Martinval Hostel

I'm not usually picky, and I rarely leave a bad review, but the chemical paint smell in our room gave us headaches within about ten minutes. The common area and, I assume, the other rooms on that floor had been painted the day before. The hotel repeatedly told us the room had been aired longer than recommended and that the paint was a special no smell kind. We also left the window open for over an hour, but the smell still made us feel ill. We asked to move rooms and were told that wasn't possible, so we booked a room at another hotel for that night. When we came back the next day to check, the headache returned after about ten minutes. Several staff members checked the room, and the hotel insisted it was fine. I'm sure the stay might otherwise have been pleasant, but this was our experience. We booked another hotel for the rest of our time in Barcelona.

The room was a bit small and didn't have air conditioning. Still, the staff were great and so was the location.

We stayed three nights, and the city's attractions were within walking distance. We had to pay the city tax in cash. The bed and pillows were uncomfortable, and the walls were very thin. There was no fridge in the room, either. Worst of all, it smelled overwhelmingly of bleach the whole stay. We had to keep the windows open, which defeated the point of having air conditioning.

We were really happy with this apartment and the kind, helpful staff. It's close to the main center and clean. The rooms are quite small, but that didn't matter much since we barely spent time in them. We could use the coffee machine, water, and microwave. Thanks so much, I can definitely recommend it!