Hostel Reviews or ‘Where To Sleep Around The World’

As we head round the world and find places to lay our heads, we thought we’d tell you what they were like. If they were good, we’ll let you know, and if they should be condemned, we’ll mention that too. So if you need a place to stay, check here and see what we’ve experienced!

If you’ve stayed at a hostel you’ve loved or hated, please email us and we’ll be sure to add your review on to our list! Just let us know the following info. Country: City: Hostel name: Address or URL (the more specific the better): Price Rating: Budget, Midrange, Pricey (with price if you know it) I Stayed : (when you were there) Comments :

Bolivia Hostel Reviews

City: Copacabana
Hostel Name: Hotel Los Andes
Location:Av Busch, Copacabana
Price Rating: Budget (Private Double Ensuite BOB100)
We stayed: Late March 2012
Comments: The location of this hotel is pretty good. It’s on a street which runs parallel to the main drag – you get all the benefits of staying central, but without the noise.
The rooms are clean and fairly large, and most have reasonable views over the lake (though some are blocked by another hotel). All rooms have cable TV, showing English language shows as well as local TV.
Ensuite bathrooms are clean, but hot water only runs at certain times of the day (0600-1000,1800-2200).
Breakfast is included, and consists of Bread, Jam, Scrambled Eggs, Coffee and Fruit. This is much more than most of the breakfast offerings in Bolivia.
Staff are able to book tours to Isla del Sol, and buses to other towns if required. They are able to answer any questions, but are not particularly friendly (maybe we just caught them on a bad day!)
Wifi is available for free throughout the building, but is fairly unreliable and horrendously slow. There are no computers for public use. Overall, the hotel is good value, but not particularly outstanding.

City: La Paz
Hostel Name: Adventure Brew Hostel
Location:Av Montes 533, La Paz, Bolivia
URL: www.theadventurebrewhostel.com
Price Rating: Budget -Dorm (10bed) BOB46 , Dorm (20bed) BOB40
We stayed: Late March 2012
Comments: Wereally liked the Adventure Brew! There are actually two hostels – the hostel (dorms only) and the B&B (private rooms only). The main facilities are in the hostel, but guests of the B&B have full access to them. Check out time is 1pm, which is the latest we have found so far.
One major selling point about this place is that they have their own microbrewery (3 different varieties), and all guests are entitled to one free beer every night.
The rooms are pretty spacious – all beds have their own locker, with extra storage on top of the lockers as well. There is a plug socket by every bed, and each bed also has a personal reading light.
For safety, access to the building is controlled by wristbands (which is strictly enforced), so it all seems fairly secure.
Bathrooms are clean – there is one male and one female on each floor. Each has three showers and three cubicles. Sinks are shared between the bathrooms.
The common areas are a major plus. The bar actually feels like a proper bar, and not a typical hostel bar. It has two levels, with a dartboard on the top floor. There is also an adjoining TV room (which sometimes competes for volume with the bar music!) Outside the bar is a pool table, which is free to use. Upstairs, there is a breakfast area, and a fantastic sun terrace, with some really great views of La Paz. There’s also a table tennis table up there.
Wifi is very fast and very reliable (for Bolivia), and is available everywhere in the building. There are also three computers for public use in reception.
There is a travel agency in the hostel, which we found to be very good. They managed to organise a bus for us to leave La Paz, despite many of the roads being blockaded (not uncommon in Bolivia).
The location isn’t exactly central – it’s around a ten minute walk from the centre, though it’s up a fairly steep hill, which can be quite tiring combined with the altitude.
All in all, a great place!

City: Sucre
Hostel Name: Inca Hostel
Location: Corner of Loa and Ravelo
Price Rating: Budget (Private Room Double BOB90 / Twin BOB100)
We stayed: Mid March 2012
Comments: This was the first town that we got to where we had not pre booked any accommodation. The Inca Hostel was fairly easy to find, and only around a eight minute walk from the main square. It is very good value if you are a couple, or don’t mind sharing a twin (the price works out about the same as a dorm bed)
The rooms themselves are fairly clean, and all have bedside tables/lights and a wardrobe. There are even flat screen TV’s with lots of English language TV. One small gripe is that the pillows are absolutely huge, and impossible to sleep on – we put clothes in pillowcases instead. The rooms at the front of the building have small balconies, but there is not much to see apart from the road outside.
The bathrooms are a little strange. The showers do not have any curtains, and so the whole bathroom gets a little flooded whenever anyone takes a shower. They also only seem to be cleaned once a day, which can be a problem once there is water everywhere. The doors are all lockable, but they do have a frosted glass window, which means your silhouette can be seen when you are in the shower.
The staff are all very friendly and helpful, but do not speak a great deal of English.
There is no wifi, but there are plenty of internet cafes in the area, which tend to charge around BOB20 for an hour.
The rooms at the front facing the main road can get a little noisy in the mornings, as all the cars that go past tend to beep their horns. This was decent value for money, and we absolutely loved Sucre.

City: Tupiza
Hostel Name: HI Valle Hermoso
Location: Arraya 478, Tupiza, Bolivia
URL: www.bolivia.freehosting.net
Price Rating: Budget Private En Suite BOB$140 / room
We stayed: Mid March 2012
Comments:This was our first hostel in Bolivia, so we decided to splash out on a private room with en suite (which is still much cheaper than a dorm room in Chile or Argentina!) The room was very clean, had plenty of storage space, and a TV with some English language channels. Luxury! Towels were also provided.
The location is pretty good – only a five minute walk from both the bus terminal and the centre of town (there are actually two hostels, within around 50 metres of each other)
The common areas were fairly non-existent. There is a hallway near to reception with a few sofas where people tend to congregate in order to get a wifi signal. There is also a dining room, but it was completely empty during our stay. The kitchen looked fairly well equipped, but was locked most of the time. The hostel charges for use of the kitchen.
The staff were all very friendly and spoke reasonable English, though they do seem more pre occupied with trying to sell you their salt flats tour than trying to help with anything else (though, their tour is a little more expensive).
The wifi is only available in the hallway, and is pretty poor. It takes a very long time to connect, and is very slow once you do. You’re better off going up the road to an internet café (BOB5 per hour for a computer, BOB20 per hour for wifi)
There is a well stocked book exchange, though they do insist on trading one of their books for two of yours.

City: Uyuni
Hostel Name: Piedra Blanca Backpackers
Location: Av Arce 27, Uyuni, Bolivia
Price Rating: Budget (Dorm BOB52.5)
We stayed: Mid March 2012
Comments: This is a pretty decent place. The location is excellent – right in the middle of the main pedestrianised street, and surrounded by decent food and bars. The hostel itself is recessed off the street, so noise is not an issue.
The rooms are arranged around a courtyard, which has a seating / smoking area and a small area for washing your shoes (very useful after a salt flats tour!). The rooms themselves are large and comfortable, with six beds per dorm. There is one shared bathroom (for the first floor), but this has 3 showers, 3 toilets and two sinks, which is more than enough. There is even a digital readout outside the bathroom telling you how hot the shower is. Very useful!
There are security lockers, but these are outside of the bathroom, and not in the dorms themselves. It’s worth using these, as the dorms do not lock.
The common room is fantastic – there are lots of sofas and a TV/DVD player, with a large selection of movies. There’s also some decent reading material – both a book exchange and lots of brochures for planning tours etc. There’s also lots of tables and chairs dotted around for eating.
The kitchens are well equipped, and there is plenty of communal food. Breakfast is supplied, and is fairly reasonable by South American standards.
There is no wifi in the hostel and even the internet cafes in the town are very unreliable. I’d prepare for no internet access whilst in Uyuni.