La Casa de Miguel Servet

We booked Ideal Hostel through Booking.com when we urgently needed somewhere for a few days, and they accepted almost immediately. That meant we could move into our rooms just a few hours later. The price was attractive, about 40€ a night for a room for two, and the location in the lively Lavapies neighborhood was very central and practical. The positive side mostly ended there. Online check-in was available, so we got into our room within minutes of arriving. Reception is only open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., though, and outside those hours checking in is nearly impossible. One night, we helped three guests or groups in a row who had been told they could arrive by midnight, but nobody would let them into the building after reception closed. The official phone numbers didn’t work. We found (919 99 65 12) through a Google search, and the woman who answered was eventually able to send entry codes for each room. Our room got almost no natural light all day. An air ventillator was provided, and it helped make the temperature and air quality bearable. The walls are thin, and some guests were loud until very late. The cheaper rooms don’t have private bathrooms, and the shared bathrooms weren’t always clean. More generally, they were all in pretty poor condition.

The room was small but nice, but there were two power outages and the electricity seemed unreliable. The shared bathrooms weren’t very clean, and there’s NO LIFT!!!! The street always smelled like piss, and the neighborhood felt really, really sketchy. On my first night in Madrid, three men were fighting near the hotel.

The staff were really nice, and the cleaning ladies were always willing to help. They also lent me a vacuum so I could seal my clothes in my bag. The place gives you what you pay for, a place to sleep, but I was scared to go out after reading the reviews when I arrived. Some men outside looked sketchy at times, and the area seemed dangerous, especially late at night and early in the morning. There’s no staff on site from 7 pm to 11 am. Sometimes guests bring people in, and there can be shouting or arguments. I understand the doors were adapted to let guests check themselves in at night, so that may not be the property’s fault, but hearing loud noise with no security staff around made the place feel unsafe.

We stayed four nights and even got lucky with a room that had balcony access. The rooms are fine for the price, and the bathrooms were very clean, with soap in the shower. Bring your own towels, though, since the hostel doesn’t provide them. We found the neighborhood fine, despite what other reviews say. I think some people are just racist. There was some outside noise, but it stopped around 1 or 2am and didn’t keep us from sleeping. The location is great, and I’d recommend staying here.