The Hat Madrid

“The Apartment”

We checked in with friendly Maria at reception (open 24/7), but the room wasn’t ready yet so we left our luggage in a locked storage room and walked around. The location was great, just a couple of minutes walk from Plaza Mayor and about 5 minutes from Puerta del Sol and the Sol subway station. T… more

We checked in with friendly Maria at reception (open 24/7), but the room wasn’t ready yet so we left our luggage in a locked storage room and walked around. The location was great, just a couple of minutes walk from Plaza Mayor and about 5 minutes from Puerta del Sol and the Sol subway station. There is a Carrefour Express mini market/convenience store right across the lane and a bigger supermarket called Supermercados Dia around the corner. Right in the center of the action with tons to see and do and eat nearby. We actually stayed in The Apartment, which is a large guest room with a private entrance at street level, separated from the main hostel but just a few steps away on the same street. The room was wonderful with a double bed on an elevated platform, a couch, two single beds pushed together, and a modern bathroom with amenities provided such as shampoo, body wash, hair dryer, hand soap, and lots of towels. The Wi-Fi was good and fast. There’s a kitchenette with a table and chairs, mini fridge, microwave, sink with dish soap, dishes, cutlery, and glasses. Food: We had breakfast included, this is a buffet style on the lovely rooftop terrace. There was always plenty of seating, and a covered area which was good to have on rainy and cool mornings. The food was varied including cereal, fruit, yogurt, toast, jam, torta, cheese and cold cuts, juice, and water. Cons: The room can be noisy as it’s right on a street, even though the windows are frosted so nobody can see in or out, you can still hear street noise like passersby talking or even hanging out right outside the room talking, garbage truck picking up garbage in the middle of the night right outside your door, and even some noisy machine that sounded like a street sweeper coming around in the early morning with bright flashing lights. They provide foam earplugs for a reason. There is no TV. There was no housekeeping during our whole 4 night stay. We didn’t mind as we don’t like strangers coming into our room, but it may be a con for some. The first day we were there, a maintenance guy just came and opened the door with his keys, fortunately we were in the room still. He said he came to clean the air conditioner but would return, fortunately he never did as far as we know. There is no closet or wardrobe or drawers. It’s just a rack with some hangers and baskets so there’s limited storage. There is only one laundry machine and dryer for the entire hostel (4 euros each, detergent included). Of course it will be used most of the time, but fortunately there’s a laundromat about 10 minutes walk away (Launderette Colada Express). We didn’t stay in the hostel proper, so I don’t know how it was for noise levels and such. Of course being a hostel there were a lot of young people around and it looked very lively inside at night which looks great for young people looking to socialize, but as a middle aged couple wanting peace and quiet I’m glad we stayed at The Apartment and got our own private room with all the perks of the hostel breakfast. Overall I would recommend based on The Apartment room, location, and breakfast.

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