Just returned this morning from a pleasant 4 night stay in Madrid.
Before going i researched the hostals on various sites and decided upon Hostal Rivera mainly because of its location and the fact you do not have to leave credit card details up front.
I had a bit of apprehension regarding one post on this site stating that reservations are not worth the paper they are written on when it comes to this establishment, and a couple of copies of the email notifcations confirming bookings should be taken along,this i did since i did not want to end up on one of the bussiest weekends of the year in madrid without a bed for the night.
I was told i must get to the hostal by 2pm for my room to be kept,after a mad rush across madrid by metro due to my plane being 1 1/2 hours late i managed this with 10 mins to spare.
I rang the bell and was let in after climbing the stairs i was greeted by the elderly lady and her son who spoke little english to who i passed the email print out,i could tell something was wrong when i was left in the reception room for the next 15 mins with out a word of explanation,her son returned saying problem we have no room for you.I asked "how come" and got the reply "other people want to stay longer"
I booked the room 8 weeks prior to going to madrid knowing it was busy at this time of year and would have expected the room to have been kept for me,i can not comment on the standard of room since i did not get to see them,however the attitude and or professionalism is disgusting.
Apart from this the rest of the trip was very enjoyable,and i will return in september avoiding hostal rivera at all costs.

Oh No!! I'm so sorry to hear about your experience with this place. I'd heard a few good things about it but suppose that was from people who actually got to stay there and weren't turned away with a reservation confirmation email in hand. That's a true shame.

So please tell us. If you didn't stay at Hostal Rivera, where did you stay? Mind giving us a review of that place? Thanks!!

Saludos, MadridMan

I stayed at 1 Doctor mata 400 meters further down calle atocha near the centro de arte reina sofia, the hostal name escapes me,it was just a bit to far from sol for my liking, i will post again when i remember/find the name.

The owners were pleasant,the room very small with its own shower in the corner but a shared wc,it had a small tv up above the door which was a waste of time since the reception was very bad and the picture unclear.

Due to my room facing out on Calle Atocha it was pretty noisey.

The most annoying thing of all was the fact that you had to ring the outside bell when you returned then again another bell after you had climbed the 4 floors of stairs for the owners to come down from the 5th floor to open the door for you,i felt as though i was putting them out when i went to my room especally at 4am in the morning, and felt guilty everytime i returned and sometimes i just stayed out for longer.

They had a lot of spare rooms with the occupancy rate being about 40%

I paid 30 euros/night which i felt was just about correct for the place,athough i am easily pleased.

At a last option its ok,but i am sure there are a lot better places to stay(and maybe worse).

my hostel : IT is the first building on the left.

another pic of the hostal i stayed : here is another pic of the hostal it is dead centre of the photo. click on the numbers in the bottom left of the link to see pics of the building.

Hey!! You were right next to/near my favorite EL BRILLANTE !! WORLD FAMOUS FOR THEIR BOCADILLO DE CALAMARES!!!!!! Hope you had 1 or 2 or 10 while there. Yum! :p

Saludos, MadridMan

Madrid Man,unfortunately i missed out there,

Since you mention calameres i thought i would tell you a mistake i made whilst there.

I took some advice from you and went to hnos santiago bar/restaurant on calle aduana on saturday afternoon but they were closing early and no food was being served,so a couple of doors back at 25 aduana in the direction of calle montera is the meson-restaurante being very hungry i thought i would give it a try.

The menu del dia had 5 choices for each course and being totally inept in spanish i thought what the hell just pick one from each section at random and see what i get.

The first course was great, a mixture of salad with tuna and a beautiful rich sauce.

I waited with anticipation for the main course and could tell when the waiter was still 6 foot away bringing it to me i had made a mistake.

The meal was calameres en su tinta which i now know is squid in its own ink,apparently ink is the black secretion that a squid or other similar mollusc`s give off to hide it from predators and it is the most vile thing i have ever smelt in my life.
I laughed at my mistake and could not even think about touching it,i paid the bill and asked the waiter to write down what i had been served,how anybody could think about eating that is beyond me the smell was that bad.
Have you ever tried it?
Feel free to add this to the food section if you think it is appropiate.

Northeron,
That was funny. as a matter of fact, I love a plate of Calamares en su Tinta served in a bed of long grain white rice! Superb with some vino verde on the side.

My hubby is of Scottish descent and when we were dating I made Calamares, he, much like you, could not believe how anyone could eat Calamares. I then reminded him, that I could not believe how anyone could eat,much less like, Haggis, his favorite Scottish dish!

The name of the hostel above that i stayed at was,

HOSTAL RESIDENCIA ARANZAZU

Tele 539 48 46 28012

hmm. I've now stayed with the Riveras in four occasions. Its OK, but there are some warnings needed:

Manuel, the youngish bloke cannot add bills up, so watch what you get charged. Never hand over your copy of e-mail correspondence for the booking that you have printed out, as he 'tried' to overcharge us. Having said that I think he is maybe a bit simple.

They wouldn't change us to a room with ac, until we threatened to leave and go somewhere else.

I would suggest Hostel Barrera, just down attocha. They inspire a lot more. Rivera is OK, just watch them a bit. It is at least nicely decorated and clean.