I had a horrible experience at this hostel. I was traveling solo and stayed here for almost a week…read morein a private room/private bath in May 2019. I decided to stay here because it had been voted "best hostel for solo travelers." They also sent me a list of tours/excursions that they offered after I placed my booking. But, there were several mishaps during my stay...
1) Room: the sink basin in the room is poorly designed and too narrow. There isn't a place to put a bar of soap and water splashes everywhere and drips down to the floor. There was a significant amount of black mold in the shower (see photos). The bathroom was tiny. Housekeeping would never change towels or bed sheets. If you had a dirty towel on the floor, they would just take the towel and not replace it (then subsequently charge to get a new towel). The hostel also chains their air-conditioner remote and TV remote controller as if someone is going to steal it, despite paying a fortune for the room.
2) Tours: even though the hostel sends a "brochure/menu" of tours immediately after booking, the staff didn't really know/understand what these options were when I inquired about it at check-in. All of the tours that they advertise are handled via a third party company. So, they had to check with the tour operator for every tour regarding the availability and prices. You would think that they have so many travelers that they would know at least the prices for these tours. What was even more frustrating was that the manager Cynthia would tell me to book tours by 10pm the evening before a tour and basically be told later by one of her staff members that it was already too late to reserve a spot. I just couldn't figure out what was the disconnect with the manager, staff members, and myself...
2a) I booked a pub crawl through the hostel. I had inquired about an LGBTQ-specific pub crawl. The manager of the hostel, Cynthia (an older woman with glasses), actually took my deposit, gave me the wrong address to the pub crawl. I had taken a 30-minute UBER to Palermo by myself to find out that there was no pub crawl at that location. When I called the hostel regarding the mistake, a staff member named Augustin, told me that she didn't know of an LGBTQ pub crawl and that the manager in fact gave me the wrong address to the meeting point. Moreover, she told me that the manager couldn't have understood what LGBTQ was. How are you in the hospitality and tourism industry and working in Buenos Aires and not know what LGBTQ is? Complete waste of a Thursday night.
2b) I wanted to book a gaucho tour, but was told that there wasn't any availability for the whole week...I also wanted to book a skydive, but the staff already proved to be overly incompetent in other areas and I decided not to do it anymore.
3) Location: the hostel is located in San Telmo, which can be really inconvenient going out since most of the bars and clubs are in Palermo. Most of the bars in San Telmo are dive bars. I also found myself taking a ton of UBERs to Recoleta. So, I guess the location is good if you're planning to stay around San Telmo, but there are much nicer areas to stay in Buenos Aires.
4) Price: overpriced considering the location, and the rate didn't include breakfast (which you have to pay for separately). They also don't guarantee tours that they advertise.
5) Staff: the manager, Cynthia, needs to be trained properly on what tours and amenities are offered at the hostel. And then, she should use what she learned to train her staff because they are just as clueless as she is. Their incompetence cost me a lot of wasted time and frustration while on vacation.
I ended up staying at another hostel when I returned to BA for my return flight. I would not recommend this hostel to anyone.