Toc Hostel Madrid

The school group had no special rights to the common area, and we hardly used it, so I’m not sure what the recent reviews about it are referring to. We had 45 students and three staff staying here. It was a good hostel overall, with some genuinely kind staff. Other groups seemed less well supervised than ours, and there was quite a bit of running around and noise at night. Twice or three times, other guests behaved completely inappropriately. Reception staff were confident about dealing with it when it wasn’t appropriate for me to step in. On our last night, the hostel held a loud outside gathering in the bar, and our students couldn’t sleep. We’d paid a 10€ deposit per person to make sure they didn’t disturb other guests, so that felt like a double standard. Room allocation details before arrival could also be clearer. There was a major mix-up with our rooms, and none of the windows could be opened because all the handles had been removed. That may have been our travel company’s mistake, but it’s worth checking for school trips, since the rooms were sweltering in February. The Saturday staff didn’t know about the gluten-free breakfast, so I had to go into the kitchen and point out the gluten-free cereal. Reception staff were all great except for one person who suddenly shouted at our group to go outside. If that’s a rule, teachers should be told, since only one of several receptionists expected it. Macarena and Pedro deserve a special mention for being reassuring and accommodating with our checkout plans and needs on the last day.