Hostal Arrayan

The listing online said pets were accepted, so we went straight there after reading the good reviews. When we arrived, the owner stayed upstairs and spoke to us from the second floor. As soon as she saw us, she said pets weren't allowed. I said I'd seen online that they were, but she gave us a disgusted look and said, "Nooo, not here." My dog is small and very well-behaved, but she wouldn't even let us explain. The place doesn't match what it promises online.

The service was excellent and everyone was very friendly. It's a lovely, very clean place with parking, and it's close to the city center. Highly recommend it.

Check-in was a mess from the start: there was nowhere to park, and the street was one where you couldn't stop. Then the receptionist told me there'd been a water leak and they couldn't accommodate me, so they would send me to another hostel even though I'd already paid. They said it would have the same standards and conditions, supposedly through an arrangement between the owners. I ended up at Perez Rosales Hostel, a couple of blocks before the Arrallán, and it was a disgusting pigsty. It all seemed unclean: the beds smelled bad, carpets were stained, bathrooms were rusty, and there were no towels, heating, cable TV, internet, or hot water. The facilities and furniture were poor, and the kitchen was a mess with furniture falling apart. It was truly uninhabitable. After I complained to the company handling my stay, they managed to move me to somewhere decent and dignified.

The location is very convenient, close to the center. My mother and I were given a room in good condition with a private bathroom, and it was clearly clean and tidy, despite the negative comments about the rooms. Still, there were no towels, and nobody told us we could use the kitchen or eat there. We paid 40,000 pesos for the night, which felt expensive with no breakfast included. The parking is very narrow and hard to get into, with space for just two cars parked one behind the other. Guests have to arrange with each other to move their cars. If you're traveling by car, I'd look for somewhere with better parking.