Hostel Alme - 77710 Playa del Carmen

It is one of the most unpleasant places I've ever been to. It is dirty. Toilet doesn't flush at all. Front desk is careless. I shared the room with 4 locals who were living there and they have created their own rules which overruled hostels rules. I felt uncomfortable there.

It was a very quiet hostel. Not a party hostel. Quiet and clean.

Good: quite clean, no party, good internet. Coud be improved: kitchen lacks a stove. Beds are not great. Attitude at the reception is bossy at times.

We are a family of 4 people and before the Check-In 3 of us were not allowed to see the room. We were always „forced“ to wash our hands or use the gel at the reception. The beds are very uncomfortable, it felt like laying on the bed frame and in the morning my bag really hurt. They heavily knocked on the door in the middle of the night because we didn‘t use the the gel by entering the hotel. After they throw us out of the hotel they wont give us back our money for the next night we already booked. Never again!!!!

So the positives -wifi is stable and fast enough -it's clean enough -free coffee(not the best kind, but it does the job)in the morning. Negatives -lacks a kitchen where to cook so have that in mind before you stay here. -they "force" you to go wash your hands in the bathroom every time you enter. There's gel on the table by the reception that I gladly use considering the pandemic we are in but somehow they think water washes better than the standard gel used in every shop/restaurant??‍♂️ -Look I don't like party hostels at all but they have taken it to whole new level to how quiet you have to be after around 10pm. You can barely hold a conversation with another person without getting told to keep quiet. -The owner(I presume) is one of the greediest persons I have encountered. After staying 10/11 days I wanted to leave my luggage for 2 hours after check in(all hostels are usually fine with that as long as you understand that you are responsible yourself if something gets stolen) to go for a walk and eat but she wanted 50 pesos to store it. Almost the only time she smiled was basically when you handed over money to stay further nights when I think about it. In addition to that she's super bossy. If you like being constantly told to not do this and that then this is definitely the place for you. There's probably some more positives to be told of this hostel and definitely more negatives but I don't want to waste more of my time than I already have.

The hostel itself isn't bad but one of the staff is so rude that I'd never stay there again. First she came into the room and when I asked her something, she answered in Spanish and looked at me with hatreds and shut the door right before my face. Then at night when I got some water she walked up to me and said something again, not sure what but I know that it wasn't something nice. Next day she comes to me again while I sat in the kitchen. When I told her that my Spanish is basic she yelled at me that we're in Mexico and I should speak Spanish. I'm aware of where I am and I wish I spoke more Spanish but I don't. That's why I booked a hostel that advertises the staff speaks English! And besides that, I don't think that's the kind of hospitality that you could expect as a customer. I speak enough Spanish to understand some mean things she said. I talked to another customer and he said she's Russian or so and crazy and being mean to him as well. I can only advise you to go somewhere else.

It's all about buisness to the owner, I missed a welcoming and warm atmosphere at the hostel. The staff and the russian owner talk much about rules, i got it, but honestly I was shocked about some of them. For instance, the door to the doorm has to stay wide open until late evening, they don't allow you to close it. To me that's a big lack of privacy, and I regard it as an unnecessary "rule" which makes the people feel uncomfortable. When you dare to close the door, they immediately come and open it, and tell you that this is the rule at the hostel. They talk about rules all the time, it's their way to cover up UNFRIENDLY behaviour by saying "this is the rule. The air condition wasn't turned on before 10.30 pm, that's too late and a NO GO for such a hot place. I felt kind of controlled there during my stay, I never felt like that at any other hostel, and I got to know many. All what happens at the hostel, including the tense and distant atmosphere of the staff (mexicans are normally very kind people), it's all just a REFLECTION of the russian owner's militant rules and how she ruthlessly imposes her way of thinking on all kinds of people who stay at the hostel, including the mexican staff. This woman seems to ignore the fact that she doesn't run a hostel in a communist country; she runs a hostel in Mexico, not in Russia. She obviously doesn't get this simple fact. I wouldn't stay there again, because of the owner's mentality. They should focus more on creating a friendly and warm atmosphere, that's far more important than imposing rules that serve MAINLY her. To her it's all about buisness in my opinion. Sad for her including the staff, and also sad for the guests. One positve thing is that it was very clean. But that's nowadays a standard at many hostels.

I read some of the references here. I can't confirm any unfriendly personal and I haven't been woken up in the night. The hostel is good, I just missed a convenient room for everyone to sit and talk or work on your laptop. In addition you can hear the cars outside in the morning.