Selina Cancun Laguna Hotel Zone & Cowork — Hotel in Cancún

I typically avoid writing negative reviews, as I believe issues should be handled directly with management first. But, we’ve received no calls our emails from the supervisor. This leaves me with no choice but to share our experience publicly.

My boyfriend and I often choose Selina for the environment, social activities, and great accommodations. This was the first time we were deeply disappointed with our stay.

Our problems began with booking. The mobile site and app weren’t working properly, so I had to use my computer. I entered my payment info, but two days later received an email saying my card wasn’t charged. This happened three times. Despite finally receiving confirmation from a staff member after I sent proof of payment, I never got an official confirmation email from the hostel.

When we arrived, we were alarmed to see 3-4 marines outside. This made us very uneasy, but the receptionist later said they were only there for hurricane relief. Then, during check-in, we discovered there were two rooms reserved for us, even though I only booked one private room.

The room itself was disappointing. The bed was so stiff and the headboard wasn’t attached properly and banged against the wall with every movement. The window didn’t close properly, and with Cancun’s high winds, it made loud noises all night.

One of the biggest issues was with the water. On the first day, we only had lukewarm water coming from the left shower handle - no hot water. On day two, there was only freezing cold water, and the left handle stopped working completely. We reported this to reception, and they fixed it quickly. However, later that night, we returned only to find that there was NO water AT ALL. Neither the shower nor the sink had running water. At 3 am, we had to go to reception to inform them, and while the worker was receptive and managed to resolve it quickly again, it was incredibly frustrating to deal with this in the middle of the night. Having no water after multiple issues with the shower was really the last straw for us.

One of the worst part was the overwhelming presence of over 100 marines staying at the hostel. While we understand the importance of their work and appreciate their service, their presence completely altered the vibe of the hostel. Selina promotes itself as a space for travelers, nomads, and remote workers but the marines took over most of the hostel, and the atmosphere felt uncomfortable and exclusive rather than open and welcoming.

The marines had completely taken over the coworking space. Both my boyfriend and I needed this space, for daily Zoom meetings for work. However, when I tried to enter the coworking area, I was literally stopped at the door by three of them. They informed me that the space was closed to guests because they needed it. Not only was I never informed of this in advance or during our stay, but it also completely contradicted the purpose of choosing Selina. My boyfriend had to take his Zoom meetings sitting on the stairs outside. We had a private room but only one desk, and the noise from the window made it impossible to focus.

Additionally, since the marines woke up early every morning, they ate all food at the cafe before we even got downstairs around 8:30 am. We felt like we were staying in a space that wasn’t designed for guests anymore but had been taken over for an entirely different purpose, and no one told us ahead of time.

We spoke to the receptionist, who was helpful and gave us a refund form. He said the supervisor would be there the next morning, but she wasn't. It’s now 2.5 days later, and no call.

Positively, I will say that the staff were great. Specifically the woman working in the café—she made great coffee and was lovely to chat to.

Unfortunately, the overall experience, including a cockroach outside our door, overshadowed the positives. I hope the supervisor contacts us promptly. We expect a full refund and, honestly, unless we are refunded and offered additional compensation for this terrible experience, we will not be returning to...

This was sincerely one of the worst hostel experiences of my life.

Every moment I spent at this place was an absolute nightmare. When we checked in to the hostel they informed us that the ac could not be turned on until 9pm. Mind you it is July in Mexico and 90 degrees outside. The room was obviously hot as hell and it was not possible to even stay in the room go get ready for our day after spending all day traveling. We left the hostel to go get food and hang out until 9pm and came back to the AC still not on. When we asked again they told us one person goes building to building to turn the AC on so we would have to wait. So we went out to sit at the beach to cool off and came back around midnight to STILL NO AC. My friend went to the counter to ask again just for the staff to give her an attitude and then take 30 minutes to send someone to turn the AC on. When they finally sent someone he turned it on the coldest possible setting and they only give you a top sheet to sleep with anyways so we could not get a decent nights rest. After the AC was finally on THE POWER WENT OUT for hours. I literally cannot make this up every moment was like a bad joke.

After our first day we said okay let’s give it a chance maybe it was a rough day. The next morning my friend had an allergic reaction to the breakfast that was served. The menu has no ingredients listed for any items and her allergen should not have been anywhere near what she ordered. The breakfast also sometimes took upwards of an hour to be made for us with no one else waiting for food. There were times we had to leave without eating to make it to an excursion on time.

On top of that during my stay I felt very unsafe. There were large groups of men congregated outside the hostel and in the common areas ALL day. These guys would follow me and my friends around nonstop trying to talk to us and harass us. Once my friend got fed up with one of the men one of them cussed her out and got aggressive with her. There are also men who sit out front of the hostel and I swear to god none of them left the entire time I was here. From the second we arrived they were trying to talk to us and cat calling us. Our suitcases did not even hit the ground before these dudes opened their mouths. It got to the point where I would avoid leaving the room. I did not get to enjoy the outside areas of the hostel which are actually quite nice because these men hung around like mosquitos and would not take leave me alone as an answer.

To make matters worse, there was mold all over our room. Black mold. In the AC, on the walls, in the bathroom. IT WAS EVERYWHERE. The room smelled disgusting and if you want to open the window there is no screen to prevent the massive amounts of mosquitos from coming in and eating you alive all night.

Expect them to ask for money for every little thing. Deposit required for towels, for the keycard, for the sheets, for the movie room remote, etc. Oh and the pool has been under construction and they did not send any emails or notifications about it prior to arrival. They tell you they will give you a wristband for cocobongo beach club but then when you try to get it the person that brings them never shows up. We were given a whats app to communicate with the person but by the time they showed up it was after the cut off time, so we could not go that day anymore. This was insane, as part of the reason we booked this hostel was the ability to just get in the pool whenever and have a swim up bar.

I do not know how to make this clear enough: the staff here do not care. Anytime we came to ask a question or get something they were rude. Expect an attitude for even asking a simple question. I dont know if they are not getting paid enough or whats going on there but not a single staff member here was pleasant.

If you are trying to stick to a budget, I highly reccomend not wasting your time and just booking an airbnb instead. I have no idea how this place still has as high of a...

I do not recommend and will never go back. If you are going to charge first world rates then you need to provide first world accommodations. We paid $206/night for 7 nights (over $1,400 total) for...actually I'm not sure what we paid for. Here are just a few of the issues we ran into. The "free breakfast" that they provided for an extra $10/night was a scam. They had six menu options but only actually cooked 2 of them each day. And you are only allowed to choose one option. Since when are hotel breakfasts charging for and then rationing food? And these weren't luxurious menu items. You could choose from scrambled eggs, a small fruit platter, fake french toast (french toast made without eggs to save money), pancakes, and two others. The portions were small. It would take at least two options to get full. You are, of course, free to purchase additional items though🙄 Also the breakfast doesn't start until 7:30 a.m. (if they decide to start on time because sometimes they didn't start until closer to 8). Oh and don't expect to receive your food quickly. This morning it took over an hour for us to receive our food with me walking to the counter twice to kindly remind them that we had an order. It came to our table cold... Also, when we asked for orange juice this morning the lady claimed they didn't have any. I replied by pointing to the bottle of orange juice sitting behind the counter next to her. They don't mind lying to your face if you don't speak great spanish. After insisting a few more times that they did have orange juice, they relented and gave us some. As a result of the late breakfast, we were only able to eat breakfast 3 out of the 7 mornings. Our excursions that we planned usually picked us up at 7:30. I am sure this was intentionally planned knowing how everything else has went here. We booked a private room with a private bathroom. The room was only big enough for the bed and nothing else. The bathroom shutter windows were all broken but 1. We got eaten by mosquitos as a result. I left the rocky mountains on vacation to get away from mosquitos and problems...not to pay extra for them. The showers worked most of the time but we ran out of water one night. Our reservation included "free toiletries" but none were included. Room service made our bed and did nothing else. No towels. Nothing. The walls were paper thin. You can hear normal conversation and...other sounds from the nearby rooms. The only positive thing about this hotel is the convenient location. It was only a 5 minute walk to the beach and many restaurants. That is the only thing going for this place. Save yourself the money and headache. Go...