El Arsenal Hostel Boutique — Hotel in Cartagena

I don't even know where to begin...Booked 3 nights, stayed for 2...||||1. The room was the smallest dorm I've ever seen/been in. We could hardly shuffle past each other so we had to take turns moving around the room. If we were strangers, it would have been even more awkward and uncomfortable. ||||2. There were no lockers, just locked drawers below the bunks that were far too small to store your bags, so only really valuable items like electronics could be locked up. However, if you reached your hand under the bunk from the front or back, the draws could easily be accessed, rendering them absolutely useless!||||3. AC was only permitted to be turned on between 6pm - 8am. Which is controlled by 1 AC remote for the entire Hostel. The Hostel staff also came into our room at 8am without knocking to turn off the AC. I'm sure that might be acceptable for other dorms. But being that we all knew each other and we were bunking as family/friends, we found this to be unacceptable and a violation of our privacy.||||Also, being that the hostel has a bar playing loud music until late and located in the party district of Cartagena, this makes zero sense. Impossible to get any sleep later than 8am because as soon as AC is turned off, it's a stuffy hot box that is intolerable. Not recommended if you're not an early riser, party the night before or just want to catch up on some sleep.||||4. The bathrooms were disgusting. Even though I saw cleaning staff around the hostel constantly, the bathrooms didn't look/feel like they had been cleaned in months. The same piles of hair/grime/dirt remained the same over a span of 3 days. The showers were cold but that is expected in the warmer areas of Colombia so that is fine. However, the pressure was awful and there wasn't anywhere to hang/put your toiletries. There were not any places to hang your towel or clothes. ||||5. The pool had white clumps floating around. Signage said that they were "enzymes to eat the sunscreen in the pool" but I'm not sure I believe that. I didn't see the pool get cleaned once while we were there 3 days. It was so hot in Cartagena and no AC in rooms, you were forced to cool off in the pool but it's not for the faint of heart. ||||6. We had to plead/demand for 2 room keys for our group of 4. They reluctantly gave us room keys after putting down a deposit. Regardless if you are in a dorm or not, your dorm/room should always be locked. This is unacceptable.||||7. My expectations for hostel staff are usually fairly low and don't usually include them in a review. However, the staff at this hostel were the worst. Every interaction was an inconvenience and a chore. It was clear that they did not want to be there. Despite a strong ability to communicate in english, they were non-responsive and slow. It was painfully frustrating every time you have to interact with them or ask a question. ||||8. The bar is open to the public and the hostel can be accessed from the bar. This means the public have access to the rooms/dorms. Especially an issue considering the room security issues mentioned above. ||||9. 1 of our friends in the group of 4 became violently ill which later required hospitalization. Nobody else in our group became ill so we doubt it had anything to do with the hostel. However, when we begged to have the AC turned on in the room so the person could rest, the Hostel staff refused. We even offered to pay extra and still they refused. At that time we decided to forgo our last night at the Hostel and found other accommodation. We would have left sooner but were going to tough it out since we already prepaid. However, when staff made it clear they were more concerned about money than the well being of their patrons, we left. ||||Overall, I would not recommend this Hostel to anyone. We have stayed in Hostels across the world and this was by far the worst. Do not be swayed by the prices or clean-looking pictures. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place...

I don't even know where to begin...Booked 3 nights, stayed for 2...||||1. The room was the smallest dorm I've ever seen/been in. We could hardly shuffle past each other so we had to take turns moving around the room. If we were strangers, it would have been even more awkward and uncomfortable. ||||2. There were no lockers, just locked drawers below the bunks that were far too small to store your bags, so only really valuable items like electronics could be locked up. However, if you reached your hand under the bunk from the front or back, the draws could easily be accessed, rendering them absolutely useless!||||3. AC was only permitted to be turned on between 6pm - 8am. Which is controlled by 1 AC remote for the entire Hostel. The Hostel staff also came into our room at 8am without knocking to turn off the AC. I'm sure that might be acceptable for other dorms. But being that we all knew each other and we were bunking as family/friends, we found this to be unacceptable and a violation of our privacy.||||Also, being that the hostel has a bar playing loud music until late and located in the party district of Cartagena, this makes zero sense. Impossible to get any sleep later than 8am because as soon as AC is turned off, it's a stuffy hot box that is intolerable. Not recommended if you're not an early riser, party the night before or just want to catch up on some sleep.||||4. The bathrooms were disgusting. Even though I saw cleaning staff around the hostel constantly, the bathrooms didn't look/feel like they had been cleaned in months. The same piles of hair/grime/dirt remained the same over a span of 3 days. The showers were cold but that is expected in the warmer areas of Colombia so that is fine. However, the pressure was awful and there wasn't anywhere to hang/put your toiletries. There were not any places to hang your towel or clothes. ||||5. The pool had white clumps floating around. Signage said that they were "enzymes to eat the sunscreen in the pool" but I'm not sure I believe that. I didn't see the pool get cleaned once while we were there 3 days. It was so hot in Cartagena and no AC in rooms, you were forced to cool off in the pool but it's not for the faint of heart. ||||6. We had to plead/demand for 2 room keys for our group of 4. They reluctantly gave us room keys after putting down a deposit. Regardless if you are in a dorm or not, your dorm/room should always be locked. This is unacceptable.||||7. My expectations for hostel staff are usually fairly low and don't usually include them in a review. However, the staff at this hostel were the worst. Every interaction was an inconvenience and a chore. It was clear that they did not want to be there. Despite a strong ability to communicate in english, they were non-responsive and slow. It was painfully frustrating every time you have to interact with them or ask a question. ||||8. The bar is open to the public and the hostel can be accessed from the bar. This means the public have access to the rooms/dorms. Especially an issue considering the room security issues mentioned above. ||||9. 1 of our friends in the group of 4 became violently ill which later required hospitalization. Nobody else in our group became ill so we doubt it had anything to do with the hostel. However, when we begged to have the AC turned on in the room so the person could rest, the Hostel staff refused. We even offered to pay extra and still they refused. At that time we decided to forgo our last night at the Hostel and found other accommodation. We would have left sooner but were going to tough it out since we already prepaid. However, when staff made it clear they were more concerned about money than the well being of their patrons, we left. ||||Overall, I would not recommend this Hostel to anyone. We have stayed in Hostels across the world and this was by far the worst. Do not be swayed by the prices or clean-looking pictures. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place...

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. Booked a private room with ensuite via booking.com. Arrived yesterday and was told our room was not available due to overbooking. Front desk said a private with shared bathroom was available, but they must charge me my original rate. I was unhappy, but fine about switching rooms. ||||However I told her I would not pay for a room I was not getting and, when she refused to change the price, I asked to speak to the manager. She told me the manager was not available. I said I'd wait, and she refused to let me speak with the manager at all. She said the rate of the offered room was now more expensive, so no price change. She did offer free breakfast, which we did not want. No matter how many times I asked, she refused to give.||||I ended up contacting booking.com customer service, who, once working with the Hostel was not an option, helped cancel our reservation and found us a comparable room elsewhere. ||||We've cancelled a future reservation for this hostel as well. There are plenty of other places in Cartagena and Getsemani, and I'm happy to...