The Top Party Hostels to Book in Madrid, Spain 

With a small in-house nightclub and events laid on for guests including Sangria Party, Free Dinner and Mojito Night, Cats Hostel Sol is aimed squarely at those who came to Madrid with some stamina for nightlife. The hostel sleeps 153 guests in a range of shared rooms of varying bed numbers, from two to 12 (and including one all-female dorm option). It’s worth noting that Cats specialises in group accommodation packages and can arrange help with event tickets, discounts and transport.

In the centre of Madrid, in the vicinity of the Plaza Mayor, this hostel offers private double rooms as well as rooms for groups and shared dorms (including a female-only option). There’s a rooftop bar for a sundowner with a view of the city, and, in the mornings, you can make the most of a breakfast buffet that’s more generous than at many comparable hostels. Ask at the front desk about the many clubs and gigs that they can organise free entry to for guests.

Not far from Palacio Real and Plaza Mayor, this hostel offers suites for two or four guests or a bunted dorm for either six or eight guests. There’s more care and attention to small details in the dorms than in many comparable budget accommodation options, and the communal areas, in particular, are decked out to a much better standard than your average backpacker palace, with fresco feature ceilings and wood panelling.

Stop the press, because this is a hostel with dormitories but no bunk beds – a near-unique quality, which is rightly screamed in all caps on its website. There is a common room and a generous kitchen area for preparing your own meals before heading out for the evening, and the location on Calle de Carmen will set you up for some long nights out in Madrid. This place is consistently well-reviewed by travellers, thanks in part to its friendly staff.

No hostel that calls itself Mad4You could be accused of taking itself too seriously, but someone here is clearly sane enough to have created an appealing, affordable hostel in the desirable Malasana neighbourhood in Madrid, with its own bar and deli on site. There’s a mix of dorms and private rooms with shared bathrooms, which are worth shelling out a little extra for if you can. At full capacity, it can accommodate just 21 guests, so it never feels quite as frenetic as some of the bigger hostels.

Cute details in the dorm and atmospheric, well-equipped communal spaces make the central Madrid outpost from the Safestay group (on Calle de Sagasta) an appealing option for budget accommodation for a weekend of bar-hopping in the centre of Madrid. There are quiet spaces to work, just in case you do need to also finish one last document on your laptop before you put the out-of-office on, but pizza parties and games nights set the tone for socialising.

This is one of the newer hostels in lively Barrio La Latina in Madrid. Wooden bunk beds and crisp white sheets are the generic tick-box elements of the dorm rooms here, but the distinctive, mural-bedecked main common area is more memorable, and OK Madrid was created with the idea of having some communal spaces that are genuinely pleasant enough to spend some time in. Overall, it’s somehow slicker than your usual crash-out-in-a-dorm affair.

In the Centro district, close to the Gran Via Boulevard, this hostel offers a range of rooms from a private twin to a mixed, eight-bed dormitory and several options in between. Spacious, flow-through communal areas with high ceilings avoid the claustrophobic feel of some budget accommodation options, all set up for ease of sitting and chatting with your fellow travellers. Among design nods to music and fashion, the materials and finishing touches are to an above-average standard throughout.

Way Hostel, close to both the centre of Madrid and the cool neighbourhood of Lavapiés, prides itself on being a sociable hostel and offers cheap dinners four times a week, when guests can all muck in and get to know each other. It also provides free sangria, drinking games, walking and tapas tours and flamenco shows. Dorm beds start at €15 (£13).