Travellers Palm Backpackers Hostel, Caye Caulker

Travellers Palm Backpackers Hostel claims to be the number-one-rated hostel in Caye Caulker and it makes sense why. It has a good location at the edge of the town proper but it's also out of the way enough for some peace and quiet. The rooftop is a fun and vibrant place to hang and meet other travelers; the dock down the road is a great place to watch the sunset or launch one of the hostel's free kayaks.

The Location

The hostel is a bit out of town, but since Caye Caulker is only thirty minutes end to end, "a bit" translates to ten minutes' walk if you are cruising at an island pace. If this is too far with luggage and all, one of the town's fleet of golf carts will gladly take your dollars to cart you there.

Being out of the main touristic part of town has a lot of upsides, as you avoid the constant barrage of offers for jewelry, tours, and drugs that are just part of any stroll around the ferry ports and dive shops. Plus, good eating options and markets are still within sight of the hostel entrance, so it is not like there is much to be missed out on.

Rooms and Bathrooms

Dorm rooms come in eight- or four-bed varieties with or without air conditioning; the difference between eight and four is marginal at best, as rooms are divided into two sub-rooms each with four beds. Beds are comfy and clean, with space under the beds for luggage storage; each bed also has a shelf for small-item storage, a small personal fan, and two dedicated power points per bed. It's luxury for a budget. Dorm rooms are all en suite, with a combined bathroom/toilet that is spacious and clean with plenty of room for all but the most vigorous of dressers. Dorm rooms also have their own fridges and in-room drinking water -- that's different.

Privates are limited to double-bed privates with en suite and their own fans, and surprisingly also drinking water and private fridges. All rooms have their own key code locks as well as in-room lockers. Safety first.

Common Spaces

Common spaces are limited to the rooftop terrace, and this is more than enough. It has numerous picnic tables that are constantly being shuffled around, a bench, a bar, and an oddly placed hammock. This is a great place to meet other travelers, as everyone tends to congregate here at night; luckily the noise from these gatherings doesn't seep down to the sleeping quarters, creating an easy peace between early risers and night owls.

Also on the roof is the kitchen -- it is definitely a camp kitchen with a very basic setup, but as it is exposed to the elements, this is fair enough. It is clean with good enough equipment to do everything you could conceivably want to do.

Summary

It is rare to find a hostel that doesn't need to fix anything, but here's one of those rare ones. It's excellent all round.