Hostal Ramón y Cajal

We're not going to repeat this: there was no hot water, and I think that says it all. On March 8th, with 5 degrees Celsius outside, we arrived wanting a nice hot shower, and we're going back to Madrid without one… I find that unacceptable. I could complain about other things, but this is the main one.

Excellent location, reasonable price, very clean and super friendly service. I forgot some credit cards and before they even noticed, the hostel called me to say they would keep them for me. Very nice.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR CUSTOMERS ABOUT THE HOSTEL: The hostel is structured on two floors (5E and 6E) with several rooms within them. A friend and I stayed in separate rooms; he was in a room on 5E and I was in 6E. However, he had a completely horrible experience compared to mine, which proves that if you stay here, you're playing roulette. You might have a great night or one that makes you want to bang your head against the wall. First, let's start with the positives. I stayed in room 604. My stay was exactly what you'd expect, nothing problematic or out of place, and it served its purpose. In contrast, my friend stayed in room 50S, where the door simply wouldn't close. That is, if he left, the door didn't lock in a way that only the owner could access with their keys; anyone could enter by turning the knob. In fact, it happened to him once, luckily, that someone, by mistake or some other reason, entered his room while he was inside, supposedly by mistake... Also, an important detail because the receptionist made a mistake and gave him keys marked 50B, but they opened 50S (his assigned room). Anyway... After leaving the door open twice, unable to close it due to the door's design, he went out and the door locked. Be aware, these are ancient doors, they don't have a code or anything. It locked itself simply because it felt like it... After dinner out, we returned to the room and my friend found the aforementioned scene. He asked me for help and I told him to call the hostel. A woman answered and, correctly, first asked which room it was, and my friend told her he was staying in 50S (by the way, the toilet chain wasn't working). After explaining the situation, she asked him what keys he had, and he told her that his keyring had a tag that said 50A. After that, the woman tells him that his room isn't the one he's staying in, but rather 50A, and THAT HE'S IN THE WRONG ROOM... My friends and I were obviously stunned and explained the situation again: his things are in 50S and his key is for 50S because he's been able to get in with it without forcing it every time he's tried, except for this last time due to a problem with the door. Despite this, the woman insists that his room ISN'T THAT ONE and that he should go to 50A. My friend, fed up, decides to do as she says and goes to 50A, inserts the key, AND OPENS IT... We were both stunned, and even more so the couple inside, because the room was occupied by other guests... After apologizing, we closed the door and explained the situation, after which the woman hangs up, supposedly to investigate what's going on. Five minutes later, he calls and tells us that some people at the hostel are complaining because we went into someone else's room... Again, we were stunned and told him we went in because he told us to. After that, he insists again that my friend's room is 50A... Again, we were stunned and started to think he was messing with us. After seeing that the key opens both 50S and 50A, I decided, out of desperation, to try mine to see if it would open my friend's room... I inserted it and it FIT... But I don't know if that was a good or bad thing at that point, it DOESN'T TURN. Fed up, I grabbed my phone and asked her directly if she was messing with us, and if she kept it up we were going to call the police. The woman replied that she would too, for supposedly forcing the lock, since she thought we had broken into the 50S and, having seen me on the security cameras trying to open it with my 604 key, they thought we were outlaws... Anyway, I ended up leaving on the advice of an acquaintance, and he stayed outside, waiting for another call from the woman. After an hour, another woman arrived, sent by the first one, who realized the situation, apologized to Arbeloa, and finally managed to get in. In short, 1 out of 2, BAD.