Hostal Josefina-Gran Vía Hostel

Disgusting room, with mold above the shower and in the corner of the ceiling, musty and cold smell. I reported to the reception that the heating did not work and they did nothing to solve the problem. In the room I had less than 17 degrees, because of the humidity and the smell of mold I woke up with a headache. Room 810, never again!

Hostal Gran Via 44: a hostel at the price of a 4-star hotel, like those found in the Museums area of ​​Madrid. We asked the ADV to book and given the reviews, we were convinced. Alas, what a huge mistake! The only useful thing was the location, the rest is to be forgotten. Let's start with the check-in that could not be done before 3 pm. We arrive at 12, ok, it's okay that they are not ready, and not that much! You pay almost 200 euros a night, for a double room and you expect a hotel, but unfortunately it is not. At 3 pm we return to the hostel, but we wait another 45 minutes to get into the room. And what rooms, so small that you take turns to move, with windows without double glazing and so you practically have the street in the room, and, the icing on the cake, cleaning is only guaranteed on the first day. Clean towels? Only if you ask for them, otherwise you can easily dry yourself with the same ones you left, maybe put in the shower, just to have them changed. Paid luggage storage service, never happened in all my years of traveling. Incapable of satisfying every request, even the smallest, they even think of toilet paper as an extra service! A disconcerting context, a dilapidated building inside and that from the photos on the net you can't even imagine, when you enter, almost as if you have crossed a space/time portal, it seems like you are in a refugee building from the Second World War! Dirty and with a single elevator serving 10 hostels, with very tight traffic and use and that, I speak with knowledge of the facts, from a safety point of view is terrifying. The breakfast is not completely to be thrown away, only because it is served in a bar on the terrace and that is only worth it for the view; very slow service and poor quality products, on the last day we asked for a coffee that they made us pay 3.50 each. But most disconcerting of all is the attitude of the various receptionists (if we can even call them receptions), unprofessional, and even annoyed, they really make you understand that you are bothering to ask for toilet paper. In short, a nightmare experience. Ah, the reviews of 10 are not reliable, or made by people who, at most, have been camping, but the Fantozzi kind.

The best thing is the location. The worst thing is the small room, the cleaning, the towels, you leave them to be changed and they put the same ones back on you, you have to ask for toilet paper, the opening card, you have to complain because it doesn't work and the final straw is that there are 9 floors and on all of them there are hostels and there is only one elevator that can fit 4 people. In short, as I said, I give it two stars for the location.