Pars Teatro Hostel

I had a fantastic stay at this hostel in Barcelona. The decorations and overall theme were very impressive and added an extra touch to my experience. Its location near La Ramblas, the marina, and metro stations was extremely convenient for exploring the city. However, I must say that the dorm rooms were quite compact and basic, with limited space to move around. The four-person mixed dorm was especially cramped and the bunk beds were not the most comfortable. That being said, the hostel had a quiet and peaceful atmosphere, perfect for relaxing. The kitchen and lounge area were also great for meeting other travelers. The only downside was that the room was quite dusty, so it may be a good idea to keep your belongings off the floor. Overall, I had a pleasant stay here.

Upon my arrival in the evening, after a long day of biking, I inquired about storing my bike during my stay. However, I was informed that the hostel had a strict no bikes policy and was advised to leave it on the streets like everyone else. As this was not an option for me, I disassembled my bike and stored it in a bag which the hostel staff reluctantly allowed me to place in their storage room. However, the next day, I was abruptly told to remove my bike as the owner had seen it on security cameras and was furious. After scrambling to find an alternative storage option, I returned to find my valuable bike left unattended on the street by the hostel staff. This lack of consideration for guest property and the controlling nature of the owner left a negative impression. It seemed that the staff were constantly under surveillance and their actions were closely monitored. I even found it uncomfortable that my purchase of a simple coffee was being closely tracked in their computer system. In short, although the hostel itself was decent, the strict and oppressive management overshadowed my stay.

My friend and I had an amazing stay at this hostel and got the chance to meet some wonderful people and have a pleasant visit. However, we wanted to make sure that all the female guests were aware of a certain individual who is involved with the hostel. This person, Andrés, typically takes guests to clubs and bars at night and is usually present at the hostel. We did get to visit some great places with him, but unfortunately he had an inappropriate manner with many of the women, making us feel very uncomfortable. He asked one of us to dance on him at a club, inquired about someone else's sex life with her partner, asked another to provide him with her room number for him to come over, divulged his impressive physique to us, and frequently lied to young women about his age (he’s actually 29). Additionally, he was very tactile and would use any chance to get close to someone. He made it pretty clear that he took the job just to try and meet up with people. We had to mislead him and say we had boyfriends but it didn’t have any effect on him. Despite this experience, we had an enjoyable time at the hostel. We just wanted to caution any potential female guests about Andrés. Provided that you keep your distance, you should be just fine.

This hostel had a great hangout area with a cool design. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, but sadly, the cleanliness was not up to par. Everywhere we went, there were clothes emitting bad odors. At night, we had to make a choice between having the windows open with no air conditioning but a tolerable smell, or having the windows closed with air conditioning but suffering from really bad odors.

I would give 0 stars if I could. This hotel decided to charge my card for random values before my arrival (which violated what I had agreed to when I booked) and when asked about those values, failed to answer my questions. On top of that, they decided to cancel my booking out of the blue 2 days before my arrival. Special mention to the two staff workers who were extremely unhelpful via email, avoiding all my questions about charges, threatening to cancel my booking and indeed cancelling it 2 days before my stay. They had 0 experience in dealing with customers and no knowledge of the impact that pressing a button on their side to cancel a booking (because they got tired of my questions about their actions) has on someone's plans to visit a different country. Worst experience I've ever had booking/buying something online.