Pizarro

We only realised the «gay» part in the name of the hostel after we booked — and didn’t really know what to expect (this sounds so politically incorrect, but we just thought we might just not fit into the ‘target audience’ of the hostel!) ;-) However, the hostel turned out to be absolutely amazing!
Location: The hostel is very central near the underground «Plaza Espana» (took us about 30mins from the Airport), on the first floor of a grand old Madrid house.
The hostel: The hostel is very carefully decorated, with nice, spacious rooms and en-​suites. Everything is spotlessly clean. There is a large communeral area with a coffee machine, a microwave and plenty of space for sitting around and reading one of the many stylish magazines on display. There is a computer terminal for FREE internet access, and WiFi throughout the place (also free of charge).
The people: the two managers were extremely nice and helpful (we were able to leave our stuff in the hostel for the rest of the day when we left, they gave us recommendations on what to do in the city…). Despite being a straight couple, we felt completely at home — so don’t be put off by the hostel’s name, everyone seems to be equally welcome!
Price: We booked through expedia (I think) and paid around 40Euros for the two of us for the night. Well worth every cent.
Downsides: Only two things I can think of:
–The hostel reception closes at 10pm — which we did not know, so we just by chance JUST made it when we got in. This is more expedia’s fault for not telling us than the hostel’s, tho!
–When we were there, there were refurbishment works going on in other parts of the house. I guess they’ll have finished by now, but at the time, I was rather glad to have a deep sleep. The hostel did provide ear plugs in every room, which I thought was very considerate.
So all in all, we couldn’t have been more happy with our choice of hostel for our short trip to Madrid — will definately be back.