June 10th, 2004 | The lowdown by Jara Gatti

The Difference between "Hostel" and "Hostal"

We learned rather quickly that in Spain and Portugal, it's almost unnecessary to stay in dorm-style hostels (unless you like sharing your room with 6 other smelly, snoring strangers who stumble in drunk at 3 am, of course).

In Spain, the hostal, or residencia, a 1- or 2-star hotel or boardinghouse, is a cheap and private alternative. The ones we stayed in always had friendly people behind the counter who were happy for our business (of course, this may have also been because we were there in March, but hey), clean rooms and no lock out. We'd get a triple and 2 of the girls would share a bed (none of the proprietors seemed to have a problem with this). These places averaged out to €10 or €12.50 per person, and in some cases even less, which is cheaper than your average hostel, too.

In Málaga, we stayed at the Avenida, which was very centrally located and close to the pedestrian area. Málaga is a town in the Costa del Sol area that has some beautitul architecture and a huge, crumbling palace with a roman amphitheater that you can wander around in for €1.50. Of course, if you're too lazy to hike up the mountain to get there, you can always chill out at the beach the Costa del Sol is famous for.

Hostal Residencia "Avenida"
Alameda Principal 5
95 221 7728