that has been going on for decades, renting entire apartments 2nd and 3rd and summer residences outside Madrid where the family goes and rent theirs back in Madrid.

its the same with the law in NYC about rentals for less than 30 Days but they are all over ::)

Its economics and as long as there is the chance people will do it. Like MM said is both sides. The problem and I face it too when you go with a large family of adults, hotels/hostals ask you a max of 4 but we are 5 so what to do rent two rooms or go to the flat....flat wins

I used to stay in hostal like la plata but that was a long time ago, then when renting two rooms and sometimes 3 if parents came in. For the last few years when go with the family rent apartments/Flats entire pisos. Cheaper and better.

Adjustment times.

recently Magma which is a tourist consulting firm in Spain did a study of this market which I translate for all and benefit of those less fluent;even if a bit old.

There are about 120.000 apartments doing this (2011) with 436.000 persons employ and an economic impact of near 2 billion euros. The most number of apartments are in Canarias (52.979), Comunidad Valenciana (16.169), Baleares (15.013), Andalucía (13.004) and Cataluña (10.735).


The median stay is of 7,2 nights against the 3,36 iin hotels, having an occupancy ratio of 57% nationwide. The highest avg stays are in Canarias,68,4%, (67,2%). The median expenditure of the guests per person is at 1.339 euros at these apartments.

Food for thoughts

Based on those figures(2011)the "under the table" flat rental business brings in a heap of money that is dispersed throughout the area. Everything from rent to food with more cash left for sightseeing, shopping, eating out, etc.

So what steps should the hostals take to stop loosing money? Installing kitchens seems a bit extreme although having mini- refrigerators in rooms seems to be increasing.

Again, if I were traveling with family, I'd rent a flat. Simple economics demand saving money and one flat is a lot cheaper than 2 or 3 rooms per night.

exactly Puna, that is the idea. The flat or apartment is it.

And since Madrid is still a city on the move, they will always have some hostals not all, some will go away.

what to do put some family rooms, make two rooms into one,and go for the family traveler.

Just out of curiosity what would be a rough estimated cost to make such a conversion - 2 rooms into a sort of suite w/ 2 bedrooms for families? With the continuing high unemployment, it seems now would be a good time to hire less expensive labor - IF cash flow allowed.

wellnot in construction to know the cost, but many of these hostals are joing together, many were before bigger properties reduce to make more rooms, so putting them back is not a big entreprise.

Many could not do it as money is still tight but that will determine the survivals. And yes , hiring to do this will provide more jobs but....first comes having the money to do it.