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:

Chile Hostel Reviews

City: Pucon
Hostel Name: Hostel El Refugio
Location: Palguin 540
URL: www.hostalelrefugio.cl/
Price Rating: Budget Private Double CLP22,000/room
We stayed: Mid February 2012
Comments: Great hostel!!!
Location is ideal, pretty much directly across the road from the bus station, and two blocks from the main street.
When we arrived, we were greeted by the manager, Peter, who made us all a coffee and went through all of the different tour and excursion options. He explained that they use a smaller company to run their tours, and that they are considerably cheaper than the recommended operators in Lonely Planet. We found the tour operator to be very professional (see pending tour review)
The hostel has two dorms inside, two private rooms and two permanent tents outside (with full bunks beds). We stayed in a private room, which was very spacious, with lots of storage inside. The door to the room has a latch to lock it, but you need to supply your own padlock.
The bathrooms are clean – there is one downstairs, one upstairs and one in the garden area. These tend to get a little busy when everyone returns from their volcano hike and wants a shower!
The common area has a large fireplace, two sofas, a hammock and a TV. It has a nice cosy feel to it, and is a good area to mingle with the other guests. There is a computer for public use upstairs. There is also a seating area and another hammock outside in the back garden.
There are two kitchens – one inside and one outside (though still fully covered). Both were well equipped and clean, the inside one even having an oven.
The garden area is a nice place to chill when it is sunny. On one side of it, there is a huge cherry tree, and guests are allowed to help themselves to the fruit (with the aid of a huge ladder)
The staff were absolutely fantastic. They all spoke perfect English, and even went to the trouble of learning everyone’s names. They would also ring up and book any tour that you may wish to go on.
One small note is that there is a charge for use of the kitchen, internet, shower etc on the day that you check out. It;s understandable, because most of the buses out of Pucon leave in the evening, and you are effectively getting an entire extra day of usage. It’s not a huge amount (CLP3,000), but just something to be aware of.

City: Puerto Natales
Hostel Name: Lili Patigonico’s
URL: http://lilipatagonicos.com/
Price Rating: Budget (Dorm CLP 7,200 / Private Double CLP 20,000 (for room)
We stayed: Late January 2012
Comments: Cash only!! This place was great. It’s not in the Lonely Planet South America book, but is full most of the time, so book in advance. They have a few dorms near the reception area (downside is walking through reception for showers) but twins and private rooms are in the back.
Continental Breakfast is included. They had an all-you-can eat Pizza Night, with a drink for CLP5,000. Wifi is good and is available throughout the hostel. There are also two computers that are available to use for free.
The hostel also rents all the gear that you’ll need for trekking in Torres del Paine. A tent and 2 sleeping mats were CLP6,000. You can leave the rest of your bags there while you trek.. The hostel is able to book the bus to Torres del Paine, which will pick you up from directly outside.

City: Puerto Natales
Hostel Name: Nataly Backpackers
Location: On O’Higgins. No website available.
Price Rating: Super Budget (Dorm CLP6,000)
We stayed: Late January 2012
Comments: This place is a basic, but afunctional family run hostel. The 6 bed dorms were fairly comfortable , although there is no ladder to the top bunk, so a struggle in the dark! There was only one plug socket in the room, so it can be difficult if there are lots of people wanting to charge their cameras etc.
There is a huge skylight on the ceiling on the room. This wasn’t a problem for us, as we had to leave at 6am, but as it lets in a lot of light, it could be a problem for those who want to sleep in. The walls are also a little thin.
Bathrooms are fairly clean, but they do tend to run out of hot water fairly quickly.
Breakfast was just bread and jam – typical for the area.
Wifi here was fantastic,and available throughout the hostel.
Overall, a fairly average hostel, but at a very reasonable price.

City: Puerto Varas
Hostel Name: Hostal Margouya 2
Location: Purisma 681
URL: www.margouya2.com
Price Rating: Budget/Midrange (Private Double CL$19000/room)
We stayed: Mid February 2012
Comments: We thought Casa Magouya 2 was ok -it just lacks a little athmosphere. They did have ‘pizza night’ but we werent made aware that it was for everyone, so we didn’t join in.
The building itself is an old school, which is quite cool, but there is alot of noise. As prices in PV were high for dorms, we paid just a bit more for a private room. The room was clean and secure, with lots of shelf/storage space. As it was cold and rainy, a nice touch was an electric heater.
The kitchen was well equipped with two ovens and six gas hobs and there were plenty of kitchen basics (spices, etc) available.
The common areas were a dining room/tv area. This had a very large selection of DVDs, but not much seating. If a movie is on you have to watch it sitting at the dining room table, which is not too comfortable.
Fast wifi was available throughout the building. They have one free computer that.
Laundry service is expensive – CL$8,000.

City: Santiago
Hostel Name: Hostal Luna Calypso
Location: Manuel Antonio Prieto 0184, Parque Buscamente subway
URL: http://hostelunacalypso.blogspot.com/ Book through hostelbookers/hostelworld.
Price Rating: Budget (3 bed dorm CLP8,500)
We stayed: Mid February 2012
Comments:This is a fairly new hostel, inconspicuous from the outside, with only a small Hostelworld sticker identifying it.
Once we arrived, we were greeted by the owner, who was happy to let us check in early (we had been on an overnight bus, and it was about 8am!) We even were allowed to have breakfast, which was a nice bonus.
The location is fairly central – it’s about a 5 minute walk to the nearest Metro, and 15 minutes to the fashionable Bella Artistes area. The hostel itself is fairly quiet, with only a little outside noise.
The rooms were clean, with a small locker to hold your small daypack. The doors to the rooms were lockable, and the whole place felt pretty secure.
The kitchen is fairly small, with probably only space for one person to cook, though it is well equipped, with 4 gas rings, an oven and a microwave. It was also very clean.
The common area is a combined dining area and lounge, with a TV, a large book exchange and plenty of board games. There is a computer available for guests.
Wifi is available throughout the building and is very fast and very reliable.

City: Valdivia
Hostel Name: Hostel Bosque Nativo
Location: Fresia 290, off Janequeo
URL: www.hostelnativo.cl/
Price Rating: Budget (Dorm CLP9,500)
We stayed: Mid February 2012
Comments: This is a nice hostel, with a kind of eco vibe to it. It’s quite difficult to find, tucked away on a little side street, which is not marked on the tourist maps.
The downstairs common areas are spacious, with cable TV and two computers. One room isset up as a dining area, and the other kitted out with sofas and cushions for watching TV.
The dorms were slightly larger than we have been used to – either 6 bunks or 8 bunks in each room, with lockers next to the bunk.It’s a bit cramped trying to get into them, but not too bad.
The bathrooms were a bit of an issue. Only one shower in the women’s had hot water, and the second day there was none at all! One odd note – the toilet roll dispenser was outside the cubicles and shared between the three toilets.
The kitchen is fairly large and well equipped. Breakfast is included and is above average.
Wifi is available throughout the building.
The staff are friendly, but speakvery little English.
One thing that was a little strange was that when we arrived, we were put in separate dorms, and told that there was a male/female split policy. This was slightly inconvenient, as we had not been notified of this beforehand, and it was clearly not the case when we met our roommates.

City: Valparaiso
Hostel Name: Casa Verde Lion
URL: www.casaverdelimon.com/
Price Rating: Budget/Midrange Private Double CLP18,000/room (Cash only, payment on arrival)
We stayed: Mid February 2012
Comments: The hostel is situated in the downtown area, though slightly up towards the hills. It’s fairly quiet during the day, but does feel a little edgy in the evenings. On the weekend, you do get a lot of noise, but it wasn’t too bad.
The town is very hilly, but there is an escalator fairly close, which takes you up into the more upmarket area of town for 100 pesos.
The rooms are very large (Room 5 even had an annexe and a spare bed), and all have TVs. Some do smell a little damp though. Despite that, they are clean and have spare bedding and towels. The rooms are lockable, but there are no additional lockers inside.
The downstairs showers and toilets are clean, but you do need to walk directly through the common room to get to them.
The kitchen is very large and has enough room and equipment for everyone to cook.
Wifi is available throughout the building, and there are two public computers available.
The staff are very friendly, and all speak perfect English.
One very cool note – This is the only place that we have stayed that had both a trapeze and silks rigged in the common area (very exciting!)