Seville Your Way

The four-bed dorm was a nice change from those huge 12-person rooms, and the facilities were good. Micky and Davi were kind and made sure I was comfortable during my two nights there. It’s about a 20-minute walk to downtown, with public transport and good tapas nearby. I’m surprised by the bad reviews. Maybe they’re from before the management change and renovations, because this is one of the best hostels I’ve stayed in.

I wanted to leave a good rating and say that things seemed sorted out, but I can’t give this place an 8-9, let alone a 10. I was in room 6, which was clean and looked new, with fresh mattresses and bedsheets. The bathroom was pretty nice for a hostel, and I felt relieved after seeing room 5, which looked quite frightening. The receptionist noticed my reaction and moved me without me having to ask. The hostel was generally clean, staff smiled and seemed to be trying hard, and the location was okay. I even had space in the fridge. But on my last morning I saw a bed bug on the wall beside my head. Thankfully it was large, so I spotted it, and it wasn’t in the bed, but I have no idea where it came from. I was terrified, and after getting home exhausted from travelling, I spent hours checking my things to make sure I hadn’t brought anything back. I might have missed something. I’ve stayed in plenty of cheap hostels and usually have low expectations, but I’ve never had bedbugs or any other bugs, even in places costing €10. I paid €16 here. There were some good moments with the staff. The receptionist waited for me until 10 p.m. and was nice, even though he didn’t speak English. He used a translator and tried to answer my questions. I understand that not everyone in Spain speaks English. The staff also smile and seem to be making an effort. But it was unusual to sleep in a room with hostel staff. I also got a duvet without a cover, only a flat sheet. The duvet looked new, but I don’t know if the whole duvet is washed each time. That seems inefficient, unless they aren’t washed at all. And please stop sending so many random, long messages with useless information. I’ve never been spammed with so much. One more thing: I tried to write this as a Booking review, but the form kicked me out and submitted only my rating number. That felt pretty suspicious. The hostel could be amazing if they checked everything and cleaned it properly.

I’m writing this in the middle of the night while I’m awake and leaving the hostel abruptly. The room smelled rancid, the sheets smelled like they hadn’t been changed in a while, and the mattress smelled too. There was a huge gap between the wall and my top bunk, with no railing. I spotted hair and other dirt on the floor, and it seemed like nobody had cleaned for some time. I went down to ask for clean sheets. The staff member seemed to know they were used but wanted to avoid changing them, then signalled to another guy to bring fresh ones. He took new sheets from a box, climbed onto the bed in his shoes, and changed them. I was speechless and let him do it. I also asked about the locker that was advertised as an extra. The same guy showed me one, took out some questionable blankets with strange stains, and left them in the corridor. Then, during the night, I got itchy and couldn’t work out why. Eventually I caught something: bedbugs. My whole body is covered in bites. That was the point when I left. The first warning sign came on the day of my reservation, when I got a WhatsApp message saying they’d been trying to reach me and would cancel if I didn’t quickly pay through a link sent in the message. When I arrived, the staff didn’t speak good English, handed me the keys, and let a guy who smelled of alcohol escort me to my room. Nobody explained the opening hours or how to get into the building, even though reception is unstaffed for much of the time. During the day the door was left wide open, and there was usually nobody at reception, just some drunk, smelly older guys. This place crosses health standards and should be inspected. Do yourself a favor and don’t book it.

We booked another hotel nearby straight away. The sheets were dirty, the pillows yellow, there were bedbugs, no locks, and the staff were rude. It was the worst hostel experience I’ve had. Stay away, avoid this place at all costs. I couldn’t be paid to stay there, and it needs to be shut down.