Pagalú Hostel — Hotel in Cahuita

We were supposed to stay 12 days at Pagalù and ended up staying almost 4 weeks.||||Pagalú is by far one of the best hostels I've ever stayed at.||||The new owners, Cynthia and Hugo, are superbe hosts. Pure kindness, always helpful and doing their best to ensure the most enjoyable stay. Cynthia's smile and contagious peaceful vibe, and Hugo's sense of humour add a great energy to the hostel.||||Pagalú is a small hostel in two buildings separated with a beautiful tropical garden.||||The spacious 6 bed dorm actually has 5 comfortable beds with individual reading light, fan, plug and shelf. The individual lockers are big and very useful to stow all our belongings.||||The shared bathrooms are constantly cleaned up and restocked all day, with a decent ratio per guest. We have never had to wait long to use the bathroom in 4 weeks.||||The common space is really spacious and welcoming. The kitchen is so amazing and so well equipped that it was quite attractive to cook. We made sumptuous dinner nights with other backpackers. Tea, coffee and potable water provided, as well as basic ingredients for cooking.||||Pagalú is very well located. Mega Super is across the street. The better Old Harbour Supermarket is a few minutes away. Everything is nearby: restaurants, sodas, bars, street food stalls, pharmacy, clinic, shops, surf shops, beaches... etc.|| ||We felt in love with Puerto Viejo. We made so many new Ticos and international friends with whom we created unforgettable memories. Pagalu Hostel certainly played a significant role in our whole experience in Puerto Viejo.||||Cynthia and Hugo, we...

Horrible experience with the owner/manager. I felt so intimidated and uncomfortable. This is also NOT a social hostel, no vibe or ambience at all.

My friend visited the hostel (not a guest) and the receptionist said he could stay for lunch so long as he only stayed in the common area. Halfway through lunch the owner (an older bald male, spoke no English) aggressively told my friend he had to leave. All he said was “go now”. I said the receptionist said it was okay, and asked if he could just finish his lunch. He shouted “NOW”. The owner was extremely rude and aggressive, trying to literally shoo him out and wouldn’t even let him pack his belongings. He said he was leaving and the owner looked furious, honestly like he could hit him. While he was packing his things up the owner grabbed his arm and tried to yank him up and out the hostel. I couldn’t believe it and told him not to touch him and that he was packing to leave! The owner followed him out all the way to the street. He treated him like a stray dog. From that point on the owner was giving me death stares for the rest of my stay, I felt so uncomfortable being there. On my last day after check out I asked if I could keep my baggage in storage until my 12pm bus. He said no and when I asked why he just said “no quiero”. After this incident I read the hostel reviews and all negative reviews are related to this same rude behaviour. Had I known he was like this before, I would not have given him my business. I’ve never experienced this kind of treatment from a hostel before. Ruined my stay and I urge you to...

The people who run this place are schizophrenic and purely evil. Don’t be fooled by their warm welcome at reception when you arrive, because as soon as they have taken your money they will turn on you. In the afternoon, after storing my bags (with permission) after check out, I was sitting in the lobby while searching on my phone for a place to stay that night (I only checked out of their hostel because it was full). Then out of nowhere I was forcibly removed from the hostel without even being allowed to gather my belongings. I later on had to have a friend staying at the hostel bring me the rest of my belongings. The receptionist who checked me in now wouldn’t even talk to me, and the owner stared at me like he wanted to kill me and just kept repeating “please, please, please” while motioning toward the door. The lady gave off very mixed vibes but in the end turned on me as well. While staying there I witnessed her act very rudely to other guests for no apparent reason. What a way to treat other human beings, especially those who have given you business and acted so respectfully and responsibly while staying at your property. There are a lot of good people out there but these are not some of them. Don’t wait your time, money, or...