Pensión Colonia — Hotel in Motril

This hostal, situated on a quiet street in the centre of Motril town is very hard to get to and hard to find, as you have to walk through a maze of narrow streets and pedestrianized alley ways to find it! The centre of town is about a mile downhill from the bus station, so it is a long walk.||||You will need to speak Spanish if you stay here, as it is a family-run place - owned by an elderly Spanish couple and their daughter, plus very friendly cat! The daughter was pleasant enough, but I found her mother grumpy to the point of rudeness. ||She claimed that I did not have a reservation, even though I had had an email exchange with her daughter a few days before, where I had confirmed that I wanted to book a room.||||She told me i was "fortunate" that they had a room available, and she demanded that I pay up front in cash for the 2 nights I was staying. I didn't complain as it was only 10 Euros per night (low-season price), but I found her attitude very off-putting. She literally threw the key at me, told me the room numbe, and when I asked where the room was, she barked: "Arriba!" (Upstairs) at me.||||The room itself was very small, very narrow , more like a corridor, and it was painted a dull shade of blue, making it very dark. It had a very tiny shower room with a toilet - more like an extended shower cubicle. The whole building was very gloomy, dark and drab, nothing like the bright and colourful photos on the Hostal Colonia website. ||||There was a notice in the hall way by the front door, advertising breakfast for an extra 2,50 euros, but when I asked the daughter about breakfast, she told me to speak to her mother in the morning. When I asked her mother the next morning, the mother snapped at me that they didn't serve breakfast at weekends, and if I wanted breakfast, I had to go to a cafeteria in an adjacent "plaza" (square) nearby which I did.||||Never once did the older woman smile, or ask if I was enjoying my stay. When I asked her about places to eat locally, she immediately called her daughter to come and tell me.||||I am not sure why the older woman had such a bad attitude, I wondered if it was because I was a foreigner - although I speak Spanish, or whether it was because I was a woman on my own, when all the other guests were couples.||||The only positives were: 1) the price as10 Euros per night for an individual room with a shower and toilet is hard to beat - hence the average rating. 2) The family's very affectionate pet cat. 3) It was fairly clean, but in need of...

If you are travelling on a budget and want a nice place to stay, this is the spot. We booked the hostel on short notice, same day, right at the end of high season. 33 Euro per night for 2 nights. The room is clean and had a full bathroom inside the room. ||||The hostel is very central to the small city of Motril and you are only a 15 to 30 minute drive to the beach (depending on which beach you want to go to). It can be tough to find, so either have a good maps app running, or a city map with the location pointed out ahead of time. ||||The hostel is run by a family, they only speak Spanish, so either brush up on your skills or have a translator. We found the family to be friendly, not overly, but friendly. I think the fact that they only speak Spanish makes for some language boundaries, and what can be perceived as rude is just the inability to communicate.||||There is wifi, it is pretty good depending on which room you are in, but it is free so take it for what it is worth - basically you are getting what you paid for.||||Here is some good to know info:||||Parking - the city is small so parking is tough to find and even tougher to keep. Nights from 1900 to 0900 and Sundays are free. It is not the expensive unless you use a garage. Average cost is 1.45 Euro for 2 hours, the down side is you can only book 2 hours at a time. I highly recommend downloading and using the parking app they have, it will save you from having to keep running back to the car.||||Food - there are little shops everywhere, all within minutes of walking. We found the best kebab place 2 minutes away. As you walk out the hotel turn left, follow the road until you see the ice cream shop (it will be on your right), then turn left. It is 30 seconds from there on the left. Order the Completo, you will not be disappointed.||||Shopping - tons of it. All open Monday through Saturday, keep in mind it is Spain so everything shuts down for siesta between 1400 and 1600, and Sundays. That is the time to sip some canas (small beers that will cost you 1.50 Euro) and watch the afternoon drift by. ||||Beaches - it is the coast, point the car South until you run...

The location is good, the rooms are okay (yes, the place is clean, but it's old, as well) and the owners' cat is charming. We booked two rooms, for my parents and my husband and me (we are 29) and we were quite happy with the service. The old lady sure is a piece of work and, now that I think about it, I don't recall seeing her smile at all. Her behavior might put you off, but try not to take it personally. We engaged in a conversation about politics a couple of times and she even made a couple of jokes. I understand that some people may want a warmer or just more professional service, and that's okay, but if you're on a budget, you might actually find the...