DreamWeaver
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- (2018)
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Hello, I stayed there Last monte. They have repórter plumbing issues. The albergue was closed. However we have been relocated to sleep in the city gym with matresses and it was really cool!!! Possibly the albergue is already open now.Does anyone have the latest information on municipal albergue of Najera? I heard there was a fire and it is closed for repairs. Is it still closed?
Thanks in advance.
I take issue with your statement that it was dirty. I was a hospitalero there last year and can confirm that the entire albergue was cleaned daily from top to bottom and freshly washed sheets and pillowcases were provided to every pilgrim every day.It wasn't a fire, and the plumbing was a part of it -- the Municipality or the Region or some other Authority closed it down because it had become generally insalubrious, with multiple issues, the bad state of the plumbing and the showers and tap water being indeed a large part of it, but not the only issue. The bedding was in a dilapidated condition, and so on, and it had become just generally quite dirty.
I did hear a rumour walking through the area late last year that they had actually started the renovation work after additional covid delays, and if they're now actively looking for hospitaleros that's good news.
From the above comments, it does not seem like conditions have improved. Bob
I'll take a report from 2023 over one from 2015 anytimeI stayed here last week, can't say I noticed any issues.
OK and thank you -- I am just reporting what I heard.I take issue with your statement that it was dirty. I was a hospitalero there last year and can confirm that the entire albergue was cleaned daily from top to bottom and freshly washed sheets and pillowcases were provided to every pilgrim every day.
Hello!I believe it was a plumbing issue and they were looking for hospis to serve there last week.
Same problem happened in the Albergue Municipal in Zubiri when I stayed there at the beginning of this MayI believe it was a plumbing issue and they were looking for hospis to serve there last week.
That's your guess while my guess is that you could possibly not be more wrongDuring our first camino frances (2015), [...] The albergue in Najera had 47 bunk beds (= 94 pilgrims) in a single room. [...] From the above comments, it does not seem like conditions have improved.
Thank you for your service.I take issue with your statement that it was dirty. I was a hospitalero there last year and can confirm that the entire albergue was cleaned daily from top to bottom and freshly washed sheets and pillowcases were provided to every pilgrim every day.
Sleeping in the city gymwe have been relocated to sleep in the city gym with matresses and it was really cool!!!
Thanks -- the one time I stayed there was in 2005 (it was completo in 2014, non-existent in 1993 & 1994, closed in 2021 and last winter), and I can certainly remember the cramped conditions. We did have much poorer quality mattresses, but otherwise that piccie is overall much like it was back then -- though I do wish we had had those sheets !!Even before the renovation, my recollection of that albergue was not bad at all. The place was clean. That's why I plan to go back.
The only thing was that the dorm was pretty cramped as you can see from the picture
I served as a hospitalero there last October. No bed bugs, sheets/pillow cases washed EVERY day, all rooms swept, mopped and sanitized EVERY day. Remember, bed bugs can be carried from one place to another and are not necessarily a sign of a place being less clean than another. The albergue itself now has roughly half the beds as before (54) but that still means bathrooms will still seem to be crowded simply because there are so many pilgrims. Our charge was $ 6 euros for the night which seems to me to be a bargain considering you’re getting a bed (with real sheets) a kitchen with utensils to cook meals, showers and bathrooms. I had many pilgrims leave in the morning telling me that this had been their favorite albergue yet.During our first camino frances (2015), my wife and I stayed in the municipal albergue in Najera. It tied with the municipal albergue in San Juan de Ortega (also dank, smelly, dirty with bathrooms and beds in poor conditions) as being the worst albergue we stayed in during our camino. The albergue in Najera had 47 bunk beds (= 94 pilgrims) in a single room. It was completely full. The ventilation was terrible and sound carried throughout the night with non-stop coughing, snorting, farting, burping. The restrooms were cramped, with only one rest room for men and one for women. For the men, one of the three showers was broken. We vowed to never stay there again. During a subsequent camino, we ran into a couple that had planned to serve as hospitaleros at the Najera municipal, but learned shortly after they arrived that bedbugs were everywhere, so the municipal had to be shut down. From the above comments, it does not seem like conditions have improved. Bob
Agreed. I was an hospitalero there in Oct 2022 and April 2023. Many pilgrims wrote in the book and told me in the morning that it was one of the cleanest albergues that they had stayed in thus far.I take issue with your statement that it was dirty. I was a hospitalero there last year and can confirm that the entire albergue was cleaned daily from top to bottom and freshly washed sheets and pillowcases were provided to every pilgrim every day.
We stayed here on our first Camino in 2005I am the FICS person in charge at Albergue Municipal de Najera. I am glad I came upon this thread well after the false rumors were quashed.
"The authorities" NEVER shut down the albergue. There was never a fire there. Things did get pretty crowded and rundown, even before Covid closed everything down for two years. The albergue we took over in 2021 was in a hair-raising condition.
Much work has been done by many people. The plumbing has been upgraded, the sanitary conditions much improved, many mattresses and bed frames replaced. A lot more work remains to be done, but we are few, money is tight, and we all are volunteers.
The biggest credit for the transformation at Najera goes to the hospitaleros who work there. It's an older place, things go wrong, machines break down, tempers fray. But the volunteers keep up their good work, day after day... they are what makes the pilgrimage work.
I am encouraged by the good words left here by some of them.
Hi RebekahAnnette, you should've checked in and stayed!
Thanks Tim for your feedback. hospi. J.I stayed there in May last year. I found the hospitaleros to be very friendly and helpful, and don't recall having any concerns about cleanliness. The main negative I remember is that the rungs of the bunk-bed ladder were painfully thin on my sore feet. I liked the queing system for early arrivals ...
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As an hospitalero who likes to return to this great town and serving in this albergue like all the hospi I take pride in the albergue, I appreciate you taking the time to give feedback and posting photo.I stayed there in May last year. I found the hospitaleros to be very friendly and helpful, and don't recall having any concerns about cleanliness. The main negative I remember is that the rungs of the bunk-bed ladder were painfully thin on my sore feet. I liked the queing system for early arrivals ...
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That queuing system is cute
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