My Favourite Party Hostels in Barcelona!

When I was in Barcelona for two weeks, to keep things interesting, I decided to stay at a few different hostels. I figured since every hostel has a different vibe, it would be an interesting way of seeing different parts of Barcelona, and meeting different travellers. One thing I’ve discovered about hostels too in Barcelona is that they’re surprisingly cheap compared to other parts of Europe! Most hostels I stayed at there ranged around 8 to 11 euros, and all of them were a lot nicer than the 30 euro hostel I stayed at once in Paris.

And so, I ended up staying at five different hostels (and I also tried Couch Surfing for two nights! more about that in another upcoming post)…some were fun, and some not so fun. Which hostels are the best for partying? Which is most worth its value? Check out my verdicts below!

Equity Point Gothic

This was the first hostel I stayed at in Barcelona and right away, I loved the walls they had separating each bunk bed. I’ve never seen a hostel that had this, and it made me feel like I had a little room to myself. In your “room” you also get a small dresser, table light, and plug, so you can charge your electronics without worrying about theft. And at night, you can always draw your curtains to go to sleep.

While I read some reviews from those who hated the walls since it isolates the people in the room and makes it to make friends, I thought it was easy enough to make friends in the common room. They also offer pub crawls! (Although not on the days I was there). The hostel is also located right in the gothic district, which is great if you want to check out the Picasso Museum, and it’s not too far from La Rambla.

Social atmosphere:  8/10      Cleanliness:  7/10      Location:  8/10     Overall:  7.5/10

Sant Jordi Alberg

This hostel was really hard to find since (like a lot of hostels I’ve discovered in Barcelona) it’s located on the 2nd floor of a residential building. So while I was looking at a big flashy hostel entrance, I actually had to look above me to find their little sign. Being part of a chain of different Sant Jordi hostels, the Alberg one is located right downtown and known to be one of the biggest party hostels in the city.

They also have three large common rooms, as well as a dining room and big kitchen…making it super easy to meet people. Plus, every night, they have a pub crawl and offers free entry to some of the most popular clubs in Barcelona. As a tip, you should always take advantage of the free club entries that hostels offer because clubbing is really expensive in Barcelona (unless you know some cute Spanish guys) – just cover at most clubs will cost 15-25 euros!

Social atmosphere:  10/10      Cleanliness:  8/10      Location:  9/10     Overall:  9/10

Twenty-tu 

This is by far the cleanest and nicest hostel I’ve ever stayed in. Everything in the hostel looks brand new, and the rooms are so spacious! Did I mention that the largest rooms they have are 4-bed dorms? And staying in one of those only costs 11 euros (which is the equivalent cost of a 8-24 bed dorm everywhere else!). The only catch is that it’s a bit far from the city centre. By metro it’s less than 10 minutes away, but walking, it would take at least 40 mins. Finding the hostel after getting from the metro is also another story….there’s lots of winding streets, which if you’re unlucky, can get you walking in circles before you find the place. One of my friends said it took him 3 hours to find the hostel! (Spanish people give bad directions).

The metro also stops running at midnight (or 2am on the weekends), so it’s a bit tough getting back if you stay out late. The common room also closes at midnight, so it doesn’t make for the best party hostel. On the bright side, being in a 4 bed dorm makes it really easy to make friends, and when the common room is open, the atmosphere is pretty social.

Social atmosphere:  7.5/10      Cleanliness:  10/10      Location:  7/10     Overall:  8.5/10

AWA Barcelona Hostal Céntrico

After staying at Twenty-tu, this hostel was absolutely horrible by comparison. It was one of the dirtiest hostels I’ve stayed at, with only one washroom and one bathroom for everyone staying there. Not to mention they don’t even have a reception area, or a receptionist at all times. Or lockers! The brochure said that it was minutes away from La Rambla by foot, when in reality, it was more like 30.

It was the cheapest hostel I stayed at for 8 euros a night, so you could say that you get what you paid for. But then again in Barcelona, most hostels only cost 2-3 euros more, and the conditions are so much better. Stay away!

Social atmosphere:  3/10      Cleanliness:  0.5/10      Location:  5/10     Overall:  2/10

Kabul

Kabul is known to be the legendary party hostel in Barcelona, so I decided that there’s no better way of ending my trip than staying there for my last night. It definitely is one of the craziest hostel I’ve been to, since the whole ground floor of the hostel gets turned into a crazy club at around 10pm. Since the dorms are all right above, don’t expect to get much sleep as the walls are really thin. Unfortunately, I never got to experience much of the partying there since I spent most of my night at the police station, and didn’t have any id or disposable cash to go out with anyway (more about this in an upcoming post!)

Also, when they said that they were located right in the middle of La Rambla, they weren’t kidding! There’s no kitchen, but to compensate, they offer free breakfast, lunch and dinner at the hostel, which I’ve never seen at any other hostel either!

Social atmosphere:  10/10      Cleanliness:  6/10      Location:  10/10     Overall:  8/10

Have you stayed at a hostel in Barcelona? Which were your favourites?