Hostal La Zona

This is a hotel dedicated to gays, lesbians, and adventures before bedtime. The owners expect and even encourage late nights and early mornings, partaking in city festivals such as La Sleazy Week—no translation needed. The motto here: Libertad.

While everyone has a good time, nobody forgets their bedside manners. The hostal prides itself on class and safety. Raging parties on the streets of Chueca stop at the door and surprise overnight guests are not allowed.

Our favorite amenities were the small guest kitchen complete with a microwave and a bottomless fruit bowl. Guests wake up sleepy-eyed and hung over (or not), collect their breakfast goods on a tray, and return to their rooms for breakfast in bed.

In each of the rooms is a double bed, rare in Spain. Thrifty headboards are creatively converted planks of plywood. Rooms are attractive with white walls and mod circular mirrors. In the common areas, furniture is rustic, though touched up by creative accents such as a vintage hanging telephone in the entrance.

While the hostal invites a mixed guest list of gays and straights alike, so do the eccentric streets outside leading up to the city's central vein, Gran Via. Famous Spaniards living across the street share the same curbs as sex workers and the "puti" club nearby.