Hostal La Casa De Lili

The kitchen was pretty well stocked, and the location in Salento is really convenient. We stayed two nights and the bathroom wasn’t cleaned once. Apart from that, everything was good, though the staff weren’t especially welcoming.

Arriving at 5 in the morning could have been tricky, but we’d let them know ahead of time and Lilli kindly answered the phone and came to open up for us. We were welcomed with fresh coffee in the morning, too. The hostel has a charming, homelike feel. The rooms were clean, the beds comfortable, and everyone was friendly and helpful with requests. It’s right on the main street near the main square, but we couldn’t hear the street noise from our room. It felt like coming back to family. I highly recommend staying here.

The noise and heat made it hard to sleep. There are bars and clubs nearby, and construction next door brought hammering from 7am to 8pm. All the rooms are small. I also never felt welcome: I didn’t get a smile the whole stay, and the cleaning lady and manager were very rude to me for no reason. I didn’t meet Lilly, and I can’t relate to what other reviewers described. With many recent negative reviews, I suspect the place may have changed ownership. At first, they showed me a private room above a shop. It was really an internal storage room with a bed squeezed in, no window or fan, and no space, right by reception and the entrance stairs. It was hot and noisy, worse than a prison cell. They moved me to a small wooden shack in the backyard and charged an extra 80,000 pesos for it. It was next to the smoking area and smelled of Marlboro reds. They also insisted I pay upfront by depositing cash into their Bancolombia account. When I asked to use a debit card, they said there’d be an extra 7% tax. I refused and spent the last of my money paying, so I couldn’t eat for more than 18 hours. I had a terrible time here. Avoid this tourist trap!

Lili was so welcoming, energetic, and friendly. The hostel was very clean and had a well-equipped kitchen. We cooked dinner every night and ended up extending our stay twice. I really recommend it.