La Selenita

We had a great time at La Selenita. Alberto was a lovely, helpful host, and the cute little rooms are just a short walk from the centre.

The amount charged came out almost 40% above what we’d agreed on Booking.com. The listed price is converted into BOB, which created that surcharge for us. They say you can pay in USD, EUR, or BOB, but whichever currency you use, everything is first converted into BOB at their own rate. They told us this was normal in Bolivia, but we’d just stayed at four other hotels in the country booked through Booking.com and had never run into this. It feels like an outright scam and an illegal practice. Don’t book unless you’re ready to pay far more than agreed.

The hotel itself is nice and well located, and the staff were friendly, but be ready to be ripped off. Booking.com showed a USD price and said USD payment was accepted. At checkout, they converted that amount to BOB using the parallel exchange rate, so we paid almost 40% above the listed price. When we challenged it, they had no other way to honor the price shown. There was a reception sign saying EUR could be paid at the bank exchange rate, but they wouldn’t let us pay in EUR. Apparently guests are asked at check-in to cancel their Booking.com reservation and pay the property directly to avoid the commission. They forgot to make us that offer, and we reported the practice to Booking.com. Nice hotel, but 40% more than we’d agreed to pay.

I stayed here while studying Spanish at El Camino and had a great time. The hosts were absolutely lovely, the place beautiful, and the rooms comfortable. Breakfast was fresh and delicious. Only downside was the slightly slow Wifi.