Hostelling International Cusco — Hotel in Distrito de Cusco

I think hostels should have a different rating system than hotels, since it's not fair to judge a hostel under the same conditions as you'd expect in a modern hotel in a major tourist destination. Hostels, by definition, are supposed to offer the bare essentials needed to literally just crash for the night. That being said, there are still basics that hostels should offer--especially hostels in a chain, since their guests often chose them based on their name's reputation. This particular Hostelling International hostel was not the standard I have seen in other Hostelling International locations, which is why it's rating is so low here.||||However, before explaining why I gave it a low rating, it's imperative to point out that the staff at this location are incredible and have nothing to do with the rating. Although barely speaking English, they literally went above and beyond to ensure every need of ours was met. When we arrived, they immediately brought us endless coca tea to help us adjust to the altitude. They offered to make us breakfast, even though the breakfast hours were over, when we woke up. They securely handled our luggage while we went away on a camping trip. They eat, sleep, work, and play in the main lobby of the hostel, ensuring if you need ANYTHING, they will be "on call" to get it immediately for you. They were friendly, endearing, sweet, and honestly cared about their guests.||||The hostel itself is tiny, wedged under a massage parlor and next to a club in a back alley off Ave El Sol. It's not the greatest location--there are hostels closer to the main square--but it's not bad either. There is no heat, and during the winter the rooms are freezing. There is limited hot water (I only showered with hot water once out of 3 nights there). There is toilet paper, towels and soap available, but no other amenities. The blankets are not particularly clean, and neither are the rooms (they also seem super old). There are limited chargers in each room (we had to unplug the TV to use our charger), and the wifi is slow. There isn't a lot of room in the rooms (even the private rooms), no elevator, and there is a limited occupancy because there are not a lot of rooms to begin with.||||Overall, for $13 a night, it was fine, but I'll probably chose to stay somewhere else next time I...

Decent location- situated at the lower end of one of the main streets so you're close enough to the main squares (10 min walk along a straight street) but far enough away from the hustle and bustle.||24 hour reception which had no issue with me checking in at 5am.||However the facilities were rather basic, even for a hostel. I paid around 18 quid for a single room, the bed sheets were clean but had several long hairs in them- very easy to see black hairs on white bed sheets when making the bed right? Could easily have been brushed off by house keeping.||Secondly there was only a single plug socket in the room- not a great problem for me as it was just myself in the room, but the room was set up for 3 people which would have been impossible.||Thirdly there was zero hot water for showers, not even warm. Totally stone cold. Surely an establishment providing wifi should be able to provide hot water?||I'd probably say with a little more research you'd be able to find a cheaper and more well equipped hostel...

This hostel is very nice but a bit run down since the pictures were taken. You can hear everything this that is happening in the surrounding rooms and the whole place could do with a bit of updating. It's very clean and the host that we met was quite nice although there was a bit of a language barrier as she didn't speak much English and we didn't speak much Spanish but we made it work :) the room we were given had one central light which wasn't very bright, could of done with a lamp in the room aswell. The bathroom door had a gap above it which is supposed to have glass in however there was none so you could hear everything you were doing in there from the bedroom :/. All in all though a nice hostel which was hard to find, just needs...