Hostal Colón

I first stayed in the Hostal Colon four years ago, when I was impressed by the charm of the rooms (full bath with bathtub!), the low price -- and the extraordinarily helpful and friendly young woman Teresa at the front desk, whose English was considerably better than my Spanish. I have returned for 3 months to Antequera, spent hours walking around this charming city and used the easy bus and train connections to take short trips to other places in Spain. I would recommend this town, and this hotel, to anyone. I walk everywhere, and use public transportation to get out of town.

Quirky, wee hotel, but right in the town centre and excellent value for money. Hotel has free wifi and free use of internet on computers on every floor (if you don't want to be weighed down by your gadgets!!) The staff are very helpful and pleasant. The hotel also has aircon - essential for a hot Antequera summer!

hotel was laid back and friendly. A mix of styles and bohemian feel to various areas with ornaments, arm chairs, computers all for clients to use. Felt a bit like student accommodation. very friendly. nice to have fridge in rooms which were large. Could have been cleaner and lighting not great but would certainly stay here again. parking provided in underground garage for 5 euros a day. essential as parking very scarce.

This was just an overnight stop to break the journey but turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. Antequera is quite a large provincial town with plenty of eateries (Hostel Colon did not do food) all reasonably priced and of reasonable quality. Nobody in the Colon spoke English but they all found my theatrical gestures understandable and were very helpful. Colon was situated on main through route but not noisy at night, it is above 2 banks with its entrance in between them, old but not run down.

We spend three nights in Antequera: The first night in this hotel was a nightmare, the other two I slept like a rose. The first night we had the cheapest rooms available, located on the third floor of the hotel. The Lonely Planet described them as rustic, in fact they were worn down, noisy (heard the neighbors having *** all night long), incredibly hot and the mattresses were a joke. Next morning we immediately booked two rooms in the "newer" part of the hostel, which offered very good value for money: spatial, good beds, plus a small fridge. The hotel has a particular feeling with all its dark hallways, could very well serve as setting for the next "Hostel" movie. The people a the front desk were very helpful however.

Parking in Antequera is next to impossible. Hotel has limited parking on first come first served basis but they charge seven Euros per night. We went Holy Week and the evening processions were interesting but road closures meant we had to leave our car on the outskirts of Antequrera and walk in, then go back at about 11:00pm to get it . The hotel does not serve breakfast but there are plenty of places to get a cheap breakfast. Also fridge and microwave is provided for those who want to make simple meals themselves. Most receptionists do not speak English. WiFi internet access is free, a VERY slow computer is provided for those without a laptop. All round good value.

I took a long time to settle on hotels for my stay in Spain. Cost was the driving force , and TripAdvisor was the second driving force of that decision. We decided on Hostal Colon because the reviews were okay and the price was very cheap. Well, you get what you pay for. We traveled around Spain by bus, and although we were confused at first, we eventually found the hotel, which was a 10 minute walk from the bus station. Very easy. It is located on a busy street, but that was the least of our worries. When we arrived we were told to go upstairs and look at 3 rooms and choose the one we wanted. They were all the same price so we chose the biggest one. It had 2 beds, and a large bathroom. The size was great. What was not so great? Well, the safe couldn't be unlocked. They even sent their handyman out to try to unlock it and he couldn't. Also the toilet. Oh, the toilet. My husband and I went within 5 minutes of each other and we quickly learned that you can't flush the toilet less than 10 minutes in between flushes. We thought the toilet was broken at first, and it was so embarrassing. We called up the front desk lady to come look at it (and my husband had done more than #1) and we were so embarrassed. She told us to wait 10-15 minutes between flushes. Wow. The ashtray on the bed stand had chewed gum in it, so that lead me to question the cleanliness of the rest of our room. The bathroom was okay, but could have been cleaner. The hallways smell of cigarettes (as does everything in Spain) thus our room smelled of stale cigarettes. Normally, we aren't too sensitive when it comes to noise, but these rooms have paper thin walls. We heard the couple next door, umm, doing adult things (if you get my drift) for a good 30 minutes. We could hear EVERYTHING. What they saying, and all the noises they were making. I found it funny, but it just illustrated the lack of privacy. One good thing is the location. It is within walking distance of all the sights you will want to see in Antequera. We really enjoyed Antequera very much, so the location is perfect. If you need the internet, there is an internet/business room on each floor, which was nice. We didn't use it however. Overall, if I could do it again, I would spend more money at a nicer place. Cheap isn't always the best decision.