The Hostelz.com Review - Genuine, independent review you can trust.
La Zona Hostel is a chill, relaxed hostel with a well-thought-out dorm room setup with wonderful common areas in which to relax, but no kitchen.
The Location
La Zona Hostel purports to have the best location in San Salvador, as it is located in the heart of La Zona Rosa, where there is a wealth of restaurants, shops, supermarkets, and some of the most interesting and important museums in San Salvador. While the hostel is quite a distance away from the historic centre, it is located very near the PanAmerican highway, which runs right to the heart of San Salvador, making La Zona a good hostel from which to base yourself while exploring the rest of the city.
Rooms and Bathrooms
Dorm rooms come in six- and ten-bed options with the beds set up like capsule hotels except the "capsules" can't be sealed, but each bed comes with its own light, power point, and (in some cases) a fan. The dorms don't lock, but there are in-room lockers that are large enough in which to put a full suitcase or backpacking bag, however, some of the dorms don't have sufficient lockers for every occupant. Rooms are average sized, but if all bags are stashed away in the lockers, then there is plenty of room. Private rooms are single, double, or triple with or without en suite bathrooms.
There is a bathroom/shower located on the second floor that is large and spacious with more than enough hooks and shelving for anyone's purposes. The shower stalls on the third floor are a little more cramped with fewer storage options, but there is sufficient room to make things work. There are also singular toilet stalls on the third floor. All bathrooms and showers are impeccably clean.
Common Spaces
This place has great common spaces. On the third floor, there is a balcony area with couches that is great to hang out in and catch some refreshing breezes, while on the first there is the kitchen, grassy garden area, and bar. The kitchen is not for customer use, as it is a commercial kitchen; guests aren't allowed to bring in outside food.
The bar area is a fun and lively place (during the right hours) to meet other guests, and the attached lounge areas and garden area are super comfy with plenty of seating options and a hammock for lounging. La Zona Hostel pushes itself as a social/party hostel (one of their rules is "no being anti-social," so mingle), but it ends up having an odd vibe instead, as there seem to be a lot of business-type travelers staying in the hostel as well as a lot of staff members/their local friends hanging around the hostel in the common areas during the day. It's not a bad vibe, it's just not the party vibe they seem to be pushing.
Summary
This is a nice, clean hostel in a safe neighbourhood that is a decent place from which to base yourself for exploring the rest of San Salvador.
Photos taken by the Hostelz.com reviewer — Genuine photos you can trust.
Candy
Hostelz.com Staff Reviewer
Published on Jan 22, 2019
Location and Contact
Location
• we offer airport transportation and shuttle services if you want to hit El tunco, located at La Libertad beach, great for surf and booze! Ask for our Price rates via email. • Our adress is Blvd. Del Hipodromo, colonia San Benito #436, just in front of TICABUS (international bus station) and same Street as VIDRÍ (house supplies store).