Rio Hostel Buritaca — Hotel in Magdalena

If you stay here, your only regret will be not staying for more days. I stayed at a private room, very nice and comfy. No AC but a pretty functional fan. Everything was very clean, including the bathrooms which is not that common (specially in party hostels). The shared rooms didn't look as nice, but seem functional as long as there is no rain. The views, the staff and the food are amazing. I haven't seen any pictures online that do justice on how pretty this place is. The vibes of the people staying were great too, at least during my time here. Might be a great place to meet people to keep on touring other places with. Regarding the parties, the music is techno. A kind of slow techno without vocals, maybe weird to dance. It is not the commercial type I am familiar with (meaning Kolombo, Purple Disco Machine, Claptone, etc) but it is still fun and after 3am when the party ends many people go to the beach and keep it going. The day after the party there probably wont be much activity during night time, but there are a ping pong and pool tables to burn some time. If you are young and want to have some fun, I strongly recommend you visit this place. If you are looking to sleep and have a restful stay, maybe look for other options.

Some things to consider, which were not an issue for me but might be for you.

Internet access is limited to the dinning room and it is not very good. Most carriers have little to no signal, I think Claro was the only one that kind of worked. This place is in the middle of nowhere, so be prepared to take a taxi an ride for 20/30 minutes to other places if you are looking to have activities during the day. Toobing seemed like the most boring thing ever, people were getting towed by 2 workers because the current was not strong enough. All your consumptions within the facilities are charged to a bracelet they give you when you check in. Very dangerous if you are not careful writing down what you consumed or if you cannot control yourself. You might be getting a big tab when you check out. Also, and at least in my experience, they don't give you a detail of what you spend your money on. Some guys were complaining about drinkable water access. For those who party to hard, if you get what I mean, this was an issue and they spend a big amount in water...

We came to Rio for a party on Sunday before checking in for our stay on Monday. The event was cashless so you had to purchase a wristband and upload money in order to pay for drinks. Someone at the gate stole the wristbands physically from our wrists as we were leaving. He was (by all accounts from what I’ve heard) supposed to give everyone $20,000 peso in cash for the deposit which didn’t happen. Of course, any cash remaining on the wristbands that you uploaded earlier is automatically absorbed by the hostel, which must work out to be a very nice stream of passive income.

On the night, at least one person was blindly intoxicated by drugs they’d taken and the staff could not have cared less. Despite showing numerous physical signs of overdose he was left alone to fend for himself, even when others had asked staff to look after and keep an eye on him. The rules at reception have a low tolerance policy to drugs, however, it’s probably the worst kept secret that if you wish to indulge a guy is ready and waiting for you just outside the hostel entrance.

I also would seriously question your decision to stay here as a woman travelling by yourself. The same evening, a girl was nearly carried off along the beach by two men she didn’t know. Other people staying at the hostel had to intervene and thank god they did.

This hostel works hard to attract travellers who are young and fun but cares little for their safety and wellbeing once they arrive.

We needed to leave early to make connections for onward travel. As we made to leave for the hotel the security staff blocked us, shouted at us and tried to physically prevent us from leaving the premises because we didn’t have a “certificate of check out”. Payment for your food and drinks at the hostel operates via a wristband and your bill is due at the end of the stay. However, the reception isn’t open 24 hours a day so we were unable to do this. You cannot operate with a wristband policy if guests are then unable to pay their bills upon departure and will face the wrath of staff when trying to leave.

In all it’s a shame, because the set up of the hostel and the space itself has so...

Lives up to the reviews as a great social experience! The poor 3G signal and limited WiFi meant people were really interactive! Played lots of pool, did the very fun Wed night bingo (if you’re on the fence about a big techno party then come for bingo night/ a night with no DJ - it was the best way for me to experience Rio on my vibe). I loved the tubing (I did it the day I checked out), chilled in the hammocks, and also loved the bakery with an expresso machine, smoothies, homemade ice cream and delicious cakes. Great yoga class at 9:15 each day and there is even a small gym workout area - it’s a true village. Plenty of bathrooms and showers, which were always clean despite the amount of people around. Like the wrist band payment system so you can stash your phone and wallet and just roam freely 😊 also a great 12 nook checkout means you can do yoga, eat breakfast and chill before checkout admin - then go tubing at 1pm

My two negatives were the restaurant is so slow. If the food options are only the bakery (open from 10am), the pizza oven and the restaurant, it needs to get a bit faster on food service. I ordered lunch at 12:10 after checking out, before tubing at 1pm and I only got my choripan hotdog at 12:45. Also it was so dry and hard… Someone else ordered eggs at 8:30 before yoga at 9:15 and ended up having to eat them after yoga. Perhaps the menu is too extensive for the amount of people trying to eat at similar times or the bakery needs to open earlier to alleviate breakfast. Make sure you get any orders in at the restaurant early! My dorm was not like the pictures on the website - it’s recently been renovated to a windowless pitch black room. It’s always nice to have some natural light to wake up to but at least update the pictures listed. Also the rooms bathroom needs a couple of towel hooks as there is nowhere dry to put your towel or clothes. (But these were the best top bunk ladders I’ve ever had in a hostel...