After British Airways cancelled our flights, we found ourselves angry, tired, hungry, and with no…read moreplace to go, besides the airport. The only helpful person in Barajas was the information desk guy: he told us he knew of a cheap hostel, located close to the airport, and with free pick up and drop off (although you better be strong enough to haul your luggage inside the van, because the driver can't), all for around 50-60 euros/night (it actually cost about 70-75 euros/person.)
The building is essentially a big, 3-level mansion in a nice and quiet neighborhood. There is a tiny "mall" (see my other reviews) with a few places to eat, and a market. The hostel is new and very modern -- ask how to open the door and turn on the amenities with your key card before you run off into your room.
The bathroom is modern, the beds are comfortable and clean (although for a double, the beds were so close to each other, you'd think it was a full bed), and the staff was nice. The room was simple but modern, however, the walls could have used some paint. The halls were very dark, and noisy.
Everything was going fine until the construction noises started going off; our flight left at 6:45 am, and we told the staff that this meant that we'd have to go to bed at around 7ish. I understand that if a room needs a new toilet asap, it's going to get the new toilet...but why did the construction start at like 4 pm? They had all day to finish it, and not bother the patrons at night time with the noises. This went on til 9 pm. I'm talking LOUD banging, drilling, etc. Best part? The noises stopped, and suddenly, I hear water splashing really close to me...turns out, the construction was right above our room, and they created a leak that ran directly down into our bathroom, from the ceiling...water on top of the toilet, towels, sink...
EXTREMELY annoyed by now, I call the front desk to tell them the bathroom is wet with a leak. The guy says he will come up to clean it up. 10 minutes later, still no guy. He calls me from the front desk to ask me if he can come up to clean it up....huh? Obviously? Did he not just say he would...??
He comes up, knocks, and asks, yet again, if he can come in to clean it. I snap and say obviously, and tell him that the noises are ridiculous for how late it is in the day. He says there haven't been any noises in the past 2-3 hours, and I tell him that he's wrong...the noises stopped maybe 20 minutes before he came up. He mops it up (sink and toilet are still wet, though), apologizes and leaves. After that, we had very loud next door neighbors...but somehow we managed to sleep a few hours before our alarm went off at 3 am.
With that said, this place is more like a bed and breakfast, since it is far from a metro station and Madrid city. I'd recommend it if you have an early flight, as the hostel van leaves every hour, all day/night.
