madrid, we stayed at Hostal Chelo. We were treated well there. I was forewarned about the smallness of the rooms and the bathroom, but I must say that this was still a shock. The water was unpredictable. I always happened to get warm water, but my companions did not. The shower pressure in the shower was intermittent and would go from strong to very weak suddenly. Overall, I was not overly impressed with Hostal Chelo, but I did not dislike it either.

In Sevilla we stayed at Hostal Arias, which was fantastic. I liken the rooms there to a slighly smaller version of a US motel. The rooms were well lit and clean. The bathroom was smaller than US but bigger than H.Chelo. The shower was excellent for both temp and pressure. I would definately recommend staying there if you are in Sevilla. The location is great also; right next to the Cathedral and close to El Barrio Santa Cruz.

Hope that this all helps. It was a great trip. Thanks for hosting this site MadridMan.

Hi Dart! Welcome to our ALL SPAIN Message Board and for your feedback about the above establishments.

For Hostal Chelo , no telling what was the situation with the water. Most hostels, at least those in Madrid, are in 19th century or early 20th century buildings and the plumbing can be "challenging". Also, I've yet to stay in a hostel in Spain which I would consider "something special" - the one that came the closest was an unadvertised (no sign other than a paper in the window) in Cambados in Galicia - it was most like a "home bedroom" but there wasn't any warm water and the room was cold too but it was very very homey.

My standards for hostels, taking into account the low prices and locations, are pretty basic. If the place is clean, the bed is semi-comfortable, and it's not very noisy then I'm happy. Warm water is always a plus though. Also, the only hostel where I've stayed which DIDN'T have small rooms was one 3-bed room at Hostal López and that was only because it was the last room they had - I saw that the other rooms were the typical/standard small ones. My rooms at Hostels Oporto, Cervelo, Aresol, Dulcinea, and Chelo have all been small in comparison to a hotel room, that's for sure, but to me size doesn't matter as long as it's clean, safe, and inexpensive.

Regarding the small bathrooms, this too can be a bit disconcerting for first-time Spain travelers who stay in hostels. MOST of these rooms never had bathrooms when originally constructed as the one or two common bathrooms were all "public" to the establishment and located down the hall. These "new", private bathrooms were added to the old rooms and thus shrunk the living space of the bedroom. Plus, a great percentage of their patrons are Spaniards and many of them have smallish bathrooms in their own smallish homes so I suppose they're more used to it. Finally, Spaniards tend to be a little bit smaller than the northern Europeans and North Americans (Mexico and North American carribean excepted).

I've been hearing good things about Hostal Arias in Sevilla. By noting the elevator stopping at the hostel itself tells me this is a newer building and this may be why the water issue wasn't an issue at all here.

We'd love to hear about your experiences in the other forums, Dart!!! Thanks for sharing and I/we hope you make it back to Spain someday soon!

Saludos, MadridMan

I'd also keep in mind that American travelers also look and compare everything to American standards- think of the old saying everything is bigger in Texas... well for the most part in comparing the US to the rest of the world, everything is bigger in the US! Also, a Hostel, is not a Hotel, although Hotel rooms CAN be small, on average they'll be bigger than a room in a Hostel- but then you're paying more also!

Dart- Its good that somebody warned you though, imagine how much more surprised you'd be if nobody said anything! :o And thank you for coming back to report, many people don't and for those of us who live there or travel there often, its sometimes hard to think of what to mention since we're accostumed to it.

Most of Europe hosts smaller room, bathrooms... the US being a relatively new country, also had much more space from the very beginnning... so think 'charming' insead of small, besides you spend more time out of the room than in, so like MM says, if its clean and the bed is good... what more do you need?

Live long, travel often!

Hi everyone. I just got back from a week in Madrid and first would like to thank MadridMan for this great website. Prior to my trip I looked at various websites and other bulletin boards and in all honesty this was the most informative and up to date. I stayed at the HOSTAL ARESOL, a name I obtained here. I would recommend this place, with some obvious caveats. Yes, the rooms and bathrooms are small, but that is to be expected if you have travelled anywhere outside of the US. The location was EXCELLENT ... less than 1/2 a block from the Metro entrance at Puerta Del Sol. I had a room off the street so the noise was minimal(trade off was not much light coming into the room). I had no problems with water temperature nor pressure. The bed was comfortable. The place was clean and had an in-room safe. 3rd floor with a functioning elevator. Best of all was the price: 30 Euros a night. Once again my experience was very good. :p

I just got back too... Madrid was so wonderful! Too short of a trip! We stayed at the Hotel Europa in Puerta Del Sol, which was a really nice place albeit 65E a night, and then at Grand Duque over by the Opera Metro stop. It was 50E a night, very clean, nice, a little noisy (neighbors). I had the feeling you could get roughly the same for less money.

What a town, can't wait to go back

And yes, this web site was immensely helpful... although I must say Madrid is a very 'easy' city to enjoy!