the plantation house travellers hostel — Hotel in Quindío

On our first night at Plantation house we had a private room and bathroom- it was nice a good shower and great bed. The second day there was some confusion about us having to leave but we were ensured by the owner it was fine. A few hours later he knocked on our door and told us “like we were told at check in we could only stay one night”. We were never told that the room was available for only one night and he was very short with us.... so in the pouring rain we relocated (with no help from the staff)- fine.||The second room didn’t even compare to the first yet it was the same price. The shower had no pressure and was cold. I went to the reception to notify them about this. One of the staff just kept walking away as I was talking to him and another guest ensured me that they had no water and it was a town wide problem- again fine. But the staff was not informative and actually quite rude walking away and not even explaining to me- it was another guest. ||We didn’t have water for 2 days in the room and were told it was in the entire town. On the 3rd day after a very fun morning of mountain biking we were covered in mud and wanted a shower. Our room still had no pressure and no hot water. We went to reception and they came to turn on the hot water. Still nothing so AGAIN in the pouring rain we moved rooms (with no help from the staff). When we moved back to the old room there was no cold water and only scorching hot. ||Now frustrated after 2 hours with no shower we ended up taking a shower in a different room. He explained to us that of course the other room had water because it’s on the reserve. So why not put us there in the first place???? ||Upon checkout we verbalized all of this to the owners wife. She apologized but kept saying that the room was only available for one night and that the water happens like this in the entire town. She ended up giving us a free bag of coffee with her apology- which we appreciate for her listening and hopefully improvements. Ultimately the staff need better communication with each other and some more basic customer service.. in conclusion look for a...

The private room I booked online smelled awful like a mouldy cellar that has not been aired for ages. After check-in, I asked the elderly gentleman at the reception if he can give me another room because of the bad smell - his reaction was that that the smell is just normal for an old house (no, in my opinion it's not!) and all the rooms in the hostel smell the same... As it was already 10 PM and I was tired after a long bus ride, I did not argue with him and just went to bed and slept with the window open.

The next morning, when the owner, Tim (or "Don Eduardo") showed up I told him how bad the room smelled and asked for a discount. First he jumped down my throat telling me why I was bringing this up just now and not when I arrived. As I explained that I actually did ask his employee for another room last night, instead of talking to me and trying to reach some sort of agreement as I would have expected from a grown-up man, he just murmured something like "no discount", turned around and left.

Awkwardly, right after this I did the coffee tour with him, in the course of which I asked several questions, and although he answered them, he never looked into my eyes. By the time we got back to the hostel after the tour, he was gone again and I could only talk to another younger employee at the reception, who was kind and understanding but could only execute the decisions of the owners who said no discount.

I left very unhappy about how unprofessionally and unkindly the owners dealt with this issue. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend staying at this...

Tim's yer Man in Cafetera (but challenge him at chess at yer peril). |Bring a book for Cristina - you'll likely find a page-turner to swap it for.|As for Collie Keira: just bring her your love, as you succumb to slow death by slobber, courtesy of Newfoundland Stan & Jack Ye Olde English Sheepdog. If you're not a canine hound, there are other clean & character-free hostels down the village. Stay not here. But fine with canine, lap up this rustic place.|Tim's a tad Yorkshire gruffalo at times, but he's a mine of worthwhile opinion & local knowledge. I'd done coffee tours elsewhere, so didn't bother, but he seems much in demand for good reason.|Cocora is of course the flagship hike, and the hummingbird species rival the Chiriqui Highlands of Panama. On another day, however, I urge you to complement this with a trip just outside town to Kasaguadua (ask Tim to reserve it, if numbers permit) where, on a strenuous up'n'down hike through the forest levels, the professor who is Carlos will tell you the true health of the land.|Salento is a great base for tons of activities, as well as being one of the best looking towns in the country, good bars & trout restaurants, live music under the mirador.|Plant yersel here for three days or four or more. There's a wee kitchen, free coffee straight off the finca, browse a book from the shelf, pet some pooches....