First off, on Hostelworld, TripAdvisor and other websites, the hostel is listed as "X Hostel Malaga…read more- Picasso's Hangout." Picasso is from Málaga and apparently the hostel is near where he was born. I stayed here one night in May 2015. I didn't make a reservation since I was used to walking up to hostels, being able to check-in with no concern the hostel was booked up. Especially true during the winter and in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. I noticed the walk-up rate was €2 Euro more than the online rates. So maybe book in advance or book while you're at the hostel using their wifi :D It's about a 30 minute walk from the bus and train station, but the hostel is in the city center. Excellent location near Plaza de la Merced, bars, restaurants, the beach. I was given a map of the city with places to visit and eat circled, and mention of a free walking tour in the evening. You can pay €5 Euro for the dinner which I did for convenience sake and to meet other people. They start the meals on time at 9pm (sun sets late here!) so when I arrived around 9:15pm, everyone had already started eating. The dinner came with a glass of beer and was a meatball with vegetables and tomato sauce and bread. It wasn't bad, and I met a few people. There's a great rooftop terrace where you can meet a lot of people. The bartender was really awesome-friendly and made his own simple syrup! Since locals just use sugar in their drinks, and he couldn't find any simple syrup to buy. The mojitos and sangria were only €1 Euro! I ended up playing beer pong (clean version!) at the terrace and some card games. I missed playing "Ring of Fire," but it looked like tons of fun. I heard some funny, personal stories during that game! Unfortunately the terrace closes at 11pm or midnight, same with the kitchen. But the bartender led others on a bar crawl which seemed like a good deal at €10 Euro considering what you got. Since I have Asian low alcohol tolerance and wanted to catch the morning bus to La Línea de la Concepción, I passed. My dorm room was on the hot side, but I couldn't bother to turn on the fans. The hostel is on a busy street so definitely bring earplugs, mp3 player, sleeping mask so you can get some sleep. My room was full, but I only saw one other person in his bed when I returned to my room. The rest came back to the room late at night. Definitely a good place if you like to party and drink. Not so good if you want a quiet place to sleep. Another thing..like almost all hostels in Western Europe, they charge to rent a towel. I always bring a quick-dry towel to avoid the charge.

We recommend not staying here. We were disappointed with the experience. The staff were not very…read morehelpful and not very nice either. Our room was so small we could barely walk around the bed. And unfortunately we were forced to spend a lot of time in the room because we were sick. It felt like a prison. The wireless access was having problems and the staff was not happy to help. The only redeeming value was that we got a balcony facing the main shopping street and the view from there was quite nice. My advice would be to find another hotel near here.

We unfortunately failed to read former reviews about this place. While we were out in town having…read moredinner, our camera and - much worse - all the pictures that we took during a three week vacation were stolen out of the locked room. The staff was neither helpful nor sympathetic. The response from the policemen involved was "it has happened before at this place". By "accident", the surveillance system didn't work just that one night... Try to avoid staying at this hostel!!

Once you actually find this hostel you are in good hands. Being there for 9 days was cool because…read morewe got to know the staff and they took us out and told us all the good places to go. one euro beers (24oz) and if your quiet you can stay on the terrace pretty late. They were painting murals on the walls when we were there so I am sure its even nicer now. The beds were not all that comfortable, but its proximity to all the nightlife made up for it. Our lockers worked fine, the shower was a little annoying because you had to constantly keep turning it on but they cleaned everyday and we had a really good time here.