Samarian Hostel

The kitchen has everything you need for everyday cooking, and there's also a cafe and cooworking area, which came in handy when I needed to work on my laptop while traveling. The shared rooms have full bathrooms, and mine even had a tub and balcony. It's a very nicely located hostel, just a few blocks from Floresta station.

The location is awesome: lots of good places to eat, drink, party, and dance nearby, but far enough away that you don't notice the nightlife at night. The metro station is a 5-minute walk for exploring the rest of the city. They're just getting started, but it already feels like an experienced hostal, with clean rooms, comfortable beds, and really nice staff who put in the effort. They had cooking parties with pancakes and salsa and merengue lessons at nearby bars. The owner Paulo took me and some other guests on a tour of Medellín and the surrounding villages. I learned a lot and saw a lot of the city! They're building a bar for drinks and food, and the plans look nice; it already seemed like a nice spot. Breakfast isn't anything special, but there's enough. I'll probably stay here again when I come back to Medellín!

It's a quiet place rather than a party hostel, so I slept well. You're close to the metro, the Main Street restaurants, and just a few moments from Laureles. The Samarian Hostel was so nice that we stayed much longer than planned. Paolo and Maria are friendly hosts, the hostel is clean, and the beds are comfortable, without plastic sheets. Every dorm room has a bathroom with hot water, and the WiFi is super fast, which suited my remote work. Floresta station is about a 5-minute walk away. The listing on hostelworld says there's no hot water, but after we mentioned it, the hosts fixed it that same day. Best to speak up instead of leaving a negative review. Thanks so much to Paolo, Maria, and your staff.

We'd booked four nights but left first thing the next morning, with too many problems to deal with, especially with a baby. We paid double elsewhere, but at least felt safe and respected. I think this is new management learning as they go. They even contacted us asking for money for our cancellation. AVOID AVOID AVOID!! We arrived at 8 pm with our 15-month-old. There was no internet because of a lightning strike, which wasn't their fault, but they'd known it had been down for three days and didn't tell us, even though we'd booked a week ahead. At check-in, they weren't sure whether our room was ready, so a worker went upstairs and said it had been cleaned. It hadn't. After putting the baby to sleep in the porter cot and going to bed ourselves, we found a pee stain, a blood stain, body skin, dead insects, and hair. We asked for clean sheets, but none were available in our size, so we made the bed as best we could with two single sheets. The cleaning schedule sheet showed our arrival day had been missed. Don't lie to customers, especially experienced travelers. The area felt awful. When I went out for water around 9:30 pm, within 500 meters I saw two different guys shooting up. When I finally found the “tienda,” every person there was drunk. I explained this to the staff when I got back, and they said, “we don’t go out at this time.” That doesn't sound like a nice area. For breakfast, they supposedly have a nice cafe, but the staff prepared their own food and sat down before arranging anything for guests. These people have no idea how to run a business. Avoid at all costs!