Black Cat Hostel — Hotel in Municipio de Quetzaltenango

I stayed at The Black Cat hostel recently, and even though I was only there for about 12 hours, I have many serious complaints.||||Firstly and most importantly, the bed bugs. As soon as I arrived and sat on my bed that night, I started getting bites. I first attributed the bites to mosquitoes. However after spending a night there tossing and turning, feeling itchy and unable to sleep, I kept turning on my phone light to see if there were bed bugs. I checked 3 different times throughout the night and finally found them at 4 in the morning - 2 on the bed and one inside my sweatshirt. I took pictures to show the hostel and killed them so I had proof. In the morning, I spoke to the other girl in the dorm with me, who also saw a bed bug on her bed and found bites on her. We both complained to the hostel manager who looked completely unsurprised. She gave us a refund but never even apologized to us. She also refused to let me use their washer and dryer to wash all my stuff, so now I have to pay extra money to get my clothes washed and dried because they are so careless and inconsiderate about such a serious problem.||||The manager stated that they “fumigate the rooms often” but two of the bed bugs I saw this morning were babies - so they have been around long enough to feed on other guests and reproduce. There have been bad reviews about this in the past. And the new hostel that I went to the next day told me that if they get bed bugs it’s often from people who had previously been at The Black Cat and that The Black Cat has had this problem for years.||||Not only did I have huge, swollen bites all over my face, neck, back, and hands, but I also spent my entire day washing all my clothes and my backpack, and also picking apart and checking every tiny crevice of anything that was in my backpack. I found one bed bug in my backpack from The Black Cat and the laundromat found more in my clothing.||||Secondly, the night when I arrived I asked the guy at the desk if it was possible for me to use the dining room to teach a couple online classes this morning (I didn’t want to wake people up in the dorm). He said that it was fine and that the dining room would be open for me to use at 5 am the next morning. But then, after barely sleeping and dealing with the bed bugs that morning, I could not even leave the staircase because the door was locked and the guard was nowhere to be found. And also the dining room was closed and locked anyway. So the guy either lied to me or just didn’t care to help me out. So I had to find another place to teach in a hurry this morning which just added more stress to my day.||||This is literally the worst hostel experience I have ever had, and I have stayed in a LOT of hostels. None of them have ever even compared to the awful, rude, careless, inconsiderate staff that I encountered at The Black Cat. They do not care about the guests, they do not care to help you or go out of their way to make you feel welcome like other hostels. They clearly do not check for bed bugs or fumigate their beds. There are some other really good (and cheaper!!!) options to stay in Xela, don’t waste your time and money and put yourself at risk of bed bugs by...

Overall I'm giving it 3 stars. It's a hostel so most people stay in dormitories with bunk beds but my traveling companion needed a private bathroom so we were in the more spacious room 5 with two individual beds. In our room we found a kitchenette comprising a coffeemaker, a sink, dish soap and scrubber, dish strainer, a glass pitcher of purified drinking water refillable downstairs by the bar kitchen, 2x glasses and 2x mugs The Black Cat is not elegant or homey, and as all hostels there was no replacement of linens in a three-night stay, but it fit our needs just fine. We plan to stay again.

Highs: Warm staff Very close to the central plaza Good hot water in the sink as well as the shower Generous breakfast with bottomless coffee Laundry service Snack food or sandwiches available late into the night alongside the option of drinks from the bar Morning sunshine in the stairwell/solarium Skylight in room 5 Older desktop computer between the bar and kitchen is adequate for basic Internet communication if you don't have a mobile device to connect to their WiFi

Lows: City noise is mostly from a half block away and more since the street the Black Cat is on is not a busy street. But it is noticeable especially during festival times like we experienced this weekend (Oct 5-7) Normal hostel noise including creeky old wooden floors in some places Bar chatter and possible karaoke (that was me attempting 'Vivo Por Ella' while you were trying to get some sleep last night) Room 5: No ventilation for the private bathroom, kitchenette at entrance to bathroom makes for less desirable food preparation if there are bathroom odors Room 5: Dirty dish strainer Like most places in the mountainous tropics, there's no heat other than the sun and bodies in living spaces, so nights and mornings can be chilly, especially for barefoot trips to...

The staff really make this place, so friendly and always wanting to do anything to look after their guests. We mostly spoke Spanish with the staff as we're were taking lessons and wanted to practice, most other people were also using Spanish however it seems the staff do have some English if necessary. The included breakfast has lots of options and if you choose wisely can definitely see you through lunch into dinner time. If you need to leave before breakfast then you can ask the night before and they will provide you with a sandwich which is a nice touch when travelling on a tight backpacker budget. The hostel was fairly quiet when we stayed, but I think it's a quiet time of year. The place seems very safe and the location is excellent, just off the Parque Central and near many Spanish schools, shops restaurants etc. The dorms were all well kept and the beds clean etc. The building is old so there is a bit of damp here and there but nothing too bad. I've seen a few reviews saying the water isn't hot, however there is a knack to the electric showerheads downstairs, you just need to not turn them on full or the high water pressure means the water doesn't heat up properly. The showers upstairs are better, but take a few mins to warm up and work better when only one person...