The Hostelz.com Review
United World International Hostel is a very cheap youth hostel, and the low price can be easily justified. Where you stay is located in a building fifteen minutes from the reception, so you are all on your own after check-in. Facilities provided are minimal and space is very limited, and there is basically no privacy in the premises. But if you are only looking for a bed under a roof, this should be the most economical choice.
The Location
The actual location of the hostel cannot be found in any other booking site except here -- those listed elsewhere have the address of their reception, but where you actually stay is located at Calle de Desengano, which is fifteen minutes from the reception. Don’t worry, you will be taken to the location by the staff when you check in, and they will teach you how to locate the building you will be staying in and where to find the password of the place. They have to do this, since you will not be given the address of the building and none of the staff will be there.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Rooms are packed with bunk beds -- backpackers with bulky luggage may have difficulties. Lockers are not available, and there are very few electricity points to charge your phones and laptops. Two bathrooms are shared by around three dorm rooms, yet there is nowhere for you to hang your clothes and towels. If you are lucky, hot water is available for shower, but this is not always the case. You'll have to help yourself if there is none, since there is no staff in the facility.
Common Spaces
There are no common areas in the hostel, and not even a place to sit on except the floor of the corridor. The only people you have access to are those with whom you share the bathroom, since other people are staying in other parts of the building. People in the hostel are fun and outgoing, however you should not make noise at night -- if you are being noisy or not behaving well, your angry neighbours will come and complain, and probably call the police. This is not a joke.
Summary
This hostel is really cheap and the location is not bad, but freedom and privacy are quite restricted here. What’s more, your passport and student card (yes, you must be a student!) are photocopied at check-in, and cheap price does not always equal good deal.
The Location
The actual location of the hostel cannot be found in any other booking site except here -- those listed elsewhere have the address of their reception, but where you actually stay is located at Calle de Desengano, which is fifteen minutes from the reception. Don’t worry, you will be taken to the location by the staff when you check in, and they will teach you how to locate the building you will be staying in and where to find the password of the place. They have to do this, since you will not be given the address of the building and none of the staff will be there.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Rooms are packed with bunk beds -- backpackers with bulky luggage may have difficulties. Lockers are not available, and there are very few electricity points to charge your phones and laptops. Two bathrooms are shared by around three dorm rooms, yet there is nowhere for you to hang your clothes and towels. If you are lucky, hot water is available for shower, but this is not always the case. You'll have to help yourself if there is none, since there is no staff in the facility.
Common Spaces
There are no common areas in the hostel, and not even a place to sit on except the floor of the corridor. The only people you have access to are those with whom you share the bathroom, since other people are staying in other parts of the building. People in the hostel are fun and outgoing, however you should not make noise at night -- if you are being noisy or not behaving well, your angry neighbours will come and complain, and probably call the police. This is not a joke.
Summary
This hostel is really cheap and the location is not bad, but freedom and privacy are quite restricted here. What’s more, your passport and student card (yes, you must be a student!) are photocopied at check-in, and cheap price does not always equal good deal.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
June 2011
Their Description
United World International Hostel Details
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United World International Hostel Reviews from the WebHostelz.com Guest Reviews
DO NOT STAY HERE Without prejudice. The manager ROBBED me. he is a THIEF. THIS place is DANGEROUS & FILTHY. THIS HOSTEL was deleted by another hostel website. — Irish Matthew , Ireland (2011-08-07) DON'T STAY IN THIS HOSTEL! We stayed in this Hostel for 6 days over new year. The Service was awful and the equipment more or less doesn't exist. The kitchen is very small, the floor is narrow, and there are only two bathrooms. The bathrooms also includes the toilets. You have to share two bathrooms with 34 persons when the hostel is full. So you have to wait for ages for a simply go to the toilet. In the rooms aren't lockers, which you can lock by yourself. So you have to use the installed safes, which cost for every closure 1€. But you have to lock up your valuable things, because in this hostel seems to be stealing a famous hobby. From our group a camera, a backpack, a passport, and a boarding pass were stolen. From 11 till 14 o'clock you have to leave the hostel, because it's the cleaning time. But our rooms weren't clean after this time. Ok, the bathrooms were cleaned, but why the hell they need three hours for this and all guests have to leave?! It's absurd. But the worst was the owner of the hostel. He seems to be a criminal or a freak. On the Checkout he cursed us as "F***ing Nazis" and "F***ing germans"! Then he calls the police. We don't know why! Fortunately we could "escape" before they arrived. Perhaps he is a choleric person or he snuffed to much of his own drugs. I don't know. But it was freaky and very scary! Conclusion: DON'T STAY IN THIS HOSTEL! — Juliosos , german (2011-01-11) PLEASE READ BEFORE BOOKING! All information for this hostel you find on the internet, both on their official site as well as any booking agent sites, will provide details for the hostel itself. HOWEVER, they also operate out of the university residence when it is not in use. This location differs VASTLY from the actual hostel! Notably there is no kitchen (we are even yet to find running water apart from the sink in our bathroom) and no air conditioning! Additionally we paid 50% extra for our second night despite our sleeping arrangements changing none whatsoever. The staff themselves may yes be powerless in this case but when we approached the owner/operator he confronted us and told he we were lucky to be here at all! I pushed that we were happy to have a roof over our head but tried to make him understand that we found it unfair that we were paying for things, things that were advertised as included, that were not in fact provided and that we were actually staying in a completely different building to what we booked the hostel in the first place under the pretence of. He was not empathetic at all and simply offered to refund our deposit if we wished to try and "find a place in as good a location for as small a cost". Will never return and am very glad to be writing this review! — Anonymous , Australian (2010-08-21) Somewhat small, but enjoyed my stay the hostel is indeed quite small -- 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, and 2 bathrooms. it didn't get too crammed with people though because people were out most of the time. make sure to shower at weird times -- with only 2 bathrooms, it was impossible to use them in the morning. i showered around 4 in the afternoon all 3 days and i was practically the only one in the hostel. the location was nice in terms of being conveniently near places to go/see, but it is RIGHT above plaza de espana which is a huge intersection -- cars honking at each other and ambulances all night, but this IS madrid so its never quiet anywhere. i was REALLY warm a couple nights, i think there was AC but it wasn't on. it was really clean, and the kitchen was really convenient. met some cool people here, especially in the 14 bed dorm. overall, it was a bit crammed but i REALLY enjoyed the atmosphere. — Anna Kawski , United States (2010-07-06) DO NOT STAY HERE! This hostel is disgusting, mismanaged, and a disgrace. Rude Staff. Unclean. Charged us for the full amount! (We left 2 minutes after we arrived and stayed elsewhere). Do not stay here. I cannot stress that enough. — Colin , Britain (2010-01-16) Not ambitious, but clean and friendly I stayed here for five days in september. It is very small, no place to sit, drink or smoke, but is is a very nice hostel. Bathroom is very clean and the staff are overall friendly (it is a family business). Actually, we met one of the owners in the middle of the night in the famous chocalade cafe, a nice fellow from South America. Looking for small cozy hostels for meeting people, this is great, for facilities and luxury, this is not your spot. The Location is perfect. The Grand Via is absolutely the centre of Madrid, its location is something like around time square or picadilly circus. One tip. If you want to drink and hang out and meet young madrilanos at night, go into the park, placa espana, across the street wait after 11:30 p.m. and the park is full of young people, great fun! — John , Netherlands (2009-05-08) This hostel is well located at the main avenue of Madrid. Staff is very friendly. Breakfast ok! But every morning there are long queues in front of the two bathrooms (included shower and toilet). So please take a shower in the afternoon after the cleaning time (from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. -- during this time you can't stay in the hostel). But all in all it was a nice, clean hostel with funny music in the morning. — Jen&Jess (2006-10-01) I stayed in this hostel for a night in May 2006. The location is good (though very noisy), as well as their complimentary breakfast. However, the staff is not very fiendly (especially one guy who woke us up in the middle of the night to tell us that actually we could stay one more night because they had had a cancellation). The kitchen is very very small and crowded during "peak hours". It is the same with the 2 bathrooms (for about 20 people), and the toilets are not separated from the bathroom (but both are clean). Beware of bed bugs! — Elodie (2006-08-20) I came with ten friends and we had a blast. The staff were extremely friendly, as were all the other people staying there. We had free drinks the first night! The location was great; we walked everywhere. I would recommend this hostel to anyone. — Elise (2005-02-02) This place is clean all right. They mop it up every hour or so. The rooms are relatively cozy and funky, even the round one with 14 beds or so. The location is superb, right near Metro and within walking distance to all shops on Gran Via, Sol, Royal Palace, etc. Then again, Central Madrid is pretty walkable in general. I cannot give the place 5 stars because there is very little room to socialize, as the only communal space is the tiny kitchen. People seem to commingle in the rooms instead. Also, they kick you out at noon for cleaning, which is not a bad thing by itself. They seem quite paranoid to keep it quiet in the evening, too, although the street noise from outside is loud enough to disturb sleep. But if cleanliness is important to you, make this place your pick. — Damon (2004-11-29) There are two reasons you don't get the 5th star from me! The place is small, like the inside of a submarine, and has only two bathrooms (so there's waiting and twisting). Otherwise, what a great place to stay. What a location! — Tom (2004-10-23) This place was excellent. I stayed here in June 2004, and was extremely impressed with what I found.
The dorms are very clean and cozy, and all have a nice balcony view. The kitchen is small, but very nice. Breakfast is bread and coffee, but the atmosphere is relaxed and there are no limits. The bathrooms are extremely good, though there are only two, which means you'll more than likely be waiting in line. The bog [toilet] and showers are in the same room, which adds to the hassle, especially in the morning. My suggestion to beat this: enjoy the Spanish nightlife, stay out late partying, and then get up late, after the main rush for bathrooms is over!
The family-staff are incredibly friendly, and security is pretty good. There are only small, coin-operated lockers, but with staff present at all times, you won't have too many problems.
The location is excellent, too. It's quite close to the center of town, and right near a main point on the underground. Very handy!
The place can get a bit crowded, and while I was there, the large number of Americans, "Typical Yankees," was a tad annoying, but everyone was still very friendly. I can definitely recommend this place, so make sure you book early! — Aussie Luke (2004-10-02) The place is clean and the kitchen is nice, but it's really small and there are only two bathrooms for about 25 or so people. The location is also nice. — Anonymous (2004-06-02) The cleanest and friendliest hostel I've been fortunate to come across! — Savvvy (2004-03-11) Very attractive, brand-new, family-run hostel in a wonderful, bustling location. Everything is pretty clean and well-maintained. The only shortcomings are that it can be a bit noisy on the weekends, and it only has two bathrooms because it is so small. But overall, I highly recommend it. You'll feel at home there right away! — Anonymous (2004-03-01)