Balarm - Hostel and Bar

I have never taken the time to leave a bad review before but this is the WORST HOSTEL EVER. I have stayed in over 15 hostels and have nothing bad to say about any other ones I have stayed in compared to this one. Staying with Balarm was a nightmare. When we showed up at 10 pm to check in we were told the all female dorm (the dorm we paid to stay in) was full and we would have to stay in the mixed dorm. The worker told us there were no men in our room so we were fine with it. The next morning, multiple men arrived in our room and when asking the front desk staff they said there was nothing they could do since it is a mixed dorm even though they lied and told us there were only girls that would be staying there. We then called the owner (he hung up multiple times and told us to text him) where he repeatedly told us there is nothing they can do and they could give us a refund for our second night if we want to leave (we booked this hostel 2 months in advance and didn’t have a backup plan as nothing like this has ever happened before). After texting the owner back and forth for around 15 minutes, he said his manager can deal with it and BLOCKED us. We decided to bite the bullet and stay in a hotel the second night we were supposed to stay in Balarm because we had such a miserable experience. After talking to a worker when getting our refund for the second night, we learned that this has happened before and it isn’t uncommon. If you are booking an all female dorm, STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. This is seriously unbelievable and unacceptable and nobody should have to deal with this, especially knowing they do this purposefully. I wish I could give lower than a 1 star.

I was a little bit surprised to read the poor reviews here because I found this hostel to be generally around the same standard as most hostels I have stayed in. The staff were friendly though I was a little bit surprised that some of them didn't speak English, but it wasn't a problem at all in the end. The dorm room was clean, as were the toilets and showers. I would have appreciated having a lock on the dorm room: this was the first time I've ever experienced being in a hostel where the dorm room itself couldn't be locked (though there were lockers available for valuables). This is perhaps something to think about for the future, particularly for guests who have booked the female only dorm.

Un hostel lleno de suciedad, incómodo y ruidoso. Yo estuve 6 noches y en mi cama había chinches (toda la estadía con un picazón horrible), además tuve una reacción alérgica a las picaduras. Hice la queja y se desentendieron ("te hubieses quejado antes" (??)). El tratamiento médico me costó 50 € y haberme cagado la estadía en Palermo y mis posteriores días en Madrid no tiene precio. Manga de estafadores! Parece barato pero termina siendo carísimo entrar ahí. No lo hagan.

O hostel é muito bem localizado e os banheiros funcionam bem. Porém os quartos são muito grandes e bem barulhos, fiquei em 2, um possuía pouquíssima ventilação e outro tinha a janela quebrada, então não fechava, não ficava escuro e ainda se ouvia o barulho da rua. A cozinha também é bem suja e o pessoal faz muito barulho depois das 23, por que é um hostel mais jovem, mas mesmo assim acho que devia ter melhor acústica, se a intenção for fazer festa.

Antes de nada, me gustaría contar mi experiencia con Polina, la dueña de Balarm hostel en Palermo, Sicilia. A través de Worldpackers me eligieron para hacer un voluntariado en este hostel y a cambio recibir alojamiento gratis. Horas antes de la llegada, Polina me avisó de que no podía hacer el voluntariado porque estaban en obras (no es muy profesional por su parte avisar horas antes a una persona que ya tiene comprado los vuelos y las pruebas PCR realizadas), pero la dueña me propone quedarme una semana gratis para buscar otra cosa mientras tanto (qué maja!). Cuando llego al hostel estaba todo abandonado, sucio, hacía mucho frío. Hablé con ella y le comenté la situación y se rió, en lugar de darme una solución. Polina me parece una persona maleducada, poco profesional e irresponsable. No aconsejo que os quedéis en este hostel ya que está muy sucio, hace frío y la jefa deja mucho que desear. ¡La limpieza brilla por su ausencia! Adrián Merino