Amazon House Hostel — Hotel in Iquitos

Amazon House Hostel

I recently had the unfortunate experience of staying at a hostel that initially seemed promising but ultimately left me feeling disappointed and frustrated. While the overall ambiance and location were decent, my encounter with the owner, Carlitos, left a sour taste in my mouth.

One of the main issues arose when we decided to book an excursion to the jungle through the hostel. We paid a whopping total of 900 Sol for three people, only to later discover that the actual market price for such a trip was around 100 Sol per perso . To make matters worse, even our guide acknowledged the inflated price and admitted it was far from reasonable. It became apparent that the hostel was attempting to take advantage of unsuspecting tourists.

Additionally, we sought Carlitos' assistance in booking tickets to Leticia. To our dismay, he wanted to charge an extra fee of 210 Sol on top of the already expensive ticket price of 300 Sol per person. This was a blatant attempt to exploit travelers and maximize his own profits. It left us feeling deceived and scammed. This was the scenario: he seemed very nice and offered to book the tickets for us. He claimed they only accepted cash, which was not true, and that it would cost 370 Sol per person, which was also untrue. In the morning, we managed to convince him that we would rather handle it ourselves.

The hostel's behavior and business practices were highly unprofessional and unethical. As a guest, I expected transparency and fair treatment, which unfortunately were lacking during my stay. It's disheartening to encounter such opportunistic behavior, especially when travelers are already trying to navigate an unfamiliar environment.

While the hostel had some positive aspects, such as its location (even tho its kinda far from the center its nice) and general atmosphere, the incidents involving overpriced excursions and ticket bookings overshadowed any positives. The disappointing encounter with Carlitos tainted the entire experience, and I cannot recommend this hostel to fellow travelers.

In conclusion, be cautious when dealing with the owner, Carlitos, and any services provided by the hostel. It's crucial to do thorough research and compare prices independently before agreeing to any arrangements through the hostel. Don't let the initial appeal fool you – this establishment seems to prioritize taking advantage of tourists rather than providing genuine hospitality.

There was a sweet staff. Just dont book anything from then. The...

I stayed at Amazon House two times when I was in Iquitos. First I booked through Airbnb with a friend, and as we felt taken care of by Karina and Carlos (and also because of minimizing the hustle) I went there again after being in the jungle for 3 weeks. I enjoyed my first stay at the Amazon house as I was able to cook my own food, the neighborhood is relatively quiet and the room was ok.

However, when I came back from the jungle the difficulties begun. I had reserved a single room for a few nights for myself before my partner was joining me. As I was checking in Karina recommended me to book the double room for the whole time as it would be the same price as the single one. So to save all of us from extra work I agreed. I paid for the first 3 nights and went on my usual business. I was exhausted after spending such a long time in the jungle, that it took me a while to realize that the double room was nearly double the price than the single room. I wanted to talk to Karina to find a solution as I felt fooled, but I didn’t see her the next days. On my second last day Karina’s parents came to ask the rest of the payment and I expressed that I wanted to talk to Karina about it because I didn’t feel fair with the deal and wanted to ask discount, so I got her on a phone to find out that she was in Cusco. Karina totally denied to have said what she said to me about the prices and even claimed that I had requested a double room by myself! There was no understanding or empathy over the situation but changing of the truth to something else and that if anything makes me so angry! In the end Karina on the phone and her parents got very aggressive verbally and demanded me to pay or leave, so I decided to leave with my partner (who arrived in the middle of the argument), because we didn’t want to stay with such a hostile energy!

This is not all; they ruined my friend’s clothes that she left for washing by marking them all with a black permanent marker! And after she express her dissappointment and asked for compensation Karina and Carlos blaimed that she had ruined their toaster! They even sent her a picture of some toast and cheese burned on it and my friend doesn’t even eat such things! A clear set up!

I would never recommend this place to anyone. Behind the friendly first impression there is a huge...

The good: I think the rooms are lovely, the space is quite nice and clean, the food is good. WiFi is poor though, and location isn't great, it's hard to arrive as most drivers don't know this hostel. As others have mentioned, the owners are very kind on the surface, but it is rapidly apparent that they are not so kind as soon as they see an opportunity charge you and get stuff out of you. You can see from their replies to other negative reviews what kind of bad energy they have, they even mock someone for their grammar.

My bad experience is the following: they charged me 265 soles for a full day tour that everyone else payed for 150 soles for. I was aware they were overcharging me when I payed, but I accepted it because they promised it was a safe tour that would pick me up and drive me back to the hostel (I had commented to Carlos I had a very sketchy experience taking transport by myself the day before with a driver that kept insisting he wanted to bring me to his place for drinks) and they also promised they could accommodate my diet and provide nutritional food without meat. This was false: while they did pick me up, all I ate was rice and salad and they also failed to bring me back to the hostel. Instead, they left me at the port without WiFi. I had to make my way back at 6 pm (when I mentioned this felt unsafe to Carlos, he mocked me... Thanks Carlos, I'm sure a tall local guy like you would have no issues, but I did literally the day before, and you knew that).

To sum up, if you stay and don't get any "advice" from the hosts, your experience will probably be pleasant. Mine wasn't, I felt that I was taken advantage of by the hosts because they took me for a dumb tourist.

Also, make sure you read their "regulations" carefully because while they don't explicitly tell you the rules, they'll take any opportunity to overcharge you (in my case I let a friend crash in the extra bad of my room one night, for which they were asking me 50 more soles that I would not have minded paying if I hadn't already payed 265 for their incomplete one day tour). If you feel like it's unfair, they'll threaten to call migration and a lawyer, which is really just for show but also an extremely unpleasant...