Vibes Hostel — Hotel in Centro Histórico

Vibes Aurik is a nice place to stay with nice views of the city. The room was lovely for a decent price, however the staff is slightly odd. I live in Ecuador and speak Spanish fluently as well as English so language was not the contributing factor. Every time I spoke with a staff member about filling up my water bottle, doing my check-in/check-out, getting a towel, they would look at me like I was absolutely crazy and had no idea what I was talking about. I would explain again slowly and clearly and then they would sort of understand and help me out. I was also almost attacked by their dog they had at the entrance who was barking loudly and trying to jump on me and it took staff a while to come settle down their animal so I could enter. Very unsettling. The dog on the roof however is very friendly. Normally I would never write a negative review, but what really bothered me was when I came to check out and there was a confusion about whether or not the payment had gone through virtually on HostelWorld or if I had to pay in cash. No problem either way on my end. But from the moment I came upstairs and explained we booked online the staff started telling me to "calm down" and "breathe" and "just relax" in a very disrespectful and minimizing manner. I assure you I was calm lol I said a total of 2 sentences "Buenos días me puede ayudar con Check-out" and "creo que ya pagamos en línea." said friendly and with a smile...I'm used to the machismo culture of Ecuador but this was just out of line. I was polite back the first 3 times staff talked to me in this way until finally I responded in Spanish that I was calm and its disrespectful to talk to someone that way before leaving. I was uncomfortable and frustrated and that is coming from someone who speaks the language, so I can only imagine how unsettling and intimidating that might be for someone unfamiliar with the language or who didn't have someone else there to look out for them. I write this review just to warn other people specifically solo female travelers that the energy of the staff may be unsettling and create an uncomfortable environment for you, especially if you tend to chat with staff and rely on them for information about the city. I know hostal staff can change regularly so this may not be everyones experience, but it left a relevant enough impression to write a review. If you just want a place to rest your head for the night this place is nice and comfortable with cool amenities, but maybe not the best fit for...

This place is just not good… And worse.

If I had not been mistaken thinking the price was low, I would have left the first day.

There are almost no clients, it’s empty and sad. The main entrance is closed, no one to welcome you and, because of the power cuts, you have to call an ecuadorian number and the man sounds totally annoyed to be called. None of the staff speaks English except for the owner who is mean, unprofessional and dishonest. Fortunately I speak Spanish. The WIFI WORKED HALF THE TIME (even when the power was working fine). The room is sad. Pretty clean but depressing. The only good point was the hot shower. My bed was SQUEAKING soooo bad, I slept soooo bad First night I heard a couple « doing it » for hours… It’s no one’s fault but pfffffffff… The 2 first days, the juice at breakfast stung my tongue so I didn’t drink it. The 2 last days it was good but same flavor as before… They gave me a candle but nothing to hold it. The eggs were too salty. The jam was the same everyday. The poor volunteer who was serving me was doing her best but forgot some stuff every single day.

It’s tons of small things which just make you feel uncomfortable :(

They are just not professional, they don’t seem to care and give the BARE MINIMUM.

And the grand finale:

I had seen $12 on the website but when I tried to pay (3 times but they were never ready), they told me it was $17. I contested and the owner immediately called the police on me. At the end I realized my mistake but wow…He was soooo mean and lied to the police! He even said I had threatened him which made the policeman laughed.

Honestly just don’t go, this place doesn’t deserve to stay open,...

I stayed here for 3 nights with my friend and we enjoyed the trip! Quito is a lovely city with so much to do and the hostel is in a great location as it is right next to the historical center. They offer free city walking tours and other activities. It is around the corner from The Secret Garden Quito which is where a lot of backpackers stay so you can go over there for more socialization but staying at Vibes was more peaceful. The hostel was fairly empty when my friend and I stayed so the manager upgraded us to a private room at no extra cost! As soon as we reached out about not having hot water in the shower the issue was resolved immediately. Some staff do not speak English but being in a Spanish speaking country this is absolutely normal and there are other ways to communicate. Quito is recovering from a loss in tourism so it is evident that many places are still working to recover as tourism comes back. The staff did their best to help us...