Reviews of Iquisa Hostal

12 February 2012

Liked: hmm, let me think about it.... NOTHING!

Disliked: WARNING! This place was a total nightmare to me and I have few points on the list to complain: First it is hard to find, because it is located outside of town (15 min walking) and no-one, even locals, knows it. When it started raining the first night water dropped from the ceiling and down the walls. So in the end we had a wet floor and wet luggage. And it was way to cramped, in no room there are enough plugs and kitchen and bathrooms are not the cleanest either. The second and last day the rain flooded the only dry spot in the place (the computer desk) where you are able to sit and chat on 4 chairs. Staff is hard to find, they are hardly there + seemed quite unorganized. And last but not least, the penetrative smell of cat food and pee all over.... well, definitely not a place I would recommend!

12 February 2012

Liked: Nothing really. I have to say it's my worst hostel experience in two years.

Disliked: 1. No free pickup from bus terminal for us. 2. BAD location, have to walk for 20 min in mud (if it rains) or heat (if it doesn't rain) to go to the center. It's in a settlement outside of the San Pedro area. 3. BAD building design. Each room has only one outlet, no matter how many beds it has. Three dorm rooms have leaks when it rains, and the top beds will be wet. Some rooms will have flooding when it rains heavily. 4. Absent and careless staff. Staff will be around only for some time during the day. During lunchtime and late afternoon til morning, they'll only show up when they want to. The bell on their office door doesn't seem to work. 5. LYING STAFF. My bed was wet from the roof leak and they wouldn't let me change bed, saying that they have no extra beds. They were lying. They only let me change it when I said I heard from other guests that there were empty beds in their rooms. However they changed me to the wrong room that was already booked. They told me to move again after I had carried everything across the yard in the rain at 11:30 at night. I had to threaten not to pay to stay there. 6. Since the rain had flooded their office, the internet was out. And at the time I left the hostel, it was still not fixed.

11 February 2012 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: It was a comfortable kitchen, though you can't use it if the family is cooking. They'll offer you dinner, but then they'll ask you to pay for the overpriced food. Make you're own! The family running it was friendly

Disliked: It was pricey, but is on par with the city and other hostel options. The toilets didn't flush very well. Not so sturdy beds. Offered dinner, but not told the cost and it turned out to be overpriced for what it was

28 January 2012 Emma would recommend this property

Liked: the staff is adorable. very helpful and friendly

Disliked: a bit of a walk, not to far but not the nicest if you're on your own

28 January 2012 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: unique atmosphere, friendly bi-lingual staff, free pick up at bus terminal

Disliked: Customer left no negative feedback.

21 January 2012 Alexandra would recommend this property

Liked: The hostel is very relaxed and welcoming and the staff were super friendly.

Disliked: The kitchen and bathrooms could have been cleaner. Staff were often hard to find; they live two doors down on the right hand side so look for them there if you can't find them at the hostel. It was laid back to the point of disorganization. I ended up extending my stay by four days cause it was awesome, but almost every day that I was there people showed up who had reservations and there was no place for them. Also there are only two bathrooms for all the dorms and a couple of the other rooms so that was sometimes frustrating...

17 January 2012

Liked: The price is good. There is a very good o the mountains and volcanos just outside the door. The bed was confortable. Wi-fi was good.J

Disliked: It's not really clean, specially the kitchen. The bedrooms are around the living area so it's always if people are talking, even if not too loudly

16 January 2012

Liked: Had a nice courtyard to sit in and escape the blistering sun

Disliked: Location is terrible, its 15 minutes outside the town centre in the middle of the ghetto. Very difficult to find. We arranged to be picked up by the hostel as they advertise this service but they never came and didnt even apologise for it.

15 January 2012

Liked: WARINING! We encountered a problem when we got to Hostel Iquisa. She was full! And apparently she is just filling up her rooms as she pleases and does not honor the booking. Yesterday we heard about another couple who experienced exactly the same thing. It´s not funny as a backpacker to come to this desert place on earth and you don´t even have a room which you booked and it really gets a bad taste of this village as a first impression.

Disliked: kasper left no negative feedback.

12 January 2012

Liked: Friendly staff and good pick up service from bus station.

Disliked: It was very poorly monitored. The bathrooms were constantly dirty and there were problems with the water. The kitchen was very small and poorly supplied, as well as being a mess. It was also quite a distance from town.

11 January 2012

Liked: the communal area was ok.

Disliked: bathroom was dirty. they didnt pick us up from the bus station, then when we arrived there was no one to let us in so other backpackers had to and when a member of staff eventually arrived they didnt seem to have our booking and only had one bed left so we had to share. really bad value for money. the location is too far out of town too.

05 December 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: There was a grocery store just around the corner so was able to do some great cooking. The bathrooms were always spotless clean.

Disliked: Could have used a tv - I had food poisoning during the salt flats tour so spent some time here recovering. But otherwise I thought this place was nice and quiet.

29 November 2011 alex would recommend this property

Liked: Nice quiet, clean, friendly staff, cool building. The tours offered by the hostel were really nice since the guide (Juan) takes only six people at most in his SUV. (the tours with Juan are Spanish only)

Disliked: The staff can sometimes be hard to locate, the front door is often left unlocked, they don't speak English.

29 November 2011

Liked: The owner picks you up from the bus- use this as its far from the town when you have your backpacks.

Disliked: We orginally booked into a 4 bed dorm room but when we arrived it was a mess, and there was no window which could be opened so it was very hot. We moved into a double, which was right beside the front door, very noisy, not a dark room and FULL of flies, which was very annoying and disgusting. The room was totally over priced and no way worth the price. The water was also turned off so we had to wait for showers.

28 November 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Roberto is very helpful,i donot tell him we need to pickup service at bus station,only tell hime our bus schudule,ee offers that service for us.location is ok,because the town is tindy ,walk to town within 10mins distance.and also we join the trip is orgaized by him,the fee is reasonable .

Disliked: toilet/shower is seriouly limited,there are only 2 toilets,if the rooms are all full,waitung is the seriouly problems.the dorm is small

15 November 2011 Maryanne would recommend this property

Liked: Toilets and rooms are generally clean. It is out of the main city area, but not very far, and thus makes it really pleasant to stay in. I actually extended my stay by additional 2 nights.

Disliked: Thin walls, in morning got woken up by roosters (starting from around 3 or 4am). Hot water runs out by 10pm, and in middle of night if you need to use the washroom, be prepared that there is no water. This could apply to all places in San Pedro in any case, due to the water shortage in the city. Kitchen is not very adequate. Not even oil and pepper!!! Had requested for pick up from bus terminal, but no one showed up!

11 November 2011 Rosa would recommend this property

Liked: The outside space was lovely - hammocks and picnic tables in a little courtyard, and the kitchen facilities were great. The room and shared bathrooms were always clean. Had a relaxed feel to the whole place, and there was good wifi.

Disliked: The location wasn´t great - San Pedro is tiny but this hostel was outside the main town, 15 mins away down a dusty and dark and deserted road at night. Not too bad to walk in the day, but was a pain in the evening. The owner was sweet and gave us a lift back into town with our bags when we left though. All the places in San Pedro are so expensive, none of it is really value for money.

31 October 2011

Liked: Kitchen and bathrooms were OK.

Disliked: Staff (all members of one familiy) with plastic smiles, one of them entered our private room in the last morning at 7:30 without knocking to put back a blanket. People with reservation were sent away in lack of free beds.

26 October 2011 Gemma would recommend this property

Liked: Roberto is super friendly and will help you in absolutely any way possible. There were some comments about this place been far from the main square but it honestly only took about 5 minutes to walk there and if you are too lazy/tired/whatever, Roberto offers a free drop off/pick up service to and from the hostel.

Disliked: Nothing. It was great!

21 October 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: the hammocks out the back, wifi throughout, hoy water, nice 10min walk to town

Disliked: the kitchen was not the best equipt and there was no real common area except for outside (which is so cold at night), so not much going on at night. Also we and a few others were told we would be picked up at the bus terminal, but it never turned up.

03 October 2011 Brendan would recommend this property

Liked: It was a rustic property but kept claen. The beds were comfortable and small but good kitchen. The did the best tour of Valle de la Luna. Everybody here was most helpful

Disliked: nothing

27 September 2011 Daniel would recommend this property

Liked: Pick up service, gave me a lift to the center, later check-out without any problems they even allowed me to take a shower!, different neighborhood

Disliked: not so easy to get good food in the close area, sometimes the walking back to the hostel is anoying

24 September 2011

Liked: It is in a quiet place.

Disliked: I disliked that the door is left open at almost all times. The doors to the rooms are locked at all times but the windows are easy to break into. If someone were to come in through the front door since its unlocked.

23 September 2011 Customer would recommend this property

Liked: Good value for money, hot water

Disliked: Rooms are tiny and staff speak no english. Long 12 min walk from centre of town.

15 September 2011 Oliver would recommend this property

Liked: I had an excellent time staying at Iquisa Hostel. In fact, I ended up staying an extra 4 nights on top of what I had originally planned. The location is excellent despite some of the ridiculous whining about it being "out of town" from some previous guests on here. For me it's location away from the overly touristy centre was a clear plus. You are staying in a neighbourhood with local folks, so a much more interesting experience, and cheaper. And it is only a 10 minute walk to the centre of town anyway. Roberto the owner is fantastic and extremely helpful. His sister can help you book some great tours. I really recommend these, especially if Juan is the guide (best tour guide I have come across anywhere in south america!). The El Tatio Geyser, Valle de la Luna and Lagunas tours are a must! I also recommend renting a bike from Roberto and cycling to the nearby Inca ruins. The hostel itself is very homely and clean. Nice, comfortable bedrooms, hot showers and a well equiped kitchen. Also some very friendly cats!

Disliked: None