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Ideal Youth Hostel
Last Update:
November
30, 2008
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Displaying Reviews:
11 - 20
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Pages: 1 2 3
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Last resort, July 16, 2003
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Reviewer:
Paul
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I stayed at this hostel last year because my buddy and I had no choice. We desperately needed a place to stay before leaving Barcelona and this was our last option... suffice to say that the airport would have been more comfortable! The beds are horrendously loud, the showers so minuscule that you can't pick up your soap if you drop it, and the staff seem genuinely uninterested in spicing up the vibe. Although I spent only one night, it was all it took for me to promise myself I would never stay there again. I must note however, that we had spent the previous night in a 4-star hotel, were tired and cranky from a long day, and not looking forward to catch a flight at 5am. So draw your own conclusions.
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Atrocious!, July 14, 2003
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Anonymous
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Use this place as a last resort only. Like another reviewer said, all the hostels are close to the Ramblas (more or less!) so don't use that as a reason to stay here. The beds are UNBELIEVABLY loud and it's not so much a creak as it is a tremor (with a noise close to thunder!): everytime you move an inch in one of the beds, it's ridiculous! In the end, I moved my styrofoam mattress out onto the floor of the balcony and slept there in relative comfort! Receptionists weren't rude to me personally, but not particularly friendly either. Why would they need to be? They're making a killing out of we fools who stay there! Another gripe: the TINY shower, which flooded the entire bathroom and the general lack of space in the dorm. I can't find anything particularly positive worth noting! AVOID!
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great location, that's about it, June 13, 2003
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Reviewer:
Liz
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on the plus side, the location was great, right off of Las Ramblas. I met some really cool people, and there was free internet at the hostel, which is always a plus. The beds were relatively clean and bug-free. On the other hand, the bathrooms were really dirty, and the shower didn't drain. I'm a little interested to see what they actually did during the time we were kicked out for "cleaning purposes". The beds made an incredible amount of noise, and if you're coming home from a club at 5am, you're bound to wake everyone else up (and vice versa). The staff was rude and incredibly unhelpful, and the breakfast was a joke. Their attempt at "culture" was really kind of funny - the only interesting thing was the sparkles on the walls. I think they were going for a quasi-minimalist look. So, bottom line - if you're looking for an easy place to crash and really don't care about cleanliness or anything else, stay here. My suggestion would be to find something a little further away, i hear those are better.
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3 of
3 people found this review helpful
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HORRENDOUS HORRIBLE HEINOUS, May 31, 2003
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Anonymous
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do NOT stay here. this hostel is noT run by other hostellers for hostellers. its run by a mean old lady and her disgrunteld daughter.cons: the rudest possible service. the lack of any vibe. you will realize as you walk through their sliding glass doors that something very cold is going on.very overpriced. very unhelpful: you will get a vague one word answer to any question you have as they stare at you for about 2 seconds and quickly look away. <half the time they will not acknowledge that you are there adn will be annoyed that you are therevery inflexible: i tried to cancel a reservation at 3:10, they would not let me do that since it was after 3pm. this is despite the fact they have turned away at least 12 people today looking for hte bed that i have. i was there for 6 of the turn downs.pros: none. other messages say its proximity to ramblas is a huge advantage. the fact is every other hostel here is also as close to the ramblas. the fact is ramblas is 1 km long and the interesting parts are not on the main thoroughfare. and ramblas blocks are like 1/4 of a ny blocks. even if your place is 4 blocks away from the ramblas, you are in fact only 75 sec walk away.i´m going ot switch my reservation to arco after my current one expires. cheaper, as close to the ramblas, and nice people behidn the counter!!
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5 of
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What a dissapointment, April 30, 2003
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Anonymous
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I should have listened to others people's comments, but thought I would try it anyway. I am sorry I did. The dark staircases with glitter make you think you are staying at a warehouse. The beds are VERY loud. Sheets were dirty. The drains did not drain. There is no common area conducive to hanging out. Reception closes at 11:30. The staff is not helpful (unable to tell me where there was any type of open supermarket where I could get snacks on a sunday). At night on the weekend we passed at least 3 prostitutes coming home on Las Ramblas...If you can help it, don't stay there!
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2 of
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Great Location!, April 19, 2003
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Anonymous
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This hostel was better than some of the reveiws given on this website. It stayed in an eight person bedroom. The beds weren't the best, but it was fine for sleeping in. The only drawback was the one bathroom for 8 people. That meant long waiting times. The proximity of the hostel to La Rambla is a bonus. Free internet at the hostel was very nice as well.
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3 of
3 people found this review helpful
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Only thing going for it is the location!, March 27, 2003
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Reviewer:
SunWitch
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Never been to Barcelona before so was keen to just get a cheap, clean place near the main area around Placa Catalunya or along La Rambla. A friend and I trawled the Internet and founf a few good reviews on the Hostel (somehow we didn't come across the Bugs reviews!!) and thought this could be it. Besides, it was easy to book the room on the Internet. We booked a 2-bed room for 2 nights with private bathroom, and had a non-refundable deposit charged to my credit card. Fine.So we arrived, and while thrilled that it was steps away from La Rambla, were horrified to find it located in an alley full of dumpsters...translation: the alley reeked of p***, sour beer, and other barf-worthy matter. Then we saw this industrial-style hostel (all metal, concrete walls and chipboard ceiling) and went in. Things were OK, we were happy to find we have free Internet access and were pleased with the room..it had a small balcony though it overlooks the (smelly) alley, the beds were OK and most importatntly, the private bathroom was clean. Everything was fine until when we tried to sleep, at about 11 pm. We could hear EVERYTHING that goes on in the streets...noisy, drunk revellers staggering around, throwing beer cans & bottles into the dumpsters, kicking them around, fighting, etc. This went on until after 5 am, i guess when the bars closed. The garbage collectors also came during the night and morning, and u can just imagine what a racket they made tipping the (more than 10) dumpsters full of beer cans, bottles..... they came at about 12 am and again at about 5 am. To top it all off, we could hear our fellow hostel residents staggering drunk into the rooms yelling, laughing etc. The walls of the hostel are SO thin we sould hear EVERYTHING that goes on in other rooms. We could also hear everything that goes on in the shared bathroom which was adjacent to our private bathroom. And yes, I can confirm that as of last weekend (22-23 March 2003), the shared bathroom door on the 1st floor STILL had no lock. I can also confirm that they let us keep our luggage under the stairs for free after we check out (before 12 pm) as long as we collect them before 3 pm...frankly we were worried because all they did was to give us the padlock key to the closet and told us to keep our bags there, then return the key to them - that means anybody can just ask for the key and leave anything (or TAKE anything) from there. I agree with a few of the reviewers who felt that the hostel seemed keen to squeeze money from people in as many ways as it can.Had I read the reviews on this site before I booked, I would have stayed elsewhere. Two infuriatingly noisy and sleepless nights in Barcelona is NOT fun.
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9 of
9 people found this review helpful
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Never ever consider this hostel to stay, December 27, 2002
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Anonymous
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The receptionists are rude. They even shout at the guests. No sense of customer service at all. They charged the overall fee to your credit card before you arrive. Breakfast is gross, just a cup of coffee and a little piece of biscuit. There is no option at all, not even the drink. The bathroom has no lock and it´s situated outside the bedroom. How are we dare to use it? When I asked the lady, she just said that I have too many complaint. One advice for them if they ever read this, never get involved in a service business if you do not know how to provide basic service to your customers. I would not even rate this hostel even as one star at all.
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10 of
10 people found this review helpful
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1 of
1 people found this review helpful
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WARNING....DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOSTEL, November 17, 2002
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Reviewer:
Mark
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Imported Review
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Ideal Youth Hostel is undoubtley the worst hostel I have ever stayed in. I rarely complain when I have a problem, nor do I go out of my way to write reviews such as this. No level of customer service, and is primarily focused on making money at every opportunity - from bed linen to even charging for storing baggage for 1 hour after departing. The receptionist (maybe the manager - as she is mostly on the desk) was always very rude and disrespectful. She was very aggressive in her manner. They charge different rates for every guests ranging from 12 euros per night (via the internet) to as high as 30 euros per night (arrive in person) without breakfast for the same bed. The average price for Barcelona hostels is between 14 - 17 euros (including breakfast) and you can get these rates if you just showed up in person to any other hostel . The reception closes at 8pm which means you must stay in dull rooms and also makes it hard to meet and interact with other travellers. Beds are very uncomfortable and noisy. The shower in the room did not work and had to use showers in another room with very little hot water. Everything positive in their advertisement is absolutely the opposite. Food is over priced and better off eating in a restaurant. Internet is not accessible, as the reception closes at 8pm, so do all the other facilities. The rooms are cold at night. The terrace has no view. They have crammed as many beds as they can into each room, therefore personal space is a lot less compared to other dorms in other places. Other guests felt the same way and left, and since I paid in advance I was obliged to stay. One guest referred to this hostel as being a prison and us as prisoners rather than guests - She was not wrong. Location is the only positive aspect of this hostel. But there are many hostel also in prime locations on the Ramblas. If you still decide to go after reading this, one tip is: to ask to see the rooms before making a booking. I guarantee they won´t allow it as you will definitely have second thoughts, also is also the reason their advertisement does not include photographs of the room. Good luck in finding a nice hostel, which definately exist in Barcelona
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16 of
17 people found this review helpful
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Pages: 1 2 3
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