Hospedería El Convento

The rooms are right above the innkeeper’s cocktail bar, which was a brilliant idea, apparently. They’re so cramped we couldn’t even hang up our clothes.

Check-in meant waiting with our luggage on a tiny staircase while it was handled upstairs. The room itself was much smaller than the advertised 20 square meters, and the shower was even more cramped. I could barely stand in it, and its showerhead holder was broken. The room was clean, and the sheets and towels smelled fine, but we were very disappointed and didn’t like the stay at all. The description and photos had led us to expect something different. The mattresses were hard and uncomfortable. One room had 90 cm beds, while the other had 80 cm beds, which was unbearable for someone who is 2 meters tall. There were wardrobes, a chair, and a clothes rack, but there were also ants in the toilet. The TVs were so small they were impossible to watch.

The soundproofing is poor, you can hear everything. I couldn’t sleep until 3 a.m. because of the bar music and people smoking and shouting outside. Then the noise woke me at 8 a.m. Bring earplugs if you go!

At 55 euros for a double room without breakfast, it was decent enough for an overnight stay, and the location is good. It was clean and tastefully, charmingly decorated, but everything is tiny: the room, bathroom, and TV. You can only watch the TV from the bed, and even then it’s hard to see because it’s only about five feet tall. There’s no wardrobe, just a wall-mounted coat rack, so your suitcase has to stay on the floor. You get in by a narrow staircase with a rope handrail. Check-in happens on the stairs, standing or sitting while they go upstairs to prepare the bill. It depends what you’re after. For that price, you can’t ask for more.