Balu Hostel

The view was the one good thing here. The rest felt run-down and in very poor shape. There was trash on the pool stairs, including candy wrappers and empty chip bags. We had no soap, no regular towels, weak water pressure, no chairs in the room, and an empty balcony. It was noisy too, and the place seemed to be run by volunteers. The price on the booking listing didn't match what we were actually charged. After seeing the room, I asked for a refund, but was told the cancellation policy meant I'd still be charged for the night. This was the most awful experience for my birthday weekend.

The people working there were so kind, they even invited us to visit a hidden beach. We loved the place, and the location was really good and had such a nice aesthetic. What an experience 🤍✨🏖️

The location is good, the towels were nice, the AC worked, and the woman at the front desk was kind. Those were the bright spots. We paid over $70 a night, and the photos made the hotel look far better than it was. We want an apology and a refund. This place is way overpriced and can ruin a vacation. I hope it closes or someone more ethical buys it. The current management are scam artists. The problems started with bed bugs. We saw the bugs and stains and got bitten. They moved us to another room, but rented the same room to another guest that very night. The property was also overrun with mangy cats, and the whole place, even the pool, smelled like cat urine. I ended up mopping the halls and stairs because the smell was making me sick. The manager seems to have wrecked the place compared with the old photos. There were holes cut into walls, broken things, missing trim around doors, and heaps of rubbish and debris collecting water and mosquitoes. They said they were renovating, but the work looked worse than the original fixtures. The cleaning staff took our friend's tip and never cleaned. Something in the hotel made my husband cough all night, and it stopped when we were away from there. We barely slept. Our room's large window was broken and wouldn't lock, so anyone could get in. We were told it wasn't broken without anyone looking at it, and no help was offered. We used a stick from the debris to brace it closed. I got stung by a stingray, which obviously wasn't the hotel's fault. The issue was how the manager acted afterward. The venom hurt far more than I expected. I blacked out, then came to shaking and crying uncontrollably. I made it back to the hotel, where hot water in a bucket was the only thing that eased the pain. We found a rusty pot in the smelly kitchen, boiled water, and put my foot in it. When I stopped sobbing, the manager came out and yelled that I was disgusting for using that pot for my foot. Then she emptied it and put it away without washing it. Taking the hot water away hurt badly. We cleaned the pot ourselves with soap and boiling water. When we explained what had happened, she only said she already knew. Later she asked about my wound but never apologized. At best, this woman is dysfunctional, and she has run the property into the ground. The shower door was so rusty it wouldn't close, and the toilet leaked at the back and barely flushed pee. There was no maintenance staff to help. Something else to know: they require a 500 peso cash deposit. If nobody warns you, it's a hassle, and it took the cash we needed for dinner. That was the smallest hassle we had there. I’ve stayed at plenty of budget hotels in Mexico and I'm not fussy, but Balu was hell. We should have left right away, though there wasn't much else available at the last minute.

This place is a dump, and they require a cash deposit.