This hostel ruined my vacation. I had reserved a private room at the hostel six weeks in advance. Upon arrival, I was informed that I didn't have a reservation by the "employee" who was actually hanging out in a hammock with the guests and completely unwelcoming. Well, after pulling up my confirmation number and showing him on my phone, he realized he was wrong and told me that they had overbooked the hostel and that he would be having me stay at another very nice upscale hostel across the street. I was annoyed, angry and frustrated because I had just spent hours trying to find the place and the guy was being so unaccommodating--and, while it was probably not his fault, he was certainly a shi**y messenger. He noticed this and said, "don't worry. you can come over here and chill with us," as if chilling with him was something that would improve my day.
Well, without knowing what our other options were and not wanting to be without a place, we went to the other hostel to check it out. I asked him the name and he said it was Hostel San Miguel. Immediately, I tried googling it to see if there were, in fact, any safety issues or sanitary concerns. As we walked up to the place, all the signs said Hostel San Patricio which was not what the guy had told me. I also asked him if folks there spoke any English and he said, of course they did (they didn't). I won't get into the other hostel, but it was decrepit and damaged. While linens were clean, the rooms and bathroom had dirty walls. it didn't feel safe (the doors were wide open at night and people weren't staffing the front desk at all times). We didn't know what else to do so we said fine.
We settled in... cautiously and figured we'd go check out Hostel Orquideas in the morning for breakfast before our flight out from Cancun. After perusing the town, we got back to the replacement hostel and fell asleep. Around 11 pm there was banging at the door. It was the Shi**y Attitude guy all friendly saying, "Hey, you didn't pay for the rest of your room. I need the remainder of your balance."
I, completely caught off guard and not knowing whether this was true or not, started laughing and said, okay, look, I'm asleep right now, it's the middle of the night, I'll come by in the morning so we can settle all of this--I was asleep. And he got enraged and said, "if you don't pay me right now then I am calling the cops and you guys are getting thrown out." I was shaking from his aggressive behavior and felt sick. I couldn't tell if I was being hustled or what the hell was going on. I told him that I don't even know if what he's saying is true or not. He said, "F* you, you pay me now or I'm calling the cops." So I lost it... I told him he could stand at the door while I check my emails to see if what he's saying is true or not. It was in fact accurate, that I had paid a 50% deposit, and I paid him the balance and he left.
But I was wide awake all night wondering... what's to stop this guy from coming back? What if he calls the cops anyway? Why wouldn't he have just waited till morning? Needless to say, I officially detest downtown Cancun and hope Hostal Orquideas and their owner Antonella (who I complained to and completely minimized the confrontation) lose every possible customer they get. It's awful and.... you'll probably get overbooked without notice. Screw everything about this place and the people there. read more