Superior Double Room, Balcony | Egyptian cotton sheets, down duvets, Tempur-Pedic beds, minibar
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Reviews of Abalu Boutique & Design Hotel

3 out of 5
Abalu Boutique & Design Hotel
Calle Pez, 19, Madrid, Madrid

Reviews

7.6

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 33 out of 115 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 42 out of 115 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 23 out of 115 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 8 out of 115 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 9 out of 115 reviews" "

8.0/10

Cleanliness

8.2/10

Staff & service

6.4/10

Amenities

7.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

6.8/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

6/10 Okay

Marilyn

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Disappointing
Clearly still having a lot of work done on improvements which was disappointing. The quality of the rooms, bathrooms was poor. Our toilet door consisted of an unpainted sheet of hardboard with a handle screwed onto it which you couldn't close anyway.
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023

8/10 Good

Gregory

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Diana

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Excelente ubicacion, el personal muy amigable, dormitorios muy bien decorados solo le falta un mini bar para ser perfecto.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2022

8/10 Good

Joanna

Travelled with family
Liked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
The hotel and my room were beautifully designed. A marvel for the eyes! There was even a bath in my room. However the TV did not work nor the projector. ( I had hoped to watch a movie). Shower could also have been cleaned a little more thoroughly (hair in one corner). The staff was generally nice but my room was not ready at 3 pm —which is already a late check in — and there was a bit of a wait. No big deal in the best of times — but I was tired after an international trip. Room for improvement!
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2021

6/10 Okay

Mdbel, New York, NY

Travelled with partner
The bathrooms are so incredibly small my husband kept hitting his head against the wall in there-almost claustrophobic. The showers don’t have a place to set down the shampoo bottle. The carpet feels old but the bed is comfortable.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020

8/10 Good

Mark

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
buzzy part of town
Great location in Malansana, a buzzy part of town. The check in was a bit torturous!
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
nice boutique hotel... in the center of malasania madrid my room was perfect, the team of the hotel are so nice and kind, breakfast was very good, wi-fi was very good... realy like this hotel i will come again for sure
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2019

8/10 Good

mary ann

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2019

8/10 Good

Nicole

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hotel was walking distance from the main strip . The staff was friendly the whole stay . The staff did little things like give us a welcome gift with water and sweets which was extremely nice . The rooms have been retro fitted to be comfy and they were clean . The room was a little quirky and the shower was strong and plenty of hot water .
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019
Response from Community manager on 24 Oct 2019
Dear Nicole, Thank you very much for take your time sharing your experience. We would like to have the opportunity to welcoming you again King Regards

6/10 Okay

j

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Amenities
Our reason for staying at this hotel was its location, which is excellent. The room was clean and comfortable. We got upsold on a pricier room, which we were told was excellent and equipped with things like a jacuzzi and a projector. None of these additional luxuries actually worked. (Incidentally, neither did the coffee maker in the room.) A word to the wise: if you're staying here, go for a no frills approach. What makes the place good is its location. Perfect if you want to stay in the neighborhood of Malasaña. Otherwise, as for the rooms and service, no complaints at all. Totally pleasant and clean.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2019
Response from Community Manager on 24 May 2019
Thank you very much for your review. We regret to hear abaout the jacuzzi and projector not working. We have Mantenience department we will sort this incident out with Front Desk. We are glad about you enjoying the stay despite of the jacuzzi and we hope see you soon again in Madrid. Best regards,

10/10 Excellent

Sandi

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice Gem of a Place
Very neat, tidy, friendly boutique hotel. Loved it and would highly recommend it. Very neat decor and helpful staff. They left a sweet pastry and bottle of water at my door for check out.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2018

8/10 Good

Jacquelyn

The hotel was on a quieter street in this popular neighborhood, easy to get to from the metro. Nothing extraordinary but perfect for a few nights stay and priced accordingly.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2018

10/10 Excellent

Waldyr

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2018
Response from Director Comercial on 28 Jun 2018
Thanks for staying with us. We appreciate your feedback!

8/10 Good

Sean

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
I'll go back, it's a good find!
On first Impressions this is a great little find with pretty impressive VIP rooms but they are starting to get a little tired. Had an issue where the shower wouldn't turn off but this was dealt with quite quickly. A colleague also stayed but had a std room and this was on the side of very tired and needed a bit more cleaning or a refresh to say the least. Location was great and a short walk from the Royal Palace, the theatre district and some very good bars and restaurants. I would stay here again as long as I upgraded the room.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice and quirky
Roomy quirky unique quaint , great location, staff, & breakfast. Awesome for the price.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2017

6/10 Okay

ALI

Liked: Cleanliness

6/10 Okay

Sarah

Nice Visit
Overall the experience was managable. There was a local supermarket to buy things needed...like water. Location was in an area that many locals lived on, so that was different since it was not in a location of many tourist. However, it is only a 5 to 7 minute walk to the main road where all the tourist attractions are. The carpet was kinda dirty and the sink leaked. The air conditioner was good and the waterfall shower was a plus. Note. It is cheaper to just get a taxi to and from this hotel and not use their shuttle. The staff I must say was nice. The wifi not so much, ended up using my own wifi system that I rented for my visit.

10/10 Excellent

Krzysztof, Kołobrzeg

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Madrid Abalu
Great location. Boutique hotel not like anything else. Beautiful stone curved bath, projector screen and Mac mini in the room. Me-happy!!!!!

6/10 Okay

Ana, San Diego

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Cheap for cheap
We had problems with keys, the door didn't lock. Very small room.

6/10 Okay

Holly, Brighton

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wouldn't recommend
Hotel was pleasant enough and only a short walk from the centre. However the room was extremely dark and was little if any natural light that could come into the room. Furthermore upon booking we selected a room that said we would have a balcony however we did not. Was okay for the stay however would not stay again.

8/10 Good

J, Fort Lauderdale

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
location location location
Less than a minute to local metro. Could walk anywhere within minutes. Modern hotel with pleasant staff.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Great Location, Cool Place
Near the main hub, Gran Via, vibrant neighborhood, Nice people

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Madrid/ Malasana
The hotel is located in the gay district of the city about 10/15 minutes walking to the tourist areas. The actual hotel is nice but my room need maintenance.

2/10 Terrible

Fanta, Los Angeles

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Abalu is a 2 stars hotel in reality.
This hotel is barley a two stars hotel. My room was smelly and supper small. Location was good.

8/10 Good

Tracey, Palma de Mallorca

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Trendy hotel - well decorated.
Good location, you can walk easily to the plaza de españa where you can use the hop on hop of bus to get around. Trendy hotel, the room was small but very well decorated and furnished. There is a cute little bar, we didnt use it, but it added to the overall feel of the hotel. Not sure I would stay again because we prefer to try something different, but I would recommend this hotel to someone else for sure. Loved Madrid especially the Latin quarter....

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good - nice touch with free beer

10/10 Excellent

Craig W, Dallas, TX

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Accomodating and Unique!
Upon arrival, we learned that we had rooms in 2 different buildings. Since we were traveling with our 3 teenage children, we didn't feel comfortable being in a foreign country and staying in separate buildings. The two wonderful ladies working at the check-in desk moved my husband and me from our small room with a full bed into an apartment next to our children's apartment at no extra charge. They said they didn't not want our children to be afraid being by themselves across the street and insisted on us moving next to them. I would highly recommend Abalu to anyone staying in Madrid. Each room is uniquely decorated and very comfortable. The neighborhood is filled with many unique restaurants, bars and shopping. We would definitely stay there again.

4/10 Poor

DIMITRIOS, London

Disliked: Staff & service, room comfort
Not a 4star, great location though!
Excellent location, walking distance to many interesting places (touristic attractions or bars & restaurants). My double room petit, was really small and not equivalent for 4stars! In the same room with your bed, you get a shower cabinet and a toilet in a closet ... again not good enough for 4stars. If it was not the location I wouldn't reccomend it at all.

8/10 Good

Juan, Puerto Rico

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Special.
Room on the smaller side bit typical of the area. The neighborhood was awesome and different. Nice places to eat or buy groceries. The hotel has probably the fastest wifi in Madrid. A/C in our room was weak. They offered a fan until looked at and that did the trick. Very pleasant staff.

8/10 Good

LUIGI

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

8/10 Good

conor, Dubljn

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice stay
Very nice helpful staff. Rooms are very nice design. Great location and meighbourhood. Only down side is the door to the bathroom is a sliding door which didnt close properly.

8/10 Good

SS, Boston, Ma

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A real find!
This is a unique place with a young vibe in a neighborhood which is very authentic, yet near the city center. Rooms are more like suites-each unique. Service is very professional, multi-lingual and responsive. It was a perfect stay for the one night we had in Madrid. It did not feel corporate, but gave us a real sense of the city. We had a wonderful casual dinner down the street, and there were grocers on the block, many theater options, and quick access to the Metro. We would stay here again! Flower power and Carnaby Street come to mind with the decor...but it worked-comfortable rooms, with many extras (e.g., sunken jacuzzi, good lighting, extra spaces). Breakfast was delightful, too.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice room in neat neighborhood. .breakfast not worth money for American standards but otherwise very happy with stay.

8/10 Good

Austinite in Spain

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Really cool place to stay.
You cannot beat the location and friendliness of the staff. And the rooms are so brilliantly decorated. I want to hire the interior designer if this place. Because it is a boutique hotel, there were certain amenities that were missing-- like soap and shampoo. But I would definitely recommend this place and stay here again. It was a breath of fresh air from chain hotels.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Good hotel, great location
The reason to stay at this hotel is the location - central enough to walk anywhere and with great restaurants and bars nearby. The hotel itself was clean and comfortable. Our room's decor was starting to look a bit tired, and there was very little natural light from the small courtyard facing room. No toiletries were provided which was pretty poor given the prices - it's a fairly standard thing to expect with hotels of this quality and meant we had to purchase some whilst there. Overall I think a bit over priced for the standard and needs some work done to smarten it up, but we loved the area.

10/10 Excellent

yaito, seoul

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
great!!! superb
we wer upgrade into a fantastic presidential suite with more than 1200 feet, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, great living area... we loved it so much, even standard rooms look cute but obviously much smaller comparing to ours.... room service is great and fast!!! furniture and interior design is outstanding!!!!!

10/10 Excellent

james, chicago

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
outstanding!!!!
Most attentive, best service I've ever had in any hotel experience outside of a resort. Quiet, clean room, well maintained and updated. It is well designed for the space to where it did not feel like I was bumping into things or claustrophobic (that's a lot to say for a Madrid hotel). The hotel is beautiful and has great architectural and design details in the lobby and hotel room. The location is fabulous - central , close to an Avenue but not on it (thereby avoiding the noise from traffic). If you want a no nonsense, relaxed stay in madrid and are willing to pay a little more for that guarantee, stay at the Abalu Hotel. It's especially worth it for a short stay - why pay just as much for low-to-no quality and be further from the action?

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
excellent place
stone bathtubes!!!!! I have never been in a hotel with that equipment... we also had one of those leather barcelona chairs (that my mum loves a lot) Guys, it is a gorgeous place, real style in the middle of the city.

10/10 Excellent

amandine, lille

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
***** to me
you get much more for what you pay (unless in my case), rooms have great deco, large and nice fittings, very clean, extremelly nice staff and perfectly located... do you need more?
bath

10/10 Excellent

Mia, Bielefeld, NRW

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
amazing
it is a gem, amazing interior design and services.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
very beautiful rooms and suites very large
we enjoyed very much our stay, we will recommend this hotel for all our japanese friends.

4/10 Poor

Ananda, Austin, TX

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Has seen better days
We were very excited to check in after reading all the good reviews and the hotel was even mentioned in our Lonely Planet guide. Unfortunately we were let down. Let me start off with the good. The staff was friendly and helpful even helping us get into Calle 30 after being turned away for dinner. The problem was the room. We first received a room on the 1st floor. It smelled bad so we asked to be moved to another room. The staff was very accomodating and even gave us a much bigger room which unfortunately smelled even worse. It reeked of mildew. The carpet was stained and dirty. The light fixtures in the bedroom were coming apart and quite dusty. Just not the welcome home feeling we were hoping for. I'm sure this hotel was amazing 10-15 years ago, but it is badly in need of some maintenance and upkeep. We checked out early because the smell was unbearable. We were offered a third room across the street but didn't want to take any chances.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
This hotel is highly rated on every site so we thought it would be a great place to stacasey. It is a great location that is close to some nice neighborhoods to explore. Some of the saff were very helpful, but most of them seemed to be bothered when you asked them a question. The rooms were dirty with dust in evry corner and hanging from the lights. The bathroom doors were sliders and would not completely close, they also were about ready to fall of the hinges. The mirrors that are surrounding the TV(they covered the TV cabinet in mirrors) were broken from the bathroom door slamming into it. The closet doors also wouldn't close because the were broken. The rooms also had a very bad smell to them that wouln't go away even with the windows open to air the room out. We let the staff know about some of the issues and nothing was done about anything. The grout in the bathroom floor was also black when it was supposed to be grey(at least that was the color under the sink). We stayed in 4 other hotels during our trip and had excellentservice and rooms, this place was horrible, I would suggest looking anywhere but here for a room.

4/10 Poor

JESS, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
AWFUL - GO ELSEWHERE
If you are looking for luxury and the "boutique" experience, THIS IS NOT THE PLACE. it is hidden behind one of the main streets in the city, and the taxi cab driver lets you know right away to be careful because it is a bad neighborhood. the room itself is decent - however the bathrrom - IS SOOO DREADFUL! AWFUL, and I would never wish it on any traveler. the bathroom consists of a shower IN the bedroom the size of a closet. the toilet is IN THE BEDROOM, it is just not right that they do not let you know that when you book. i would not go back, i would not recommend it.

6/10 Okay

Giuseppe, London

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort

2/10 Terrible

Patrick

Business traveller
Price and quality don’t match at all
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2023

6/10 Okay

Yaiza

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Great staff and location - room not so great
Super nice staff, very friendly and helpful. And the location is perfect. But our room was smelly, and there was a machine next to it continuously making a lot of noise, so opening the windows to refresh the atmosphere was not an option. Also, we had booked a room for three guests but were informed that a supplement was required in order to install a third bed. Not a big deal, but not nice.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

MARIA

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Muy agradable y buena ubicacion
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023

4/10 Poor

Ruben

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Xxx
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

Uwe

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Wunderschönes Zimmer. Alles perfekt
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2022