Los Nardos Hostel by Rotamundos Hotel

Our room was spacious, with a good fan, and the location was excellent, right near everything. The ADO bus terminal was a five minute walk, and we liked the artwork around the place. The owner was accommodating. But cleanliness was poor. There were dirty tissues under the bed, hairs on my pillow, and I'm not convinced the blanket is washed after every stay. Both bathroom floors had little spots of blood, and some were still on the second bathroom wall three days later. Leaves stayed in the shower for our whole visit, the toilet seats were very dirty, and it seemed the bathrooms hadn't been cleaned. We were upstairs, with a shared bathroom downstairs, which was a pain when it rained at night. A bed spring poked out and made it uncomfortable. The kitchen mugs also need replacing, some had big cracks or missing handles.

We were traveling across the country, staying in seven different places over eight nights, and this was the most basic accommodation of the lot. It was right on the edge of the center of Oaxaca. The front house garden looked a little better, but our room was in the back house, where even the stair railing seemed temporary. The bathrooms worked fine, though they looked like they were from the 1960s. The photos on the booking pages had made the place look better than it was. At night, there was barely any noise from the street, but we could hear every step the neighbors took on the railing.

Jorge was a wonderful host, really kind. The hostel was clean and comfortable, in a nice area to relax near the ADO terminal. We could do laundry, the WiFi worked well, and the kitchen had a coffee maker. It can get crowded in the kitchen, so I'd suggest adding some more pots and pans.

The room got extremely hot, with no AC and only a small fan. There wasn't a TV, and the bathroom was shared with everyone. We got just one towel per person, with no soap or shampoo. The staff weren't friendly, and they made us wait until 3 pm to get our room.