Macarena Hostel — Hotel in Flores

This hostel continued to charge us, after a single night's stay, for an issue which we resolved with the police twice. They kept our credit card information to issue new charges (in line with their policy).

Specifically, a "moco" on a sheet means "permanently damaged" and thus the loss of reservation and a minimum $40 fee.

We spent an hour with the lovely tourist police (who really protect you from predatory practices) resolving the situation. The next day, we woke up to the charge anyway. We resolved it again, but guess what? At 12:44 at night, we got another charge. While on the phone with the police, the boss claimed it is his right to continuously charge us, so no surprise there. Next, we went to the IGUAT and fiscalia where they offered to give us (only) half the money if we remove this review! Of course we won't.

(The fiscalia said it was bad to anonymize my photo (by blocking out my face) with the police after our second victory, so I removed it.)

The moral of the story is to not pay by card, so you don't have to stay a few days waiting for a new one to be mailed nor go in circles.

This ruined our trip and wasted 3 days. Don't ruin your trip and make the mistake of staying here.

Alexis was nice, though.

The specific situation: We arrived. We booked one night. The next morning, we asked to extend, then went to Tikal. When we returned, they cancelled our extension because of a stained sheet in a hostel bed someone else occupied. They charged us $40 for the honor; we called the police. This has now happened a few times: The police broker a solution to rectify the situation which both parties agree to (i.e. they do not charge us/return the money), then the hostel simply charges our card again, as soon as the police leave.

Besides that we weren't given the bed in question, the stain they showed us (only in the fiscalia) had 3-4 spots the sizes of coins, perhaps from someone sneezing. This seems laughable. Don't put yourself at risk of such arbitrary and vengeful people.

To the owner/management: I modified this a bit.

I really don't understand why you didn't e.g. ask us which bed we had, in the first place, convey that there was an issue and ask us to e.g. take this sheet to get washed. Indeed, you didn't even let us see it when we asked what you meant! You just started at 100% and then wonder why tourists try to defend themselves? At the fiscalia, I told you I was sorry if I miswrote that you "screamed at the police" and you did not have to repeat to me 5 more times that that is defamation. I tried to work this through with you the whole time, but you at no point ever actually responded to my words or questions. Yelling "this is our policy, you signed it" is meaningless if you use special definitions of words and the neighboring hotel agreed with us and called the 1500, so the police could resolve it for us. Obviously we would have been happy to resolve the situation instead of extending our stay to fight this via bureaucracy, but you literally never let us. Instead of wallowing in indignation, ask yourself why the police acted as they did. I harbor no illwill against you and am happy you give people joy there, but I want to protect any others whose trips you arbitrarily want to ruin.

Also, please don't try to manipulate the fact pattern with postfacto changes on booking.com which records when you add or modify a record. Lies only...

Our stay at Macarena Hostel fell far short of expectations. While the hostel receives glowing reviews online, our personal experience was very different.

Breakfast and Service: Although the breakfast was tasty, it was far too small, and surprisingly, coffee wasn’t included—you had to pay extra, which is odd in a country famous for its coffee. Upon arrival, we informed the staff that we would miss two breakfasts due to an early shuttle. Unlike other hotels and hostels we stayed at during our trip, they couldn’t offer any alternative, not even a simple takeaway package. This means that anyone with an early flight or planning a sunrise tour to Tikal misses two breakfasts.

We kindly requested either a refund or a lunch package, both in person and through Booking, but the staff member was unhelpful and hid behind the “policy.” It feels like a convenient way for them to profit since you can’t book without breakfast, allowing them to “earn” breakfasts they never have to provide.

Cleanliness and Comfort: The rooms were far from clean—old, poorly maintained, and often without hot water. Is this also in the “policy”?

Atmosphere and Staff: There was a lot of noise in the hallways and outside, with no clear rules in place to maintain order. The staff was generally unfriendly, both at breakfast and reception, with one friendly exception at the front desk.

Positive Points: Ik The air conditioning worked well, and the location is convenient.

Conclusion: We decided to leave earlier than planned due to these disappointing experiences. Honestly, I don’t understand how this hostel gets such...

The breakfast is very small not enough feeding, the coffee is not even included. If you leave early there is no alternative (no take away breakfast you paid for...). The bathrooms are mixed with no possibility to lock the doors for showers... So as a solo traveller woman... It is not ok. The AC is wayyy too strong I was cold in the room and got sick. There are only two toilets (mixed) downstairs so there is a queue sometimes. The only positive point is that I arrive later than the check out timing due to the delay of my flight and they accepted a late check out. But which seems normal since there is someone at the reception 24/7. The "free water" is the fountain in the courtyard. The location is good but since there are plenty of hostels on the island I would recommend...