Costeno Beach hostel

The food and service were among the worst parts of our stay. The menu was limited, many items weren’t available, and the bar and kitchen staff seemed unfriendly and uninterested. They ignored questions, paid little attention to guests, and wouldn’t make any changes to dishes. The food was mediocre, and the drinks tasted watery or even like chlorine. Breakfast was the only meal that was somewhat acceptable. We also saw someone leave the restroom and go straight back into the kitchen without washing their hands, which completely undermined our trust in the hygiene. The property had a lot of large cockroaches, spiders, and toads. The pool looked okay at first, but there were only a few sunbeds, so most people had to lie on the ground. There were just as few beds by the beach, and getting one seemed to come down to luck. Our room was in very poor shape, with a strong musty smell and visible mold. The shower was just a hose attached to the wall, with no comfort at all. After the first night, we found a cockroach in our bed. The photos may make the hostel look decent, but reality was far from that. The stay didn’t meet our expectations in any way, and we won’t return.

The location is nice, but there’s nothing around, so you have to eat at the hostel, and it’s quite expensive. There are much nicer hostels nearby, and I wouldn’t recommend this one. We booked a private room for five nights. It was dirty and moldy, and the smell was awful. They didn’t clean it during our stay. When we raised it, they said we should have asked, which isn’t what I expect from a place this expensive. We also got very bad food poisoning from the hostel food. When we requested a partial refund at the end, they refused and threatened to call the police after we said we wouldn’t pay for the remaining nights and food. In the end, we didn’t pay for one night and one meal, but we had to cover the rest. I usually try to see the good in places and have stayed in lots of hostels, but this was by far my worst stay.

One of my favorite hostels, with great staff, food service, and location. The only issues for me were the unreliable WiFi in the dorms and how expensive food and drinks are for Colombia. It’s easy to run up a big bill if you’re not careful.

Food poisoning here left me completely sick and wrecked my plans for four days. I told the kitchen and reception, but barely got an apology. All they said was that they hadn’t heard of anyone else getting sick, so they couldn’t do anything. After reading the reviews here, that clearly doesn’t seem to be the case. I’m enormously disappointed!