Hostal Martin is spotlessly clean and perfectly adequate. The rooms are tiny (I don't think I've ever seen a smaller bathroom) but all come with TVs and free wifi. However, the biggest letdown is the paper thin walls. You can hear absolutely everything going on in the rooms next door and outside (the housekeeping staff are very noisy). This usually doesn't bother me, I'm a very heavy sleeper, but here it did. If you don't mind this, its good value for money in a great location very close to a metro station.

I booked for 3 nights with a possible extension of 5 nights. They took my credit card number as a guarantee and promised not to use it if I arrived. On arrival I paid for the first 3 nights upfront, in cash, at the rate they quoted me on the internet. They didn't have a single room available so they gave me a double for the same rate. On the morning of the 3rd day, I went to the office and told them I would stay the other 5 days. That was Thursday morning and I was leaving early on the Wednesday morning. I thought it funny that no-one had asked me to pay for the rest of my days; it was a cash upfront hostel. Sunday I went to the office to pay, I had a busy next few days. The person there told me that my room cost 15Euros a night more than I was quoted and more than I had paid for the 1st 3 nights. So I said that no-one had told me nor given me the opportunity to change to neither a single room nor another hostel and so I wasn't prepared to pay that amount. He was the owner and wanted to talk to his staff. The next night I went down to try to sort things out and I was told that “they had told me”, when i said, "sorry, but that's just not true", the woman in the office got up out of her chair and started screaming and yelling at me. I was scared, I'm not used to being abused, and she was in my face! Because of this I didn't back down, I just left. Luckily I was meeting some Madridians for dinner so they came back to the hotel and in Spanish, we agreed with the owner for me to pay 100E + taxes (IVA) if I left the next morning. This was fine with me. I owed only E100 + E8 for the telephone bill and it was a compromise because according to my first receipt and the internet, the tax was included in the price but this was less than the extra 15E (see receipt photos). To cut a long story short, the next morning I went to the office with cash in hand. The screamer wasn't there. I was told she was pregnant and her hormones were bad (I'm a 58 yr old woman lol). But another man was there and he refused to accept the deal. I made him call the owner and so the story goes on. This took more than ¾ hour. I left happy-ish but exhausted.
The point is what would you do if you were on your way to the airport and they tried to charge you more?
First you would argue, and then you'd give up and pay the higher rate because you'd rather do this than miss your plane.
THIS IS THEIR SCAM and also the taxes! Also there are 2 charges on my credit card. One I think is the telephone bill, and the other for 10 Euro, I have no idea but I hava a good bank. I also had problems with the cleaning lady, but that’s another story (see photo). The location of this hostel however is perfect. They also own Hotel Cervalo and 3 others nearby. My advice if you go to this hostel, pay everything upfront so they can't do this to you.

Yes, the rooms are amongst the cheapest in Madrid and the location is good, but...

in this location there are actually 3 (or even 4) hostals, one on every floor, sharing reservations (without telling their clients?). They even seem to have contracts with other hostals in the street. Chances are you won't get the room you reserved at the Martin, but one in a hostal on another floor or somewhere else in the street (in a hostals, of which you haven't read the ratings).

This can lead to the following situation: I arrived at the hostal, but no room, despite reservation. A flustered front desk guy phoned a guy from one of the partner hostals, then rushed down which forced me to scramble after him down the stairs with my (heavy) suitcase. After waiting at the entrance 10 minutes in vain, where the other guy was supposed to pick me up, the hostal martin guy ordered me back upstairs, because suddenly there was another room available in that building.

A minor detail giving some insight into the strangeness of the place: Apparently the guy at the front desk is working a whole night shift every night in that room with the bright head lamps and a loud constant beep (reminded me of "Lost") every 5 seconds enough to drive anyone insane (The alarm system, apparently).

A not so minor detail: Turned out the room was only free for one night (despite reservation), so I would have to switch rooms. What do you do at 12 at night, with a checkin procedure already lasting 40 minutes and a business date tomorrow at 8. You shut up and go along with the madness. "When you are in the room, call me if you want the air condition turned on". "What?, turn it on now", I said (It was one of those bathtub nights with 32 degrees). I regretted that reply 6 hours later in a freezing cold room, while searching for a nonexistent switch on the AC box. What could one possibly do to an AC that would prompt a hostal owner to remove any setting mechanism. Took 20 minutes under an admittedly well functioning shower to warm me up again. The thing about the TV (besides having no remote), is that it was so big, it blocked the entire surface of the only table in the room, so your suitcase has to go on the floor. And then there was this strange living room next to the entrance that looked like someone's grandmother had died in there, with a huge messy pile of dirty towels on the sideboard that staid there untouched 2 days. Creepy.

Why ruin your belief in mankind by staying in a weird, disorganized place like this. Try some of the hundreds of other hostals in the area, all with great location, all with absolute basic prices, most of them with better service. May I recommend the hostal Cervantes or the Hostal Principado, just as two of many more examples. (This tip is not hearsay, I stayed in both of them)

We booked through a booking agency several weeks in advance but when we arrived at Hostal Martin the receptionist appeared not to recognise our booking existed.

After 20 minutes waiting in a side room he advised us that we had to go to another hostal nearby as his rooms were not available. We were collected and taken to this hostal.

This hostal did not have the facilities we had paid for, eg air conditioning, internet, safe. Having seen other reviews it seems that this happens to other people as well. We still had to pay the full cost of the original booking.

If you don't need the above facilites then the Hostal Nieto is nearby and cheaper and is very clean. If you do need the above facilities then booking with the Hostal Martin will not guarantee them.