Hostal Santa Maria City

Chillax.

Great place.

It's four blocks from the center, in a quiet area that didn't feel dangerous. For the price, you can get an affordable room with its own bathroom. They were flexible about checkout, and letting us leave our backpacks in the common area afterward was really helpful for backpackers. There's a kitchen, though it isn't very well equipped.

The location is fairly central, and the whole hostel is clean. The owner made us feel welcome, and the cleaning lady was friendly too. The kitchen has a decent amount of equipment, though it is missing cutlery. We stayed here twice because we didn't have time to find somewhere else. Both times we booked the "deluxe" room, which was quite expensive for us, and both times we were disappointed. Street noise and loud music made it impossible to relax, and we couldn't enjoy the balcony for the same reason. The room had air conditioning, but the wooden doors had no glass, so we had to keep them shut and the room felt dark and unpleasant. The room is spacious and looks nice, but it wasn't comfortable. There was nowhere to hang clothes or towels and almost nowhere to set our things, just one uncomfortable piece of furniture and two plastic chairs we couldn't sit on. The bathroom had no space for belongings or clothes either. The website photos didn't match the room: there was no bedside light, just one nightstand. There wasn't a single hammock or rocking chair in the hotel. The third-floor terrace was only used for drying clothes, with nothing there and nowhere pleasant to sit. And if you use the laundry service, be aware that the cleaning lady washes everything by hand.