Albergue de Peregrinos de las Benedictinas - Sta. María de Carbajal

An okay experience. This was my first albergue of my first Camino, so when I arrived I felt completely lost. The lady who checked me in helped me get settled and answered a couple questions, but I didn't feel the most welcome. I'm glad I met other pilgrims there, that helped a ton.

Mixed bedrooms, which I'm not a huge fan of, but separate bathrooms/showers which was nice. Didn't feel too stuffy - I think there were fans in the room.

Donativas are not free 10 euro is fare. Read up on Donativas

This Albergue is nominated as a donativo in the Camino tradition & is currently a €10 fee is being forced on pilgrims at this Albegue ; both WISE PILGRIM and GRONZE note that this is a donativo Albergue

I noticed several reviews mentioning that male and female guests are accommodated separately, but in my experience, men were sleeping in the bunks right next to mine. Additionally, the toilet layout was quite confusing — the men’s restrooms were located near the entrance to the women’s area, while the women’s restrooms were by the men’s rooms

No washing machine

Once again, I query negative reviews about municipal Albergues. The welcoming ladies were so kind friendly and funny. If you approach these albergues with good spirit, you tend to get warm happy smiles back. Being a typical municipal Albergue, lots of bunks but good comfortable mattresses and hot showers. The men and women are separated. The kitchen was more than adequate and I had a great night there. The same ladies were still friendly and happy the following morning even though I was still there at 8.15 am.

I was welcomed very warmly even if I didn’t stay here. They let me use the shower to refresh. Big albergue, split up into various rooms. Also big outdoor space. Quiet oase in the middle of the city.

Thank you!!!

Clean and nice with warm showers and a place to dry and wash laundry!

We checked in and were shown the place. The mattress was well worn and thin, there were so many rules, men and women separated, the bathrooms looked dirty and aged. We decided not to stay but even though they will rent out our beds, no money was refunded. We just cut our losses. I am on day 23 of the Camino and this was the worst worn alberque. If you are not as fussy as me, it may be ok for you.

The beds were decent and the fans helped a bit with the heat. The showers were terrible. You cannot control the temp and they went from scalding (so hot you could not possible stand in the water) to icy cold. It was horrible. The pilgrims mass was nice.

When I arrived I accidentally wandered into the dorm before I checked in (the check in table was outside and I didn’t see it as I entered). When I realized, I immediately went to find the place to check in, but as soon as I walked out of the dorm the volunteers yelled at me for being inside without having checked in. When I tried to say that I was confused and didn’t understand Spanish they just continued yelling and angrily asking why I was there. I was very stressed and they didn’t make any attempt to understand my explanation or help me get figured out. It was clearly an honest mistake on my part (and a very easy one to make since the building has like 6 entrances and the check in table is in a courtyard in the back) and eventually I started trying to just leave to find somewhere else to stay because they were being so hostile. It took me bursting into tears for them to stop yelling and take my passport and credentials to let me into the albergue. Plus there’s no temperature controls on the shower and it was far too hot to be in without burning.

I was surprised how quiet and nice it was to sleep here. The beds don’t squeak. It was hot at first but once the air outside cooled off, there are fans in the rooms that will circulate it around. On the womens side, I did t hear any noises all night. It was great. And the volunteers are very nice.

They say men and women are separated but men sleep in the women’s area if they’re a married couple. Lots of snoring and impossible to sleep. Plus people wake up super early at 5:30 to get started. The blessing mass in the evening was nice, breakfast is basic but with donation, and everyone that works there is very kind. However, next time I’ll spend a little more money for a better nights rest.

My friends told me I was crazy for going to this albergue because they read horrible reviews about the place, but I am really happy I didn't listen to them because I had a really nice experience. The hospitaleros were really kind and helpful and now I am happy to be able to recommend this albergue to everyone! (Although I am a bit sad that I cannot get a t-shirt saying "survived sleeping in León" as someone did according to a German pilgrims guide, because it didn't feel like surviving but like a very nice experience!)

Very clean and comfortable. Quiet. Friendly hospitaleros. I appreciated the men/women separate sleeping areas. Well located.

…but thank you for last last two comments…they really made me laugh on a day when I needed a bit of a lift. Bless you both for your humour 🙏😊

They close the doors at 10.30pm, that's a positive. However, they are opening them again at 6am and you get woken up by respectless old farts at 5.30am because of this.
Small donativo breakfast.

It's cheap, it's central, it's clean and staff is friendly. Staffs English not so good but.. Matreses are very thin so it's more or less like sleeping on the floor.