Hostal Ayni — Hotel in San Pedro de Atacama

We happened to "walk in" to Hostal Ayni. Without much idea about the hostel, we did a quick search and were satisfied with the reviews. We were lucky to get a private room with shared bathroom and a kitchen. We instantly liked the ambience, quality, cleanliness and vibe of the place. We felt welcomed and at home the moment we walked in. Our hosts Jose and Catalina both were some of the warmest people we have met.||||The hostel has some very simple rules and systems in place that really makes it work so efficiently. The segregation of organic and inorganic waste, the functional and clean kitchen with clear and simple instructions, the baskets with cutlery separated per room, the extra keys to the main building, the organized way in which the hostel works is just so reassuring. The room was warm and cozy, the bed was especially warm and welcoming for a place that can get really cold at nights. Very efficient house keeping to maintain everything in order. The bathrooms were in good order, with all supplies available and was clean and dry at all times, inspite of shared facilities.||||It is also a great place to hangout in-between the busy tours and crazy hours of the tours. Although people keep walking in and out at odd hours, we never felt disturbed or annoyed. There is a common dining and lounging area, both inside and outside spaces to sit. Very nice ambience, with a breathtaking view of the volcanic mountains which is hard to beat. ||||The hosts do make a difference by going an extra mile to make guests comfortable. The people are the asset of any place and this place seems to have the right folks. They arranged everything we needed, helped with booking tours according to our likes and schedules, even helped some people book flight tickets, pick-ups. We took two tours during our stay and both were well arranged and co-ordinated with clear instructions. We got great recommendations for restaurants, booking transport, basically anything that you ever needed!||||We felt so much at home that we extended our stay by a couple of days to just relax and plan our next travel.||||Would stay here again if we were to ever visit San Pedro de Atacama again. Highly...

NOT RECOMMENDED / NO RECOMENDABLE

This is my personal experience, I've been travelling South America and working in Chile for 4 years.

PROS:

Clean and safe place Good location near the mainstreet Great kitchen and living room Average priced

CONS:

No running water from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am. You can't wash your hands or flush the toilet during this time period and it's a mess if you need to go out early for a tour or arrive late after going in a night out. Not flexible in terms of reservation, plan your trip before paying full, they don't refund. Not good for backpackers with spontaneous style of traveling. (I personally lost 150,000 CLP because I went to a 4 day Salar de Uyuni tour in Bolivia spontaneously because it was cheap and a oncee in a lifetime experience) Some clients have problems paying with credit card because their machine is only compatible with certain cards, I witnessed a Korean couple with this problem. Bring cash in dollars or pesos because they have additional charges. Staff is friendly but can't speak English, communication is very hard, I helped the Korean couple settle things with the staff. There's no toilet paper all the time in the common restroom, buy essentials before checking in. There's no hot water, electric kettle for coffee or tea and no microwave for fast meals. Staff aren't always helpful Very slow to almost no internet, this affects paying with a card. In my experience, our room got entered into without our permission or advicing us when we went on a 4 day tour. DON'T EVER LEAVE YOUR VALUABLES. STAFF...

NOT RECOMMENDED / NO RECOMENDABLE ||||This is my personal experience, I've been travelling South America and working in Chile for 4 years.||||PROS:||||1. Clean and safe place||2. Good location near the mainstreet||3. Great kitchen and living room||4. Average priced||||CONS:||||1. No running water from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am. You can't wash your hands or flush the toilet during this time period and it's a mess if you need to go out early for a tour or arrive late after going in a night out.||2. Not flexible in terms of reservation, plan your trip before paying full, they don't refund. Not good for backpackers with spontaneous style of traveling. (I personally lost 150,000 CLP because I went to a 4 day Salar de Uyuni tour in Bolivia spontaneously because it was cheap and a oncee in a lifetime experience)||3. Some clients have problems paying with credit card because their machine is only compatible with certain cards, I witnessed a Korean couple with this problem. Bring cash in dollars or pesos because they have additional charges.||4. Staff is friendly but can't speak English, communication is very hard, I helped the Korean couple settle things with the staff.||5. There's no toilet paper all the time in the common restroom, buy essentials before checking in.||6. There's no hot water, electric kettle for coffee or tea and no microwave for fast meals.||7. Staff aren't always helpful||8. Very slow to almost no internet, this affects paying...