Hostal Nitzs Bcn — Hotel in Barcelona

My boyfriend and I booked 2 nights at Nitzs Bcn. Our flight was delayed by 2 hours in the evening. We arrived after the check-in hours, therefore we were unable to get our room knowing we'd have been charged anyway for the 1st night as stated on the hostal's policy page. ||We found a last minute alternative at a different place, feeling sad about the inconvenience with Nitzs Bcn but hopeful everything was ok for the 2nd night. We did go to reception the following morning and on our way there we received an automated cancellation e-mail as we didn't show up. We arrived there hoping to find someone helpful and understanding at reception. Instead we met Sophie, the reception manager, who was incredibly rude and not up for helping us at all. Not only she said she had already given out our room 3 minutes after the automated cancellation but she also looked careless and not touched by our disappointment and disorientation (she even said: "it's not my fault. This is Barcelona and it's peak time. It's your business"). ||We asked her for some help in order to find an alternative accommodation but she was not able to give us any hotel names nor tips. The only thing she did was showing us was the receipt of the 79€ transaction for the 1st night and suggesting to get in touch with booking.com.||Even though we may be partially responsible for the misunderstanding and cancellation, the lack of customer care and interest towards guests was pretty shocking! Honestly I've never experience something like...

Pros:|As a hostal, this is good since it offers individual rooms. For a small room, it's well organized. Looks modern. Has hangers and a small closet. Located in a good spot. Has many restaurants in under 3 minutes of waking. Priced lower than hotels. Staff keeps cupcakes for breakfast. And rooms are cleaned daily. Helpful staff can get taxi ordered for early mornings. |||Cons:|Super Small room.|Super small shower.|It's in the third floor on narrow staircase, carrying luggage is hard without an elevator. |No sound barrier, very easy to hear everyone else. This was the biggest pet peeve for me. Couldn't talk on phone so as not to disturb neighbours. For sound reasons, hard to go take shower between 11 pm - 6 am. I was feeling guilty just walking or opening the door past midnight. This is my biggest issue with the place.|You have to tell in advance what time you will reach to the staff can be sure they are not away at your time of arrival.||Disclaimer:|I came with low expectation of a super cheat hotel (like motels in US), this was under it. But if I had more experience with hostels, this might...

I chose NITZS because everything else was so very expensive in Barcelona. Even so, at €88 a night, with basic well-used IKEA furniture and shared bathrooms, it wasn't cheap. I had much nicer hotel rooms with private baths, TV, and simple breakfasts for a lot less in the other Spanish cities I had stayed in (€48 a night for a boutique hotel in Cordoba in the old town, for example). I didn't even think the area was all that interesting. It was surprisingly rundown and dirty. However, it was close enough to the beach to spend a few hours there and, in the evening we went out for dinner. Not really a bad location. If I had planned on more than 2 nights in Barcelona, I would have gone for something fancier, but we were headed up the coast and just needed a place to crash for a day. Be forewarned that there is no elevator and the hostel is on the fifth floor. The people in the office were friendly and helpful and the hostel was fairly clean so, yes, I would recommend for someone on a budget. Be sure to book well in advance in Barcelona, even in late September, because cheap places...