Krusty Hostel B&B — Local services in Huaraz

Crusty/moldy hostel, crusty customer service and crusty rooms. The original hotel I was staying at was over-booked and I was stuck without a place to stay. Krusty Hostel was one of the few places available on such short notice. I asked the clerk at the front desk if I could see the room before paying but he said it was not possible. My husband and I decided to go ahead and book a couple of nights until we could find more comfortable accommodations. We checked-in rather late (around 11pm) so we entered the room and fell asleep right away. The cleanliness of the room left a lot to be desired but I tried to ignore it as it was going to be a very short stay. The issue was when I decided to shower in the late morning. I noticed black mold on the ceiling of the bathroom and on the bathroom tiles. I also noticed the bathroom ceiling was (poorly) covered with some kind of stick-on faux-brick paneling in order to hide more black mold underneath it. There was also some garbage (used toilet paper?) on the shower ledge that was left by previous guests. It’s no surprise that the rooms are not thoroughly cleaned between guests, this hostel is truly crusty and nasty all levels. Even the towels were crusty and hard like sandpaper.

Anyways the mold was what most concerned me so I spoke to the clerk at the front desk and asked if it would be possible to change rooms. He said he would see what other rooms were available. I waited and still got no response from him. After a while, a lady named Maria came down to talk to me. Because of limited room availability, she rudely offered to move me and charge me more for a family room or to move my husband and I to a room with a single bed. I told her she was answering rudely and that I don’t think it’s fair to charge me more for a different room seeing as this is a seriously over-looked hygiene issue by the proper hostel. She then suggested to kick me out of the hostel for bringing this issue to her attention. I told her this was quite inconvenient and asked if there was an alternate solution. She then blamed me for not checking the room before booking. This made me laugh because they literally forbade me from seeing the room before paying the night prior.

Finally I tried to de-escalate the situation and asked her to see the family room but to my horror, I found painted-over mold all over the bathroom wall. I asked her how she could possibly charge me more for such moldy rooms and her response was that they could clean it. I suggested scrapping the entire hostel and starting from scratch since this seemed to be a structural issue with the building and their lack of maintenance in the long-term. Maria (understandably) got upset and we decided that I should leave. She made me wait an hour to give me exact change for the night I didn’t stay. Like she literally could have just reimbursed the amount immediately on my card (original form of payment) but for some reason she insisted on giving me cash she clearly didn’t have.

Over all, I’m glad I didn’t have to stay at the Crusty Hostel much longer and I genuinely wish Maria the best in her future work endeavours. Based on other reviews it seems like this hostel needs to reconsider the importance of hospitable staff, basic cleanliness, and listening to very valid customer concerns in a non-confrontational manner.

PS thank you again Maria for laughing in my face when I showed you the black mold in my room which was making me cough all night. You the...

I stayed here for probably 1-1.5 weeks over my time in Huaraz. It's the only hostel in Huaraz that I've seen that has curtains, which is pretty much the sole reason I picked it. The dorm room is 12 people sharing one bathroom, and everyone gets up pretty early for day tours so it wasn't a problem for me since I never went on any day tours while in Huaraz. Bathroom didn't feel the cleanest (or maybe it's just old, I don't know), and there's no soap provided, ran out of toilet paper many times as well, doesn't have the best ventilation. Showers are hot which is good. Beds are comfortable, there's a light and outlet in the bunk, small-ish lockers in the room, pretty easy to meet people. Breakfast was basic: tea / coffee / juice, bread with butter / jam, and then a dish (over my time here, the dishes I had were: egg, pancake with a few slices of banana, and guac). Wifi worked fine, common areas are right next to some private rooms so not ideal to have a chat or call apparently. The hostel has their own tour agency - they outsource the tours to other companies though (I found out about this through talking to others) and one of the ones they work with don't have great reviews, so I never went on any tours with them as I want to make sure I get the experience I want. All in all a decent hostel, maybe could use an upgrade /...

We have loved our stay here at the Krusty B&B! The rooms are comfortable, each with its own private bathroom, and there is always hot water, which is nice when you’re in the mountains. There are a variety of types of rooms to choose from: a shared dormitorio, double, matrimonial, triple, familiar, and quadruple. There is WiFi all throughout the hostel so you will always have a good signal.

They keep the breakfast interesting, rotating between a few different things every week, and there are always coca leaves available to make coca tea if you are still adjusting to the altitude (it really helps). The shared kitchen is spacious and has almost everything you could imagine, with enough plates, cups, and silverware for everyone at once.

Just a few blocks from the main plaza and the local markets, this hostel is within walking distance of anywhere you would want to go while also being a little outside of the hustle and bustle of the city so it’s quiet at night.

The hostel also functions as a travel agency with some of the best prices in town; everything from day tours to treks to Huayhuash (group or private), and even ice climbing, can be booked at the reception desk! We highly recommend checking out...