Weary Traveler Hostel - Tulum, Mexico

Comment by Kym Thomas, Australian

October 2008

Very Poor
Went to Tulum to see the famous beach and decided to stay in town to save costs. The Weary Traveler has a good reputation somehow, and its the place that almost everyone stays if they're not staying on the beach. The positive -- Everyone goes there so there's lots of other people to meet and hang out with. At night there's good atmosphere, just hope it doesn't rain in which case there's almost no where else communal that's not outdoors. They have a free shuttle that will take you down to the beach and bring you back, which saves you some money and is a bit of fun. The beach is not walking distance, so your other option is to take a taxi which is 45 pesos (US$4.50). The Negative -- Rooms rarely cleaned. Air conditioner in air conditioned room (which you pay more for) drips into a bucket that almost never get emptied while I was there so it would just spill all over the floor. All the mattresses had a lot of evidence of bedbugs, and my friend got a huge amount of bites across his back. I personally didn't get bitten and they did seem to be making an effort to eradicate them. All the beds are made before you arrive I think so that you don't see all the old blood on the beds from earlier infestations. You can have a look yourself. Breakfast time was disgusting with the outdoor kitchen with dirty cutlery, dirty tables, and bees everywhere. You're not allowed to bring booze into the hostel, although seems to be becoming more common. To their credit, the alcohol they sold wasn't expensive and it was well stocked. The free internet was on two computers, one of which didn't work while I was there, and the other was too slow for any use other than to check your email, which would take fifteen minutes in itself to load. I had to view Gmail on its simple mode. The computers are always free because no one could stand to use them. The hostel's administration system is so slow, so you're always queueing up to pay them or change your booking. Sometimes it seemed to take forever. I always felt sorry for people who just arrived and they'd make them wait in that heat for so long while other guests are being processed.