recommended. medium size hostel. good location, June 9, 2005
Reviewer:
renagel
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This place is not so hard to find - good location. Right in front of the Cathedral. Bathrooms. Need more. Only 1 bathroom for each gender. Adequately clean. Male bathroom: 1 toilet, 1 urinal, 2 sinks, 2 showers. Rooms: 4 large rooms - each with ~15 people in it. You're given pillow/sheet/blanket for your bunk. Huge locker with key for each person. Security. Person at reception most hours. Lockout. big locker for your valuables - you have the key.Facilities: tiny kitchen. didn't see most people using it. Internet at 1.2 euros an hour . one computer. tables for hanging out on the main floor. large selection of travel books for reference. Pop/juice/water for sale. Very good for Sundays and holidays when the grocery on La Rambla isn't open.breakfast: not included. You can buy breakfast from them.Overall a very good place. I'd stay here again if i couldn't get a bed at the backpackers BCN. not crazy about people smoking in the front area but that's europe. no smoking allowed upstairs where the bunks are. Lockout somewhat annoying. Felt very safe here.
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(Review ID: 5450)
BE WARNED WHEN BOOKING THIS HOSTEL, May 21, 2005
Reviewer:
ANDY
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LISTEN TO THE BOOKING IN ADVANCE WARNINGS. I first want to say that I booked this hostel a good week in advance from leaving from europe, so I reserved a week and half in advance from coming to barcelona. After several emails back and forth confirming they had beds available I made a reservation with this hostel. After giving them my credit card information, I never recieved an email confirming my reservation. After several emails (more than two) asking for an confirmation, I called the hostel while in barcelona. They said they never had heard of me and that I didn´t have a reservation with them, so I booked another hostel. They then had the nerve to email me the next day asking where I had been the next day and it made me furious!!!!!! Don´t stay here its not worth the hastle.
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(Review ID: 5451)
great place to stay in barcelona, March 6, 2005
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Anonymous
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this was my fourth trip to barcelona and at last i've found the place to stay here. Itaca hostel is small, friendly,clean and in the centre-though in a quiet street near the cathedral. its by far the best hostel i've stayed in here. it's got a kitchen and dining room, and there is a cafe area downstairs in reception where they do a great breakfast for 2 euros. the showers are great with lots of hot water, the staff were all helpfull and friendly. i'll be staying here from now on.
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(Review ID: 5452)
Fantastic location and helpful staff, March 5, 2005
Reviewer:
Sean
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Stayed here for about a week. Found the staff very helpful and had no problem at all with my booking. Internet downstairs was fast, cheap and fairly available for use. Rooms themselves are as clean as any hostel anywhere that i have stayed in. Shut out during the day not a prob for me but maybe for those more party inclined it could be. The biggest annoyance was the kitchen closing at night and not opening again until the afternoon the next day. Kind of annoying when you just want to have a bowl of cereal for brekkie and you cant get in the fridge. All in all a great place though.
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(Review ID: 5453)
Lovely to meet folks but watch for bed bugs!, March 4, 2005
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Anonymous
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Had a lovely 5 day stay here in September, 2004. As a lone female traveller, it was very easy to meet people in the downstairs lobby, a perfect location, and showers & bathrooms relatively clean. Breakfast was a good deal and decent, staff fairly friendly. The only drawback was bed bug infestation!! But perhaps unavoidable in a busy hostel.
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(Review ID: 5454)
Why did I bother reserving in advance?, December 23, 2004
Reviewer:
desafinado
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Staff were all very pleasant and polite, and the 2 euro breakfast was great value. Room and bathroom were clean and functional. However, those taking the Ryan Air airport shuttle from Girona to Barcelona should be warned that the drop off point is a fair way from the hostel (about 2km?). The fact that the map in my Lonely Planet mis-spelt the name of the street, plus the hostel person who did not speak any English when I rang to confirm their address, created great confusions and cost me a lot with my roaming mobile phone. I wasn't familiar with the metro system when I first arrived, so I had to walk - in the rain at night - all the way with my 17kg backpack on, so it wasn't nice. When I finally arrived at the hostel, I was told that all the beds in the girls room were already taken, even though I reserved my bed 6 weeks in advance. So I was required to sleep in an uncomfortable and noisy "extra bed" put in the room especially for me. That also means there was no hook left for me to hang my clothes etc. I didn't even get one of those nice and fluffy proper blankets that everyone else was entitled to. Mine was just an old, thin woollen sheet, which was completely inadequate even for the mild nights in Barcelona. And my locker wasn't even in my own room, which means everytime I needed access to my stuff, I needed to disturb or wake all the guys in the other room where my locker was. Very inconvenient.
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(Review ID: 5455)
lovely, September 19, 2004
Reviewer:
astraea
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Very bright, very clean, very IKEA :) Nice location just around corner from the cathedral. Downstairs cafe area with internet use. Annoying showers that go off every 60 seconds or so, but they were clean. Staff not that friendly, but the other backpackers were great.
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(Review ID: 5456)
Nice place, September 2, 2004
Reviewer:
Kara
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Itaca is a great hostel to use as a "home base" in Barcelona. They'll kick you out for a couple hours durring the day and enforce quiet hours pretty early, but you should be our enjoying the city then, anyway!This place is really clean, probably because of the daily lock-out. It's also really safe, with someone always at the reception and individual room keys and personal lockers. The showers could be better (they're not always hot and there is an annoying push-on system, with the water turning off every 30 seconds), but they're tollerable. The kitchen is very new and nice, and was usually deserted, so it's easy to do your own cooking (there's a great open market within a few minutes walk, too!). And, possibly most importantly, the beds were really comfy!Breakfast is not included, but we quickly realized that it was by far the best deal around. And they even serve you, which is kind of a nice break for backpackers.The staff wasn't the friendliest, but you shouldn't have to interact with them too much. They'll keep your stuff before you check in and after you check out, too, which is convenient.The location is great (it's just a couple minutes from Las Ramblas, which is pretty much the center of tourist spots, including night life and shopping).Overall, we were really happy with Itaca Hostel.
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(Review ID: 5457)
Useless to book a room, September 1, 2004
Reviewer:
thomasito
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I booked a room for 4 people by phone and the girl at the hostel told me that it is ok and that I should call her again the day after to tell her the exact time when we will arrive. So I did! But then she told me that the hostel is already full and that somehow she misunderstood what I said and that a booking is not really a booking unless one has paid already. Too bad that she didn't tell me that the day before. Anyway, she was not helpful at all and just said that she's so sorry. Never mind, we found an other nice hostel "Sun & Moon Hostel" where the stuff was by far more helpful.
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(Review ID: 5458)
Highly recommended, March 12, 2004
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Anonymous
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I really liked this place - excellent location, quiet street but close to the Cathedral/Ramblas/etc. Lockers provided, nice and clean, excellent value for money. Will stay here again next time I am in Barcelona.
