Hostal El Armario - Hostel

The location is unbeatable, the terrace is spacious and comfortable, the water was hot, and the amenities were nice. We liked seeing “gay-friendly” on the website, which helped us choose this place. It was newly renovated, but the service was poor. The host we dealt with seemed lazy and unhappy, and there were no maps or information about Leon. We booked a private room with full sized beds but got a dorm room with twin beds, which wasn't comfortable for a couple. Breakfast wasn't provided as advertised, the kitchen had no water, and two smoke detectors chirped loudly all night with nobody replacing the batteries. There were cockroaches on the kitchen walls, plus old food on the counter and in the fridge. This was our last night of five in Mexico, and one of the pricier hostels we stayed at. The others had friendly, charismatic hosts who knew the area. Stay here for the location.

The only town I found worth staying in around Guanajuato was San Miguel de Allende. This place charged me 250mx for a shared room, 50 to 75 more than the great private rooms I'd been finding elsewhere in Mexico. For that price, I couldn't even get clear information about the Wi-Fi or how to enter and leave the building. The staff spoke very little English, which is a big problem in a hostel charging this much for a shared room, especially when most guests will be English speakers looking for basic information about the area. Staff aren't there around the clock either. After my morning walk, I was left outside from 7:30 to 9:30am. The place also badly needed cleaning, with lots of bugs on the beds in the rooms. Not worth 11 USD at all. Why pay that much for no proper service or useful information about the place and community? I'm really surprised by the 4.3 rating. There doesn't seem to be anyone qualified running it.

There's loads of space in the rooms and common areas, and the hostel is nicely decorated. The terrace is huge and really nice, and the location is great, right in the city center.

A pretty chill hostel with good Wi-Fi, a kitchen, and free breakfast, basically everything you'd want. It wasn't very busy when I stayed.