Hostal Río de Castro Barcelona

The fact it is close to Poble Sec metro is a plus point. Having to lift a heavy bag up to first floor was not. There is no lift. I paid sales/City tax when I checked in. I was later told I had only paid for one person ( I had my son with me) I argued the point but with my limited Spanish and his limited English , it was a struggle. He got someone on the phone who demanded I pay 20 Euros now. I offered to sort it out following morning, but he kept demanding. This was 1030 at night after a day of travelling. So I threw the money down and went to bed. Room overlooked main street so was quite noisy and the curtain didn't do a good job with the light. I didn't mention the 20 euros as same man on reception when I went out. When I got back there was a lady. She called me over and gave me 20 euros and an apology The WiFi was good. There is a supermarket next door with poor reviews, so I gave that a miss. Round the corner is Jespac supermarket which looks small but is quite big inside. Would I stay at this place again? No chance !

Most untrustworthy place to book. Booked via hotel.com since January, the property cancelled the accommodation the day before I fly. Clearly overbooked as no rational reason for the cancellation. I'd advice to avoid to not get stressed.

The fact that it's located literally across from a metro station makes it one of the best in town, cosidering the burden of having to drag luggage! Also, it's much more quiet than say the goth village and the noisy narrow passes, restaurants and pubs of the custom nightlife

The nice girl in the ”reception” is not to blame for anything in this review. Actually, me and my daughter felt sorry for her, has she had the unpleasant position to give this awful dump a face. We went for a weekend trip visiting my oldest daughter who lives in Barcelona. I choosed the hostel because it’s centrally located and we just needed a place for two nights sleep. That was a terrible mistake.... The rooms are just horrible, with outdated furniture and beds that should rise complaints from a soldier in field. The AC is probably from the early 80:s and the smell... I suppose, as it’s a wellknown problem i the damp and warm city of Barcelona, that the rooms are heavily under attack by black mold; hence the awful smell of cheap perfume in the room. Actually, I found out, was the smell coming from the AC so they had probably installed some chemical agent in the AC to cover up from the smell of black mold. I guess it’s damaging for your health to stay there. After 20 minutes I found a free room at a very good hotel in the neigbourhood. Whatever U do when going to Barcelona: never book a room at this dreadful so called Hostel!! But don’t blame the nice girl in the reception. She’s only doing her job...