Hospedaje Dolce Vita, which you may also see listed as Hospedaje Dolcevita, Hostal Dolcevita, or…read moreHostal Dolce Vita, is a very nice little guesthouse in the Chueca neighborhood of Madrid. I stayed here for 7 nights in a private room with a shared bathroom.
Cons - because I like to get the bad stuff out of the way first.
- Stairs. This hostal is on the 6th floor of the building, and there's no elevator/lift. The stairs are older and the wood is a bit warped so they are a bit uneven. My suggestion don't wear heels and make sure you can carry your bags up 4 flights of stairs. To put a positive spin on this though at least you'll be able to enjoy more delicious jamon and tapas because you're walking up 6 flights of stairs every day.
- If your Spanish is limited you might have issues. A couple people on staff speak a little English, but learning some Spanish will definitely help you out.
- The accommodation is with a shared bathroom, so you might have to wait to use the bathroom/toilet/wc. It was never a problem for me.
- There's a bit of noise from the street when the balcony door was open, but when it was closed it was very quiet. There is also an overhead fan in the room.
- They don't allow handwashing in the rooms, but they have a laundry service. Not sure if that's because they want guests to pay for the laundry service or if because they don't want the floors to get wet or something else.
Pros
- Price is really decent. I travel alone and on a budget, but I like having my own room. My stay was about $35 (CAD price) per night. You do have to prepay for your room at check-in. They take cash, debit, and most major credit cards.
- The room isn't big, but it's very nice and has everything I needed. There's a small single bed, a wardrobe rack, bedside table with a lamp and plugin (with a power button), a table with a lamp and small backless chair, and a sink, which is nice because you can brush your teeth, wash your hands, etc and not have to wait for the main bathroom. There's also a small tv in the room, which I didn't use.
- Free wifi. It was easy to connect to and really good to use - didn't cut out or anything.
- Free breakfast from 830am to 11am. The breakfast had coffee, juice, pastries, ham, and cheese. Not huge, but nice to be included.
- The neighborhood felt safe and had lots to do. There are restaurants and shops nearby including San Anton Mercado, which has a grocery store and a farmers market.
- It's close to the Metro. Chueca Station (Line 5) is only a couple of blocks away and can get you to major stops like Gran Via and Opera. Tribunal Station is a just a few blocks further in the other direction (Line 1 and Line 10). You can connect to the airport (Line 8) by going to Tribunal and taking the metro to Nuevos Minesterios and then transferring to line 8 toward the airport.
- Safe. I travel alone and I felt the hostal was very safe. There's a key you need for the building, then another key for the entrance of the hostal, and then a key for your room. The neighborhood, as I said before, felt safe too. Madrid is a late night kind of city so there are people out and about at all hours. It's a little quieter on the side street, but it didn't feel unsafe.
- It's clean. The one bath mat looked a little worse for wear, but aside from that the Hostal was very clean. There is shampoo, conditioner, and soap to use in the shower in case you forgot to bring some. The sink in the bathroom, and in the guestroom has hand soap. You get a personal hand towel and bath towel, which are changed every 2 days.
Other Stuff to Know
- Chueca is the Gay Neighborhood of Madrid, which might be of use to LGBT travelers.
- The room also has a small tv in it, which I didn't use because I don't speak Spanish.
- When I got to the building there was a man going inside who let me in. Then I went upstairs to the hostal to checkin. I think normally you would have to phone or buzz in to get into the building. I'm not sure, but I'm really glad that man was there to let me in because my phone wasn't working so I would have had issues getting inside. If you're thinking "that's unsafe" remember there's still a key you need to get into the hostal. There's a bell to ring to get someone to let you into the Hostal.
- There's no smoking in the room, but there's an ashtray and a small balcony for smokers. I don't smoke, but it was cool to stand on the balcony and look down at the street.
- The bathroom is a bit small, but everything wasclean and worke.
- This is classified as a Hostal, but it's not like Hostel in the sense of a backpacker plus with 30 shared dorms. It's more of a guesthouse or a B&B.
- If you don't have a computer or phone and need to get on the internet there is a small business centre with a computer and printer. I don't know if there is a charge for that or not.
If you want a simple, but clean, safe, and centrally located place to stay at for a good price I'd stay here. I really enjoyed my stay.
