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Casa Familar

Santa Marta, Colombia

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Online booking is not offered for this hostel, contact them for availability and reservations (any contact info we have is listed below).
Address
Calle 10C, No. 2-14, Santa Marta   Map
Location/Contact
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The Hostelz.com Review
Colombia, one of the more dangerous countries in South America is less travelled by tourists for this reason. This is a shame as it is one of the most beautiful countries on the continent. Santa Marta, in the far north on the Carribean Coast, four hours by bus from stunning Cartagena, is a city where most people start who come from Venezuela. There are direct buses from Maracaibo in Venezuela that take you in about eight hours to this small but pleasant colonial town. Before you set of on this route check the latest news about guerilla activity in the region and travel by day only!

This very popular hostel is totally geared towards backpackers, but still has a family atmosphere, so the name is more than appropriate. Downstairs is the common room with tv and a few chairs and loads of information about everything that can and should be done in the area. It is all very well documented with photos and explanations how to get where and how much it should cost. It's a great introduction to the area. Despite the fact that only Spanish is spoken, as is the norm in the country, most signs and tourist info is in three or more languages.

The Casa has three floors with mostly single, double, and triple rooms, but downstairs are two dormitories of six beds each. Those dormitories are rediculously cheap and not very popular because for less than a dollar more you can have your private room. However Israelis seem to prefer the cheaper dormitory. The rooms are all spotless clean and the showers have no hot water, which is really not needed because of hot daytime temperatures.

The hostel serves breakfast and Colombian lunches on request and has the usual range of soft drinks for sale. Contrary to what my Lonely Planet guidebook said there is no internet available, but down the street you will find plenty.

To get there from the bus station, the usual point of arrival, you have to take a taxi or one of the minibuses that heads towards Carrera 1c, the beach road. Calle 10C is on the north side of town and the hostel is two blocks from the sea. A lovely beach skirts the road along the Carribean sea and makes a pleasant place to escape the heat.

-- Exclusive Hostelz.com Review


Your Comments
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We do not validate the legitimacy of comments posted on this site—so take what you read here with a grain of salt.
Comment by www.chukstravels.com
March 2007
Fantastic people who run this place. My room was good and everyone was extremely helpful. The hostle is located in the ideal part of Santa Marta just a couple blocks from where the cruise ships come in as well as easy walking distance from the beach. I shared many laughs and good times with the owners and many others from around the world. In fact when our group came back from La Cuidad Perdida they all wound up staying there even though many of them were staying in other places prior to the trek. Great Place.
Comment by Heather Langendorfer
January 2006
WONDERFUL! This is a very clean, and safe offering in the budget accomodation category. The family that runs it is as kind and wonderful as anyone could every hope to find away from home. I arrived late at night during the winter holiday to find NO rooms available in all of Santa Marta, the family went to work in providing a hammock for me to sleep in on the roof top terrace, and also watched after my bags for safekeeping. I recommend anyone traveling in Columbia between Dec 25 and January 8 be sure to make reservations prior to arrival.
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