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If you are preparing to visit the capital city of Spain, Madrid, this spring, then you will want to consider staying at hostels in Madrid. Not only are Madrid hostels inexpensive accommodations, but many offer several amenities that you used to only find in more costly hotels.
Plan Ahead
Traditional Madrid hostels will ask you to make a reservation in advance of your stay. Group sleeping arrangements and restrooms are the norm, and it may be co-ed or single sex, depending on the particular hostel. Madrid hostelries may also require a curfew and lock out time. This means that you will need to be out by a certain predetermined hour in the morning and back in by a certain time at night. This allows the Madrid hostel staff to maintain and clean the building while you are typically gone for the day. For these little inconveniences, you pay only a tiny fraction of what you might normally pay to stay at a hotel in the city.
Modern Accommodations
Although this is the traditional way that Madrid hostels have been run, many are changing with the times. Private rooms and bathrooms are available for a modest increase in price. Breakfast may now be included in your day fee, as well as sheets and towels. Security lockers and baggage storage, where you can stow your personal belongings overnight, are often now included. Many hostels in Madrid also offer free Internet access and Wi-Fi so you can inexpensively keep up with your friends and family back home. A Madrid hostel may also offer you laundry facilities, a big help if you are staying in Madrid for an extended period of time.
You may even discover that entertainment is offered at hostels. Madrid establishments can include a bar or even a rooftop terrace. With the new tradition of no curfew and no lock out times, this makes it much easier to enjoy these types of entertainment. Gymnasiums may also be available and outfitted with exercise equipment for you. Satellite television may also come with your day fee at hostels in Madrid.
On the more mundane side, but no less important, many hostels in Madrid offer kitchen facilities and refrigerators. This means that you can reduce expenses on your vacation even further by cooking some of your meals yourself. It is fun to get to know a new city by exploring the local food markets, and then cooking what you find there at Madrid hostels. Breakfast may even be thrown in for your day fee as well.
Heck of a Deal
Finally, there is some competition for your business at hostels. Madrid hostelries may offer a discount when you pay with dollars, to offset the currency exchange with the Euro, to the benefit of United States travelers. Check with your hostel to find out more specifics.
