Albergues, Pensions, Hostals?

[kacacc]

What is the difference between Albergue, pension or hostal? I guess I'm an idiot but I have no idea.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Albergue is dormitory-like accommodations, a pension is a room in a home or business such as a bar, and a hostal is generally en suite private rooms.

 

[sillydoll]

Hotel
One to five-star hotels can be found throughout Spain. Most hotels have seasonal price
structures and room charges will depend on the time of year you travel. The annual
Guía oficial de hotels published by the Instituto de Turismo de España is available from
most bookstores, or contact your local Spanish Tourist Board for a copy.
http://www.spainbookers.com/

Casa rural
These country houses include B&B, cottages and apartments. Accommodation ranges
from simple and homely to upmarket luxury. http://www.coloursofspain.com/

Posada
A chain of affiliated lodging inns or rustic hotels (not to be confused with fondas), these
are usually upmarket country or city inns with good accommodation and meals.
http://www.posadascaminodesantiago.com/alojamientos.php

Hostal
A little downscale from hotels – the hostales are graded according to a three-star system.
(Not to be confused with hostels). http://www.todohotel.com/Hoteles/hostales.html

Pension
Marked with a ‘P’ on a sign, there are many more pensiones than fondas and they
generally offer more up-market accommodation than the fondas. Many are family
owned and in towns and cities occupy one or two floors in a general purpose building.

Fonda
Marked with a white ‘F’ on a blue sign, the fondas are small inns; most are very basic
and do not offer en suite bathrooms or any luxuries.

Hostels
Spain has about 200 youth hostels, most of which are members of the Red Española de
Albergues Juveniles (REAJ). (Not to be confused with the hostales) http://www.reaj.com

Albergue del peregrinos
Albergues are also known as refugios, refuges, pilgrim shelters and albergues del
peregrinos.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

And remember you can look out for more informal signs in shop windows etc which say "Habitaciones" or "Hay habitaciones" etc. Which means they have rooms to let - invariably cheaper that in a hostal or hotel but often with shared facilities.