Hostal Balkonia

The location was great, just a two-minute walk from lots of shops and the subway. Staff were nice, answered our questions and dealt with problems, and stored our bags for the day after checkout. The rooms were decently clean, with daily bed-making and fresh towels. But the facilities let us down. The advertised photos didn't match what we found in the “economy” rooms. At first glance, the cheaper internal rooms looked fine, but deferred maintenance was obvious: putty held the shower screen in place, the towel rack was gone though its mounts remained, and several trim pieces were missing or badly damaged. The bed was so hard that we woke with sore backs and bottoms. Thin walls also meant hearing everything on the floor, from conversations to doors closing. A note for American and Canadian travelers: “Air Conditioning in all rooms” meant central AC. We were told it was set to 23 degrees Celsius, but never saw it turn on. The hostel associate quickly reminded us that they were meeting the legal bare minimum by keeping the temperature below 27 degrees Celsius. We're used to much cooler sleeping temperatures in Canada, and the heat made it very hard to sleep. Opening the windows onto the interior quadrangle helped a little, but made the noise worse. People on the floors above came back, cooked, ate, talked, and showered at all hours until about 3am. Since we were in an internal room near the Bottom of the building, water from upstairs toilets and showers came loudly through the pipes all night, like heavy, irregular rain. I'd advise Western travelers to consider premium suites or look elsewhere to avoid what we experienced.

I was pleasantly surprised by the hostel. The room was cleaned daily, with fresh sheets and towels each time. The location was good, and there was a cozy cafe just over the streets where a cafe latte and croissant cost 2,5€. It was a very good hostel for a two-star place. My only complaint is how much you can hear through the thin walls.

We loved the location, and the staff were wonderful. The room was less impressive: there were stains on the sheets, no hand soap was provided, and the walls let through so much noise that we woke up some nights when people returned at 4 AM.

Getting a decent night's sleep was the main problem for me. We came back tired from our trip because the walls carried every sound: conversations, TV, screaming children, and loud snoring from next door every night. Even unloading the dishwasher in the staff room beside ours at 7 sounded like it was happening in our room. Cleaning was noisy too, with beds being moved and supply trolleys rolling around. Staff also knocked even though our door had a do not disturb sign. The hostel is in a nice area near the metro, and the room was dated but acceptable. There was also an issue with reception closing for the night: people tried calling without getting an answer, and some waited a long time by the downstairs door. That part didn't affect us much personally, but the noise meant I barely slept.