Hostal Versalles

The bathroom was dirty, the towels and sheets were filthy, and there was still a clump of hair in the shower. The heater didn’t work, and the Wi-Fi was rubbish. Even though it was a non-smoking room, there were ashtrays and a stale smoke smell that stuck around after we aired it out. It wasn’t even cheap. I wouldn’t pay more than 5 euros for this place.

We found the room comfortable enough for two nights, and it had everything we needed. The staff were friendly, and the Wi-Fi was fine for email and browsing. The location worked perfectly for us, just a few minutes on foot from the ferry from Morocco and the bus station for our trip to Seville.

There are plenty of small cafes nearby, and the ferry, train station, and bus stop for Gibraltar/La Linea are all a short walk away. The staff are friendly and helpful, though only one person speaks any English, and her level is quite basic. It’s cheap, too, with little cans of beer for a euro, and the en suite showers work well. My double room on the first night had comfortable beds. When I came back a few days later, I got the twin next door, and those beds were quite hard. The internet was frustrating: it often dropped in the rooms, kept asking me to enter the password again, and sometimes took twenty minutes to connect even beside the router. Both nights I stayed, there was loud talking late at night, possibly from the lobby or other rooms. It’s a rough and ready place with plenty of pros, but I’d keep the stay to a day or two.

We paid very little, and our room was spacious and clean, though it was older. It had two twin beds, a full bathroom, and a small TV. The windows looked into the courtyard, as did everyone else’s, so you could definitely hear what was happening in other rooms. Inside, the hostel felt dark, with a lot of wood paneling, and more like a motel. As a woman traveling, I didn’t feel completely safe in the area. It was a lonely neighborhood without much lighting, about a ten-minute walk to the city center. On the way back, my friend and I passed what seemed to be a men’s shelter near the hostel. Around 15 to 20 men were gathered outside, staring at us, which made us uncomfortable.