La Casa Azul Hostal - Hostel

The best thing is the lovely view, even though getting up the hill takes a long walk, as you'd expect on a beautiful cerro. The rooms feel too cramped, and my shared dorm mattress was really uncomfortable, with the springs easy to feel. The terrace room and kitchen were messy, with leftover food, a dirty fridge, and too little room to move around. Reception was untidy too. For the same price, there are much better options in Valparaiso :)

The only good part was leaving. On the night we arrived, the owners held a party for locals in the front yard. Some guests stumbled drunk into our room while we were there, shouting and leaving rubbish everywhere. The volunteers told us afterward that this happens every week. The beds are disgusting and have bed bugs. The so-called free breakfast is a piece of bread with jam, which is fine if you don't expect much. The neglected, cheap hostel fridge had no shelves, rotten food in plastic bags stacked and dripping on top of each other, and the stovetop didn't work. We've stayed in plenty of budget hostels across Central and South America, but this one may take the cake. I strongly advise against staying here, no matter how cheap it is.

Christian was an absolute delight. He sorted us out with a delicious breakfast every morning, which was a lovely chance to meet other travellers and make friends. Most of the people running the place are volunteers, and that worked out brilliantly because they had lots of helpful information. The ones there during our stay were absolutely lovely. The location is good, right beside a funicular, with a great bar around the corner. If you want to head east, though, you have to go through some sketchy areas, so keep that in mind and consider taking a longer route. The beds are quite lumpy, and lots of things in the rooms and kitchen are broken. Hot water in the showers is a bit of a gamble, as is getting the water to go where you want. You can't flush toilet paper, which I know is pretty common in Chile, but the bins aren't emptied regularly, so the toilets smell of poo most of the time.

The bed felt like a coffin, with just 50 cm from the mattress to the roof. It was dirty and noisy, the wifi was slow and unstable, breakfast was poor, and there was no hot water in the shower. A place to avoid.