Finca Hostal Bolivar — Hotel in Magdalena

The owner of the place made us live a nightmare as she tried to expel us from the hostel late in the evening of our second night! Before our arrival she committed in writing that laundry could be done in 24h - which was an important point for us as we were coming back from 7days trekking. When we asked for our clothes on the 2nd day she answered that they would not be ready until the day after (when we were supposed to leave). We politely complained about this. Things went out of control at this point: she called us yelling and asked us to leave the hotel because she could not bear with our “attitude”. It was on Saturday 13th August in the evening, where all hotels in Minca were already fully booked. If it were not for Nicola (the guy managing the place) who managed to convince her not to call the police to expel us, we would have been left alone in a tiny town in the jungle without any place to go. In a word, she would have put our safety at risk. This created a huge stress on us and let us feel very unsecured. Needless to say that we could not close our eyes at night, fearing she could show up with a revenge. Minca is full of nice hostels, so please for your own safety don’t go to finca bolivar (which is not even a finca btw) - as at any moment the owner could decide to throw you out, possibly in the middle of the night, which is clearly not the kind of situation you want to end up in Colombia.

Ps: the owner will say we’re racist when answering, or saying we insulted her. Of course, it’s always easier to use such a claim when one has no arguments on real facts. We wouldn’t be racists and spending one month visiting Colombia on our...

Perfect hostel. Although hostel is close to the main town it is secluded enough that its really quiet and you feel like you're deep in the mountains like the other hostels around but with the convenience of the shops and moto taxis nearby. Simon was the perfect host. He came down to meet us and gave us tips and all the information we needed. He also went out of his way to come and collect our laundry and have it back to us really quickly in time for us to leave early the next morning. He also has the perfect private little viewing area up on his land to watch the sunset. Perfect opportunity to grab some beers and get to know your hostel mates as we did. With only 2 double rooms and one 4 bed dorm it's a lovely size for it to be quiet enough and for you to get to know the other guests if you wish but also private enough to have your own space. Showers are hot but can sometimes find it hard to get a balance between scalding and freezing cold. There is no air conditioning and it did get a little warm in the evenings with just the fan but it is considerably cooler in Minca than santa marta and cartagena so it was bearable. Bring bug repellent. Lots of it....

Really nice hostel just 5 minutes from the town center. The hosts Simon and Daniel really thought this through and paid much attention to the details, like power plugs in the lockers, a little space in the bathroom with your bed number so you can keep your stuff there, a hook with your bed number for your towel. They even provide towels that can be used to go bathing in the river that flows throu the hostel property.

There is also a very nice kitchen with everything you need, a fire place for campfires, hammocks, a private viewpoint where you can overlook the whole region down to Santa Marta.

The rooms get cleaned everyday and your bed will be made when you get back from your activities.

And there is warm water in the showers!

The hosts are very nice and help you out with all the information you could possibly need.

All in all a top hostel that i can really...