Petit Hostel La Latina — Hotel in Madrid

Final review: PRO+incredibly nice staff, quick response from owners, clean and modern (super duper clean by European standards), safe, lockers with chip, incredibly comfortable bed, quiet neighborhood and mature guests. CONS-a bit far away from city center, the automatic lights and shower were incredibly annoying, no 24 hour staff, water from the shower goes outside the cabin, can hear everything that goes on in the common room, not enough hooks, could use a bench in the room, and a shower caddy in the cabin, guests were mainly migrant workers so don’t expect to make friends to do tourist stuff with, room was cold in the morning. OVERALL, I really enjoyed my stay at Petit Hostel, but I’m deducting 2 stars because of too many CONS for the price point. Because of the issue of not being able to get a bottom bunk (my fault since I didn’t think about it beforehand) even though there was an empty bottom bed for a few days in my room. Because I was put under the very uncomfortable situation of having to deal directly with roommates who decided to get intimate while I was in the room and who brought alcohol with them...in such an instant it would have been great to have a member of the staff present. And because despite the fact that I had to use my towel to dry up the floor from the water running outside of the shower cabin everytime someone showered, the owners wanted me to pay 5 euros for a new towel. With a few improvements, this hostel could easily be a 5 star one. Thank you :)

UPDATE: After my bad review I was offered and shown a new room despite the fact that before that I was told that nothing could be done....but I found the new room to be rather messy and dirty (not the fault of the cleaner but rather the occupants) and considering the difference in price between the 4 and 6 rooms, I thought I'd stick to the one I already have. I did almost fall off while going up and down the bed, but I'm trying to be careful as much as I can. However, I asked for a new towel since I had to use the one I had to wipe up the floor outside of the shower cabin after it got filled with water post-shower, and even though I was told "of course" at first, after I refused to change my unfavorable review, it became "it'll be 5 euros" which is very unfortunate. My review was honest and based on the events of the day; I find it unprofessional to be asked for my review to be edited and then to make me pay for something I was at first offered just because I refused to change my review. On a positive note, I find the hostel to be overall clean and modern looking and the bed super comfy which is a big plus for them. The employees are also nice and courteous and the company is quick to respond which is another big plus. But as said before my previous review is based on my impression of the day and on the fact that despite there being an empty bottom bed in the room for two nights, I was still told that I couldn't use it, which I still don't understand why since it's...

Possibly the worst hostel I have ever had the displeasure of staying in. My entire three day stay can be summed up in the sentence "it can't get worse can it?" First off they do not have 24 hour reception and instead rely on a painfully bad computer system at the front door. Once I suffered through that I arrive to the room and it smells absolutely horrible. There is near zero open space so the smell just builds up with no escape. The beds on each side are maybe two and a half feet apart. Such a small space it is impossible for two people to pass each other much less get ready in the morning. Then we get to the beds. Bunks beds are standard in hostels thats to be expected but these beds were over 8 feet off the ground with a "guard" rail that barely covered half the bed so there was constant worry that you would fall off. Luckily I do not move too much in my sleep but for people do who it is a matter of time before you do fall off. Thats not even the only bad thing about the bed. The ladder to the top of the bed was way to short for getting up safely and had no slip protection so I almost fell off multiple times. If you read other reviews multiple other people comment how they themselves did end up falling off the ladders. If the ladder doesn't kill you maybe the shower will. There is no off and on system for the water so every 10-45 seconds you have to press the shower button to turn the water back on. So you constantly have to put yourself off balance to reach the button. On top of that every single light in the entire room is on a motion sensor. So you just want to relax during the day with the lights on? Nope your only choice is to sit in the dark or wave your leg around off the bed once every 45 seconds to keep them on. This rule also applies in the shower so multiple times I had the lights switch off on me while I was actively in the shower. The last issue with the hostel itself is that their target audience is not the typical hostel target audience. It appears to be people 30-45 so I was the only guest I managed to find under the age of 25. So basically do not expect any social environment at all. Then the absolute worst possible thing to happen was that I was planning on staying at this hostel with a few friends but sadly their flight was cancelled and they ended up arriving a day late. Two hours before they were set to arrive to the hostel they got an email that since they missed their first night check-in their entire reservation was cancelled no refunds. So 4 friends lost out on roughly $100 each. Basically I would not wish staying in this hostel to my worst enemy and strongly recommend you do not stay...

To start off, it's great that this hostel had curtains, spacey, a capsule like bed area which gave a great sense of privacy, and large lockers directly below the beds which were swipe card accessible. ||The actual rooms themselves were very small and it felt like I was staying in a basement. While the hostel may have some fancy air system that they keep advertising, lying on the bottom bunk of an 8 bed dorm, I didn't really feel (or smell) this great fresh air system reached me. There was one toilet and one shower between 8 (which is fine) however even though they were clean, the area smelled a bit and I suspect because there were no windows and very little "fresh air" ventilation coming through. ||Upstairs, there is a small common area with a very small bar mini fridge and microwave. I think there probably is enough space in that room to get serious and put a full sized fridge in, but whatever. My biggest gripe with the common area and "kitchen" is that there is no sink. In fact, to wash dishes, you have to take them into the common bathroom, that's right, next to two toilets, and wash your plates. This is pretty disgusting and I'm not really sure that there's absolutely no better solution. I would in fact rather you say you have no plates and cutlery than eat off some that had been washed next to a toilet because I didn't read the small sign that said so until after. From an environmental position, it would be great if you had a small water fountain or somewhere in the common area people could fill their water bottles. Please don't suggest I go into the toilet to fill my water bottle. Why do you guys think this is ok? I'm certain the hostel workers don't go home and make their dinner in their bathrooms, so why are they expecting travellers to feel comfortable eating off plates that have been washed in a bathroom? ||Lastly, I will say that while I wasn't that annoyed with the location, they do tend to round down when giving travel times to places. To the Puerta de Toledo Metro, it's 10 minutes walk. To the closest Dia supermarket, it's about 10 minutes up a hill. To the centre, it's about 30 minutes which is quite significant, especially if you're a tourist and you're really here to see the sights, not to spend an hour on public transport each day (also they don't have an abono so it'll end up being costly for them). At a similar price to hostels in Chueca, Sol, and Malasaña, you wonder what makes them think that this hostel is worth it. Certainly, it's not the basement rooms, the toilet plates, or...