Arriving in Madrid for the first time can be a daunting experience, especially when you have nowhere to stay. I found this out for myself, when I arrived in Madrid a few weeks ago. If you’re taking one of the more intensive courses at Inhispania, the website is a helpful place to start when it comes to finding accommodation and is also a great way to relieve yourself of all the stresses that come with it. But if you’re planning to stay in Madrid for a bit longer or even if you just fancy seeing all the options for yourself, you have come to the right place.
First of all it’s important to consider all your options. I would say there are more or less five: staying in a hotel, finding a slightly cheaper “hostal”, living with a family (more commonly known as a homestay) or finding a room in an apartment.
Hotel: Trivago is a great website to use when looking for a hotel http://www.trivago.co.uk. With easy-to-use tick boxes and sliders, you can tailor your search to your exact needs. It will also tell you about any current offers or price reductions and show you a price comparison which will enable you to get the best possible deal. It’s always worth going direct to the hotel’s website as well, which will give you more detailed information regarding the hotel’s location and facilities.
Hostel: On a similar note, http://www.hostelbookers.com/ is the perfect site to start with if you’re on a bit more of a budget. With clear customer ratings to help you avoid another stay in a room that screams “PRISON CELL” (we’ve all been there), you really can’t go wrong!
Homestay: Staying with a family is a great way to immerse yourself in a new culture from the word go, and seems to be an option that not everyone is aware of. I am living in Madrid as part of my Erasmus year and chose to live with a host family for the first couple of weeks in order to refresh my (very limited) Spanish before starting my job with Inhispania. I found http://www.homestaybooking.com/ a really easy website to use but be aware that after creating your profile you will no doubt be flooded with “invitations” to stay with various families. It might therefore be advisable to connect it to an email account you don’t use so often and you can delete your profile when you’ve found a family. This site is also definitely worth a look https://www.airbnb.co.uk/.
Finding a room or apartment: If you’re looking for something a little more permanent (somewhere you don’t need to worry about waking the baby when you stumble in at four in the morning) the best option is to rent a room in an apartment. Whether you’re looking to live with Spanish students to improve your Spanish and experience “la vida loca”, to live with young professionals for a bit more peace and quiet or to rent out a studio apartment, there are plenty of sites to help you find the perfect place. My personal favourite is http://www.idealista.com/ because you are able to limit your search, but others recommended I use http://www.pisocompartido.com/, http://www.easypiso.com/ and http://madrid.loquo.com/es_es. Give them all a go and see what suits you best! Again, be aware that you will probably be bombarded with emails if you put up an advert (especially if you’re a native English speaker) but don’t dismiss them all!
Helpful hints and advice:
Hostel: On a similar note, http://www.hostelbookers.com/ is the perfect site to start with if you’re on a bit more of a budget. With clear customer ratings to help you avoid another stay in a room that screams “PRISON CELL” (we’ve all been there), you really can’t go wrong!
Homestay: Staying with a family is a great way to immerse yourself in a new culture from the word go, and seems to be an option that not everyone is aware of. I am living in Madrid as part of my Erasmus year and chose to live with a host family for the first couple of weeks in order to refresh my (very limited) Spanish before starting my job with Inhispania. I found http://www.homestaybooking.com/ a really easy website to use but be aware that after creating your profile you will no doubt be flooded with “invitations” to stay with various families. It might therefore be advisable to connect it to an email account you don’t use so often and you can delete your profile when you’ve found a family. This site is also definitely worth a look https://www.airbnb.co.uk/.
Finding a room or apartment: If you’re looking for something a little more permanent (somewhere you don’t need to worry about waking the baby when you stumble in at four in the morning) the best option is to rent a room in an apartment. Whether you’re looking to live with Spanish students to improve your Spanish and experience “la vida loca”, to live with young professionals for a bit more peace and quiet or to rent out a studio apartment, there are plenty of sites to help you find the perfect place. My personal favourite is http://www.idealista.com/ because you are able to limit your search, but others recommended I use http://www.pisocompartido.com/, http://www.easypiso.com/ and http://madrid.loquo.com/es_es. Give them all a go and see what suits you best! Again, be aware that you will probably be bombarded with emails if you put up an advert (especially if you’re a native English speaker) but don’t dismiss them all!
Helpful hints and advice:
- If you’re looking to find an apartment, always wait until you’re here in Madrid to start looking. You don’t want to sign for anything that you haven’t actually seen with your own eyes!
- Make sure you have at least one week’s worth of accommodation booked (and have a back-up for the second) so you don’t find yourself on the streets after a few days of unsuccessful searching!
- Be aware of property owners who use the same pictures again and again. If it looks too good to be true, it unfortunately probably is!
- Try not to be too fussy- if you find something you like, go for it!
- There are really helpful notice boards in both of Inhispania’s schools, which quite often have adverts for empty rooms.
- Do not despair! You will find something. If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again!
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario