Hostel Covent Garden by gaiarooms

Juan was such a friendly, great host. The hostel is just down the street from the cathedral, so it's in a brilliant spot for enjoying León. The place skews a little older, which makes it quiet but still welcoming. Beds were okay, and street noise carries up easily, but I had a good time here.

During my Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, I was glad to find Covent Garden Hostel in Leon. It's a charming, retro place, apparently made from a family apartment by the owner, with stylish and distinctive decor. My room had a small balcony facing one of Leon's central squares. The shared bathroom was so clean and cared for that it almost felt private. There's a restaurant downstairs, and shops, bars, and city sights are all close by. The stairs up to the hostel can be tough with a heavy backpack, but that's a small drawback among many positives. I'd recommend it for a memorable stay in Leon.

I liked the interior design and location, and the weekday price was good. I don't usually mind having no reception if it keeps costs down. They moved my bed from an upper bunk to a lower one, which worked out. Customer service by phone and WhatsApp spoke English, as did the friendly receptionist who was at the hostel for a few hours. The main problem was reception coverage. The hostel door says reception is only open during the posted hours and directs guests to a hotel three minutes away outside those times. I went there, but nobody was at that reception either, and its sign also listed limited hours. I called the hostel about leaving my luggage before check-in and got no answer. The other hotel's customer service said an employee would be at the hostel at 9am, but they arrived around 11am. There are luggage lockers in the hallway marked 2€, but without staff there was no way to pay. Customer service said they needed coins, which wasn't right. You can use them with an ordinary padlock. The shower sprayed water sideways, there wasn't always hot water, and the temperature changed on its own. The hostel door codes never worked for me, though the virtual key did. I remember the place being rather cold. Customer service told me the heating is switched off every day at 22:00/22:30, which seems odd when it's 2⁰C outside overnight and in the morning. The heating in my shared room definitely didn't work, but I was grateful to be able to move to another room. Check-out information conflicted too. Booking.com and a hostel sign said 11am, while the confirmation email said 12pm. The cleaning lady had been told 11am and pointed to the sign. I left at 11am so she could finish and leave shortly afterward. In many hostels it's usually fine to spend a few hours in public areas after check-out, but here it's better to ask customer service first. Even if they say yes, an employee at the hostel may still ask you to leave.

Over my three days there, a strange man repeatedly tried to sneak in and rob travelers. He got into the building during those days because there was no receptionist checking who came inside. I never felt safe, and couldn't trust that my belongings were safe either. The police had to be called every day to remove him. What should have been a quiet stay turned into a stressful mess, and nobody even apologized.