Behind the Albergue Door: Inspiration Agony Adventure on the Camino de Santiago

hiked with people who were determined to stay only in albergues, others who stayed in a mix of albergues and hotels similar to us, some who stayed mostly in hotels but settled for albergues here and there when the situation called for it, and one person who actually had a travel agent pre-book all of his hotel accommodation in advance, mainly because he had no idea what to expect. In the end I think he regretted the lack of flexibility and several times gave up his hotel to keep pace with friends and occasionally take in the albergue experience. We didn’t personally get to know anyone that was there on an organized tour but we did see the groups around at times. We even had one person ask us “what group we were with” in a way that made it clear she didn’t really think there was any other way to go about it. My point is that there are as many different ways to hike the Camino as there are ways to get pregnant after an innocent back rub and who is to say which of them is better or worse?
    Overall, it seemed that most people chose to stay in albergues. There are a number of different types of albergues, and even those in the same general grouping are not all created equal. It is important to note that these descriptions are huge generalizations and that there were plenty of exceptions.
    Private Albergues
    Usually the most modern and expensive. They often allow people to book beds ahead. With a vested interest in their guests’ satisfaction the proprietors tended to be more helpful than most. Albergues that were part of the hostel “network” were supposedly held to a higher, more consistent standard, but we didn’t really notice a difference.
    Municipal Albergues
    Gener ally cheaper and more basic. They were also normally the busiest and most popular. For some reason, the general consensus seemed to be that staying in the main municipal albergue of each town was the “right” way to do it, and that you needed a good reason to pamper yourself by choosing a private albergue. Although it did seem that as time went on this became less of a thing.
    Parish Albergues
    Affiliated and run by the church. Usually following a system of voluntary donations these were commonly the most basic, although there were a couple of notable exceptions (i.e. Santo Domingo de la Calzada). The “hospitaleros” (hosts, essentially) at the parish albergues were usually volunteers who had specifically applied and been trained for the job. As a group, these were the friendliest and most helpful people we encountered anywhere along the Way.
    Ourselves, we did not follow any particular pattern, and certainly not the “municipal or bust” credo, staying in mostly private ones, and maybe ten municipal, and even a few parish. We based our choices on a combination of Brierley’s vague recommendations, word of mouth, and where people we knew were staying, or wanted to stay. We also mixed in a handful of hotels which we found essential for recharging our batteries, so to speak. Meaning mostly luxuriating in the private bathrooms, marvelling at the TV even though there was nothing of interest on it, and sleeping without someone hovering a foot and a half above (or below) our faces. We chose hotels for two nights for each of our rest days (in Burgos and Leon) partially so we didn’t have to change albergues first thing in the morning. Supposedly you are only allowed to spend one night in an albergue, although we never tried staying longer and it may not have been a problem considering most were only half full in October. I can see this being a strict policy earlier in the season, though. Plus, staying in a hotel meant we could stay out late, get irresponsibly hammered and sleep in late, moaning and farting, without bothering anyone except each other.
    We did not personally stay in any refugios, despite being viciously harangued by a condescending Irish woman about how refugios are the “true” way to experience the Camino. It seemed at least possible that her opinions were slightly skewed that way considering that she, a “true pilgrim”, just happened to be staying exclusively in refugios. Also, from what we could tell , the only differences between refugios and albergues are that refugios are smaller, harder to find, and no one stays in them.
    So now you are aware of all your options, but will obviously be following in our wise yet humble footsteps by staying mainly in dormitories since, clearly, carrying a backpack all that way