The Hostelz.com Review
Garden House (previously called the Home Backpackers Hostel) is a fun and colorful hostel. It's a house in a residential area and it feels more like you are hanging out in a house with your college friends rather than staying in a hostel. It's a bit far from the city center but has a perfect terrace with amazing view to the major Barcelona sight -- Sagrada Familia cathedral.
The Location
Despite being outside the city center, it is easily accessible by underground station (in five minutes' walk). There are several shops and bars nearby but almost all of them close about 9 p.m. There is free car parking near school in a few minutes' walk from hostel but it's not easy to find it. It's possible to park your car in the street if you find a free place.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The hostel is very clean and comfortable. There are mixed and female-only dorms with comfortable two-storied beds and bed linen and towel are included in the price. All dorms are supplied with fans. In the female dorm, the shower/toilet is inside the room. If you're staying in the mixed dorm, you need to use the common shower/toilets.
Common Spaces
There is a well-equipped, clean kitchen and you can use the fridge to store your food. There is free Wi-Fi for your own PC as well as two computers that you have to pay to use. The hostel has an amazing terrace with excellent view! Reception opens twenty-four hours. The neighborhood is pretty quiet, with people usually chatting in the terrace in the evenings (it's too hot during the daytime) and in the very nice inner-garden. If you smoke you may do it the garden.
Summary
All in all, the hostel is a very calm, quiet, friendly, and peaceful place. You can have a good rest after parties in the city.
The Location
Despite being outside the city center, it is easily accessible by underground station (in five minutes' walk). There are several shops and bars nearby but almost all of them close about 9 p.m. There is free car parking near school in a few minutes' walk from hostel but it's not easy to find it. It's possible to park your car in the street if you find a free place.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The hostel is very clean and comfortable. There are mixed and female-only dorms with comfortable two-storied beds and bed linen and towel are included in the price. All dorms are supplied with fans. In the female dorm, the shower/toilet is inside the room. If you're staying in the mixed dorm, you need to use the common shower/toilets.
Common Spaces
There is a well-equipped, clean kitchen and you can use the fridge to store your food. There is free Wi-Fi for your own PC as well as two computers that you have to pay to use. The hostel has an amazing terrace with excellent view! Reception opens twenty-four hours. The neighborhood is pretty quiet, with people usually chatting in the terrace in the evenings (it's too hot during the daytime) and in the very nice inner-garden. If you smoke you may do it the garden.
Summary
All in all, the hostel is a very calm, quiet, friendly, and peaceful place. You can have a good rest after parties in the city.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
October 2008
Their Description
Feetup Hostels-Garden House Hostel Details
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Feetup Hostels-Garden House Hostel Reviews from the WebHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Everything you want from a hostel The atmosphere in the hostel is relax and friendly, I meet a lot of interesting people. Plus the staff is super nice and the bedrooms clean.
The hostel is not directly in the center so I was not having the noise of the street like I had when I stayed near Las Ramblas. — Anonymous , Canada (2010-12-29) Great Hostel Definitely one of the best hostel I've stayed so far. The staff were very friendly and helpful, and really cared about me. It's not a party hostel, but the environment and people I met was great. The hostel is pretty clean and has all the facilities you need. Definitely recommended!!! — Anonymous , Brasil (2010-10-31) Amazing hostel this hostel has best vibes ever, it is really cozy and cute with garden and roof terrace, very welcoming and makes you feel as at home. The staff is amazing and each night they are making events in the garden like barbeque, tapas, and sangria or mojito nights that is great socializing way. In this hostel I met people that were not just dumb tourist but really nice and warm personalities with whom you can have a great discussion about almost anything. thank you a lot for a wonderful stay!!! — Anonymous , Canada (2010-08-17) we just got back from our ireland/spain trip, and we stayed at about five or six hostels and this was by far our favorite. we didnt realize how lucky we were staying here until later when all our other hostels were so much worse. the building is very unique and cool, the staff is really nice, and i love how theres a place to hang out, watch movies. its awesome. the rooms were cool too, as well as our balconies. i dont have any complaints about it, and im pretty picky about this sort of thing. yeah it's a little bit away from the heart of barcelona, but big deal, it's worth it. — melody , united states (2007-04-10) This is a friendly and comfortable hostel -- it feels like a home, as the name suggests. The downstairs common areas are really spacious and nicely furnished -- well above the normal hostel standard. Upstairs though, i found my dorm-room to be cramped -- 8 beds crammed into a small room was not cool. And the bathroom seemed very industrial, like what i imagine a prison bathroom to be like (all concreted). Both the staff and people staying here were really nice but i can only give this place three stars because of the location, or lack thereof. The location is on the outer outskirts of Barcelona. It's a nice residential area, but not really somewhere you'd want to hang out, given Barcelona's amazing old-city and downtown areas. To get from central Barcelona to this hostel is long enough during the day, but at night, when the metro has stopped running, is quite an ordeal (to say the least). I had to leave after my first night here and move somewhere more centrally located. — Nick J.P. (2007-01-16) It is a nice place to chill out — Lucy (2006-10-24) The hostel was great. The location is actually very good as you get access to more things local. Turning right at the exit of the hostel instead of left and walking down the hill takes you to a bakery. I was there every morning ordering chocolate filled croissants with my broken spanish. The numerous coffee shops in that area also serve wonderful coffee. The best paella I had was from the market outside the metro station Horta which is a walking distance from the hostel. Apart from being a great location for local food the hostel had a warm friendly feel to it. — sammy (2006-08-22) Clean, colorful, fun. Such a welcome break from the centre of the city. People staying there were chill and up for just hanging out in the courtyard sharing travel stories and the like. There's also a terrace on the room and smaller terraces for different rooms. Probably my favorite of the FOUR hostels we stayed in while in Barcelona.
P.S. We stayed in room 6 and there wasn't any sort of werid odor. — Susan (2006-04-09) Don't believe the hype! I was thoroughly disappointed with the staff, the atmosphere (it felt rather "forced") and the condition of the rooms. I was room 6 and it stank — kind of a mix of mould and sewage. It was nauseating and we had trouble sleeping because it was so bad! We had all three windows open all the time and were constantly spraying all sorts of things to try and get rid of the smell but to no avail. When some of the girls in my room asked to be moved the staff came in and said they would clean the walls (?) the next day and see if that helped, but this never happened. Unfortunately this somewhat marred my experience of Home.
From reading the reviews of this place, I was prepared for the trek out of the main city area, and it's true that the Metro system is very good. (It runs from 5 a.m. to 12 a.m. Sun. to Thurs. and 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fri. and Sat.) It really didn't take that long but after a week of doing it, I felt like I hadn't gotten to know Barcelona that well so I opted to move to somewhere more in the center (Sant Jordi). I was relieved to leave this place. — MJ (2005-07-05) Forget Las Ramblas! That trash is for stupid tourists who want to get robbed! This is one of the nicest places to stay, and actually for the size of a city that Barcelona is, the public transport system is excellent. This is situated in the neighborhood where the locals live and can give you a good impression of what Barcelona really is, instead of being crammed into the stinky city center. — J, Finland (2005-06-17) It's kind of tough for me to decide how I feel about this hostel. Our first night there they were overbooked, and though we were not the last guests with reservations to arrive, my sister and I were the ones who got bumped...to the floor of the TV lounge! That was really frustrating, and they wouldn't even give us any of our money back. The location is far out of the city, so if you don't know your way around Barcelona, things get interesting, especially after the subways stop running at night! So my first impression of the place was that I wasn't very impressed. But it is a cool little building, the courtyard is nice, and the rooftop area is awesome. Then I had my wallet stolen (in the city on the subway, not at the hostel), and the staff were incredibly helpful (as well as sympathetic!). The bakery up the street with the fabulous chocolate croissants helps the review, too. — Erin (2005-06-06) This was the worst hostel I have ever stayed in. It had nothing going for it. It was expensive and 30 minutes away from Barcelona's city center. It was dirty and had poor staff. I also had a jumper stolen from there. Rubbish. — Pabloq (2005-01-16) This is a hostel is good for someone who is already familiar with Barcelona. I would hate to think someone passing through only for a few days would miss out on how much Barcelona has to offer by staying so far away. But if you want to get away and relax and don't mind missing the unique all-night party atmosphere of this city, then it is nice. — Seattle (2004-11-26) Yes, it's a bit away from the "center," but Barcelona's transportation is great, and it only takes minutes to get to the center from here. It's in a quiet, safe neighborhood. The staff are great, and the house has beautiful, clean showers (one of the best hostel showers I've seen!) It has nice common areas, too, so go there! — Dani (2004-09-25) This place was awesome! It was definitely my favorite hostel while I was travelling. It had great atmosphere and people. It's not that far from the city, and besides, it's nice to get away from the craziness of Barcelona city life. The kitchen was fantastic (free shelf was the best part!!) and there is a grocery store and a bakery really close to the place. I loved chilling outside on the patio after a long day of sight-seeing with nice people and good music! I will stay here again and I highly recommend it, it's just like home!!! — Anonymous (2004-08-11)