I am amazed at how many youth hostels I have stayed at by now, and I`ve always wished there was a collection of personal reviews of Mexican hostels I could draw on before chosing my bed for the night. My guide book is more than lacking in this respect, and I haven`t really used it for anything exept its maps. So I am writing an entry just about the various Mexican hostels I have stayed at for future travellers' reference. It may be boring for those of you not planning to do any hostelling here, so feel free to skip. I will add to this entry as I move on. So, here are the various redeeming and damning factors of my hospitality experiences so far - for those of you who care. Prices were current in April 2004.
Mexico City`s Hostal Cathedral is a typical big city travellers warehouse. There is tons of security, and you feel like you`re entering some government institution instead of a hostel. It is expensive and pretty impersonal, but it does have the benefit of being about as central as a hostel can get, being right behind the cathedral on the Zocalo. In a town like Mexico City, location really does matter. It has the added benefit of a nice roof garden, a decent kitchen, an internet cafe and a travel agency, and of being attached to a bar that is not just popular with travellers, so alltogether it is a decent base. There are a few other hostels I haven't seen, but if you can, you should stay with the locals here - it is too easy to pass up. Dorm bed - 120 pesos for HI members.
Puerto Escondido`s Hotel Mayflower didn`t strike me as a youth hostel, and it doesn`t have a discount for members of hostelling international, but it claims to belong. The very German ( i.e. brisk and sometimes grumpy) hostess can be charmed into being helpful with a little effort as I found when I needed help sending a bulky package. The place is a little off the main road and subsequently quiet except when the church next door has services - at which time you can sit on the roof terrace listening to various non-descript chanting for an hour. Mayflower also has a decent kitchen and some nice spots to relax, not to mention the best bathroom of all of the hostels I have visited so far. It is clean, clean, clean. Dorm bed - 75 pesos.
The other hostel I visited in Puerto Escondido last year is Hostal Shalom. It does a lot of advertising around town, and you will encounter a bunch of folks meeting you as you get off the bus showing you pictures and offering to take you there. I followed, as do many weary travellers, and it was okay, but very dirty. The hosts were very nice indeed, there are lockers to store your stuff, and the crowd is pretty eclectic. Still, I felt like I was sleeping in some kind of construction site squat. I forget the price, but I think a bed was around 50 or 60 pesos.
Last year I stayed at a couple of hostels in Oaxaca City. The first is Hostal Paulina, a very pretty place with a lot of potential. When I stayed there it had just opened, and I expect that the folks have added services over time. It has a beautiful little garden and is very clean, but the traffic noise outside the windows is so absolutely deafening that I moved out for lack of sleep. If you stay here, bring earplugs. Dorm beds are likely to cost around 100 pesos now.
After leaving Paulina, I moved to Hostal Nuyoo, also called Luz de Luna by some. It is on the other side of the Zocalo and run by a band of cheery brothers who are putting their heart into being as welcoming and fun as possible. The place is not the cleanest, but I wasn't grossed out either. The kitchen is good, there is a roof where you can string up the hammock, the courtyard is a great place to meet folks, and there is a climbing wall for your enjoyment that the brothers recently put in. The joy of staying here is all about atmosphere and enjoying the peaceful and benevolent energy of the eclectic group of travellers you are likely to find. I made some friends for life. Dorm beds - 70 pesos.
In San Cristobal I stayed at the Backpacker hostel. I really liked the hosts there, and the rooms were nice and big with lockers for your use. It is a little run down and has some issues maintaining running water; however the folks are constantly working to repair, update and beautify. It is possible to camp in the yard, and the the hammock in the back is the most comfortable hammock I have encountered in my life. We became good friends. There is a decent kitchen, the coffee in the morning is free and very good. Dorm bed - 40 pesos for members.
Campeche`s Hostal Pirate has some very welcoming hosts indeed, but the most uncomfortable beds of all so far. The building is one of the taller ones on the block, so you fall asleep to the wind howling past the window, which I actually enjoyed. The roof terrace is nice, but pretends to double as a kitchen - which is crap. There is an informal cafe in the yard, and you can get a small free breakfast with your bed, but the coffee sucks. Dorm bed -72 pesos for members.
Merida`s Nomad hostel is by far my favorite so far. The hosts are friendly, the place is pretty and roomy and everything is very clean. There is a good kitchen, cheap dinner in the evenings, and a free small breakfast if you manage to make it out of bed by 9am. There are free salsa lessons in the courtyard three days a week and live music on the other days. By far the most redeeming factor of this hostel however are the intensely comfortable and large bottom bunk mattresses. Best bed in Mexico so far for me. Dorm bed -68 pesos for members.
There are about 4 hostels in downtown Cancun, away from the hotel zone. I stayed at the Mayan Hostel just off of a little hippie park near the ADO busstation. It was a little dirty and can seem a little cramped, but it is close to everything, and above all, it is in a quiet little corner protected from the genereally deafening noise of Cancun. The hosts were very nice and amazed me with their incredible name recollection skills. They must have at least 200 people a week coming through that place, but they call everyone by first name -even if they haven't actually met you face to face...very impressive. Dorm beds are 90 pesos.
Isla Mujeres, just a thirty minute ferry ride East of Cancun has two hostels that I know of. I spent my first night at the Urban hostel. It is a pretty small space, and I was attracted to the comfort of the beds and the unusually generous free breakfast on first contact. However, if you are not planning on partying the night away, getting laid, or having lude conversation with swarmy hostel hosts, this place is not for you. The average age of guests during my one night stay here seemed to be about 20, and the average conversation revolved around whether or not spending a few minutes in the bathroom with the cute hostel host will earn you a reputation as a slut or not. My slumber was interrupted by drunk, jilted hosts loudly complaining about their love lives one too many times for me to be able to give a positive review here. There is no consideration of personal space or a travellers need to relax in the atmosphere here. Redeeming factor is the kitchen, which the other hostel does not have. Dorm bed is 95 pesos.
Poc Na is the bigger hostel