Hostel Balagan

We began our family cycling trip here, and it was a terrible start. The small room had no window, the ventilator was broken, and there were a few large cockroaches. It was hot and humid. We wouldn’t recommend staying here.

The room smelled of fish and felt creepy. The person I spoke with on the phone quoted $10 and said that was the total when I asked whether it was per person. Once we arrived, they said it was per person instead. The evening staff member was rude and unwelcoming, though the morning staff were nice. It’s one of the cheaper choices in Cancun, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Worst hostel we’ve stayed in so far.

The beds were great, and the room itself wasn’t bad, but the AC only came on late at night and didn’t work very well. The shower and bathroom were fine. There are a few tables with plugs in the dining room and outside, and the Wi-Fi had a little lag sometimes. It’s a family-style place renting rooms to locals, nomads, and tourists. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable staying longer than a few days, with the gate always locked and needing to be opened and closed. The vibe wasn’t great. The area is okay, with lots of restaurants and an OXO next door, but you need to walk or drive farther for anything else.

The location is strategic, and the hostel seems to have potential, but our stay was awful. The sheets had a dark red stain that looked like blood, and the room smelled bad. The toilet area seemed badly neglected, with hair all over the floor and greenish-brown sticky marks on the shower walls. We couldn’t shower because the water pressure was so low we couldn’t even get wet. There were also exposed electrical wires in the shower, which was frightening. We barely slept and left at 6 a.m. I don’t expect luxury at this price, just basic human conditions. Maybe maintenance has slipped recently, because the place didn’t match the older photos online.