- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2024 Aragones, Madrid, Portugues Coastal
Hi fellow Perigrinos,
If I have posted this in the wrong location sorry to you moderators and please move it to the appropriate place.
On my morning walk today I was thinking about how to everyone could help albergues now and when we can walk again.
My daughters downloaded Wise Pilgrim and the Buen Camino apps to my telephone.I have also found myself using Gronze.com alot on my last few caminos. I use them almost exclusively (especially Gronze and Buen Camino to check out what people have written about albergues. My number one concern is cleanliness. If there are alot of very low ratings for cleanliness I will check out another option. (They are also great for winter caminos to check out which albergues are open. But call ahead as I have found they are only about 60% accurate).
Now that many of us have alot of time on our hands and when we can walk again I would recommend going to these sites. Gronze can be accessed on the web so no need to download an app. With Chrome it will translate to English and it does a pretty decent job. Please go to your favorite albergues and some that were not so favorite and write a recommendation or an honest criticism. Let people know it was clean and the facilities were adequate for the basic needs of pilgrims. Check out what others have written as some people give bad recommendations because someone was snoring or the hospitalero was grumpy. In my opinion that is not a legitimate reason to give a neutral or negative review.I also have seen bad reviews because for some reason some people think a donativo should just be a small step down from a Parador! I have seen endless bad reviews that there are these great kitchens in Xunta's that have nothing to cook with. Well that is just the way it is and doesn't reflect on the overall cleanliness and comfort and safety. The more good reviews that can be posted the more appealing an albergue will be. I have stayed in lots of small albergues that had only a few reviews that were quiet because another albergue had great reviews. Sometimes after I have stayed in both I usually found no difference in overall quality.
If where you stayed was bad, with dirty mattresses and bathrooms and any other number of really inferior conditions than write that and give a place the review it deserves. Not because it didn't have enough pins to hang your laundry but because it truly deserved it. Maybe that will force the owners to spend more time to upgrade their albergue. When you think about it I don't think most improvements need a big investment of money. Most of the bad albergues can be improved with better cleaning and better management.
Usually at my first coffee break I spend just a minute or two writing on review on Gronze/Wise Pilgrim and giving stars on Buen Camino reviewing where I had stayed the night before. If more and more people check out these sites maybe, just maybe it may generate a little more interest especially in some of the "lesser known" but still wonderful albergues.
I am a budget Pilgrim on a fixed income but I have gathered some extra coins staying home these months. On my next camino I will be giving larger donations at donativos and at any albergue that has given me an opportunity to meet wonderful people and have a roof over my head. For those of us that can afford this be generous on our next caminos it will really help I am sure and if you can afford it it may just cost us about 150 or 200 Euros more. For some it is a big expenditure but for many others it is manageable. Imagine with thousands of us walking and if we are able be a little more generous, we can really help lots of albergues across lots of Caminos. Stay safe everyone.
If I have posted this in the wrong location sorry to you moderators and please move it to the appropriate place.
On my morning walk today I was thinking about how to everyone could help albergues now and when we can walk again.
My daughters downloaded Wise Pilgrim and the Buen Camino apps to my telephone.I have also found myself using Gronze.com alot on my last few caminos. I use them almost exclusively (especially Gronze and Buen Camino to check out what people have written about albergues. My number one concern is cleanliness. If there are alot of very low ratings for cleanliness I will check out another option. (They are also great for winter caminos to check out which albergues are open. But call ahead as I have found they are only about 60% accurate).
Now that many of us have alot of time on our hands and when we can walk again I would recommend going to these sites. Gronze can be accessed on the web so no need to download an app. With Chrome it will translate to English and it does a pretty decent job. Please go to your favorite albergues and some that were not so favorite and write a recommendation or an honest criticism. Let people know it was clean and the facilities were adequate for the basic needs of pilgrims. Check out what others have written as some people give bad recommendations because someone was snoring or the hospitalero was grumpy. In my opinion that is not a legitimate reason to give a neutral or negative review.I also have seen bad reviews because for some reason some people think a donativo should just be a small step down from a Parador! I have seen endless bad reviews that there are these great kitchens in Xunta's that have nothing to cook with. Well that is just the way it is and doesn't reflect on the overall cleanliness and comfort and safety. The more good reviews that can be posted the more appealing an albergue will be. I have stayed in lots of small albergues that had only a few reviews that were quiet because another albergue had great reviews. Sometimes after I have stayed in both I usually found no difference in overall quality.
If where you stayed was bad, with dirty mattresses and bathrooms and any other number of really inferior conditions than write that and give a place the review it deserves. Not because it didn't have enough pins to hang your laundry but because it truly deserved it. Maybe that will force the owners to spend more time to upgrade their albergue. When you think about it I don't think most improvements need a big investment of money. Most of the bad albergues can be improved with better cleaning and better management.
Usually at my first coffee break I spend just a minute or two writing on review on Gronze/Wise Pilgrim and giving stars on Buen Camino reviewing where I had stayed the night before. If more and more people check out these sites maybe, just maybe it may generate a little more interest especially in some of the "lesser known" but still wonderful albergues.
I am a budget Pilgrim on a fixed income but I have gathered some extra coins staying home these months. On my next camino I will be giving larger donations at donativos and at any albergue that has given me an opportunity to meet wonderful people and have a roof over my head. For those of us that can afford this be generous on our next caminos it will really help I am sure and if you can afford it it may just cost us about 150 or 200 Euros more. For some it is a big expenditure but for many others it is manageable. Imagine with thousands of us walking and if we are able be a little more generous, we can really help lots of albergues across lots of Caminos. Stay safe everyone.