Hostels

As we were leaving the hostel in Barcelona, I was reflecting on all the various hostels we’ve stayed at.  Some of them are small, some are really big.  Some are in the ghetto, some are right off the main streets.  Some have a lot of amenities, some have none.  Some are modern, some are falling apart.  Some are clean, most are dirty.  Usually they have a decent balance of pro's and con's.

This particular one was more like a bar with places you could sleep.  It seemed like a good choice when we first arrived.  There was a high level of security, lots of activities on the main floor, and lots of young people out and about.  We got all checked in, and from then on it seemed to only go downhill. 

As for the level of security, we were each given a magnetic key with our room number and bed number written on it.  We went to the elevator and pressed the button.  It wouldn’t light up.  We noticed that there was a place to put the magnetic key above the button, so we put a key in and pressed the button.  The elevator arrived and we all filed inside.  Once inside the elevator, we found that using the key to get the elevator was not enough.  We had to insert the key to select a floor, and if your key didn’t match the floor it didn’t work.  So every time there were multiple people in the elevator with different floors, you had to put that particular key in, press the button for that floor, and so on.  Once on the floor, you had to use it to open your door, and once inside the room you had to use it to lock and unlock your assigned locker.  As Kelsey put it, “if you had a pace-maker you wouldn’t be able to stay here!”  We questioned if you needed the key to start the shower, too.

We had been told that they had free dinner as long as the food lasted.  We met on the main floor and decided to check it out, and if it was a bust we’d go back to the Mexican restaurant.  There was a huge line, and only Kirk was in line from our group.  He was going to get a piece of pizza.  I motioned for him to get me one, but he held up his key.  I gave him a confused look, and he said, “You have to have a key to get one piece.” It was absolutely ridiculous. What if you lost the key? You wouldn’t be able to go downstairs to tell them!  Kelsey was surprised you don’t need it to flush the toilet.

We went to get Mexican.  When we got back we found out that the hostel had an organized pub crawl.  It started at 1:45am.  It was a little awkward getting ready for bed while groups of girls were getting ready to go out.  There was a bar on the main floor, so there were drinking games going on before they left.  We went to bed, most everybody else left, and at 4 in the morning we were woken up by people running through the halls screaming, multiple people coming in and out of our room, and new roommates flipping the light on without hesitation and moving in.  We had to be out by 6am to catch a train to the airport, so while we were getting ready to leave, people were filing back in from the clubs. 

Lesson learned: sometimes you pay 18 euro for just a bed and locker.  This was probably the worst hostel we’ve stayed in, but I’m sure if we were 19 years old, in a country we could drink in, and not architecture graduate students, it would have been a blast.  Unfortunately we seem to act more mature than the 26-year-olds we’ve run into.  We just want to see architecture, relax, and go to bed for another big day.  I don’t know how many times our roommates have pulled the, “You’re only in Spain once!” phrase.  Yeah, and we just want to see Gaudi and Calatrava – so what?! 

Missing my bed and clean house like crazy.  Oh, and family and friends too.

Cara Marie