“Tuesday, 17:00, Toc Hostel games room. Three people playing pool, one reading next to the free-pool table, a pile of board games on the shelf. I racked up, the Swiss guy at the next table (alone) asked if I wanted a game. By the third rack we'd been joined by a French woman who'd been reading her Kindle nearby and an Irish couple who walked down from their dorm. By 18:30 we were all at the hostel bar for the themed 80s-Thursday-eve happy hour. By 22:00 we'd split to Ópera for pinchos. No programmed event, no scheduled crawl. Just: pool table exists, people use it, friendships form.”
Award-winning 9.0-rated hostel on a quiet street in La Latina, 200 m from the metro and 8 minutes on foot from Plaza Mayor. Restaurant, shared kitchen, award-winning front-desk team, and daily pub crawls that sweep through Sol and Malasaña.
8.8-rated hostel one Atocha-metro-stop from the Prado Museum triangle, with a Latin American restaurant on the ground floor, daily happy hour, and themed dinners. Private rooms with balconies, city-view dorms, bar crawls into Lavapiés and La Latina.
Stylish hostel on Plaza de Celenque, 120 m from Puerta del Sol — the literal centre of Spain. Parquet floors, free pool table, themed parties at the bar, and a tour desk running bike tours into Retiro. Private rooms + mixed dorms, all air conditioned.
Backpacker-first hostel on Calle Relatores, 6 minutes from Puerta del Sol and on the Huertas–Lavapiés seam. Strong free-walking-tour programme, themed dinner nights, shared kitchen + kitchenette, happy hour, daily bar crawl.
Toc Hostel's pool table is first-come-first-served and the queue is tracked on a little whiteboard next to the cue rack — add your name, you'll get a game within 20 minutes.
LATROUPE Prado's pool table is in the main lounge which doubles as the breakfast room — play before 11am and you own the table.
Bastardo keeps Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Codenames at the bar — ask the bartender, they hand them out and they'll refill the missing pieces instantly.
Way Hostel's chess sets are on the lounge bookshelf — games run in the afternoon, and the hostel runs a monthly blitz tournament on the last Friday of the month (free, but bring a €2 donation for the café tab).
Generator has foosball in the basement near the reception — it's often ignored because everyone goes to the rooftop first. Best time: 22:30 pre-crawl, when players are warming up for the night.
Ok Hostel's board games are kept behind the reception desk — ask for Catan or Exploding Kittens by name, they have both.
