oOstel smart hostel - 77760 Tulum

This was a great place to stay in central Tulum. Right next door to ADO station and central to alot of amenities. The private pods were quirky but very comfortable bed. Only downside is there were some little fixes needed here and there. Like the lid of one of our boxes not being attached to the hinge, the shower heads needing a tighten/replacement. Simple stuff that would put it right back up to 5 stars. Pools and open spaces are fantastic (the current photos of this ground level space aren't up to date, it looks alot better now) and the rooftop is pretty fantastic (uninterrupted views of Tulum and great spot for sunrise if you don't get to the beach on time). Highly recommend checking this spot out if you are coming to Tulum. Again small fixes, but not enough to put you off staying here.

Where do I begin???? This place is amazing! I recently spent eight (8) days at Oostel Smart Tulum Pueblo. I was traveling alone and was a bit nervous before I got to Tulum. I am 42-year old, working mom from Boston, Massachusetts. I had never been to Mexico and had no idea what to expect. I had heard horror stories about hostels. This place was far from that! From the moment I walked in the hostel, the staff was friendly and professional. They are all wonderful, real people that truly love Tulum and its culture. The front desk staff was helpful with signing up for a couple day tours to the archeological sites in Chichen Itza, Coba and Tulum with pick-up/drop-off right at the hostel (they offered a ton of different tours). The bar's drinks and food are fantastic with great prices (Tulum can be a bit expensive). The rooms are clean and comfortable. The hostel location is perfect being right in the middle of downtown Tulum. The onsite pool-side "Aguacate Limon" vegan restaurant is absolutely incredible (I was never a fan of vegan food until now!). In my "way too short" one-week stay, I became friends with every staff member and guest that passed through. I am actually going to stay in touch with a bunch of the staff AND I am going to book another trip to Oostel Smart Tulum Pueblo this fall because it was that good, especially for the price!!! Don't hesitate, book NOW!

At the day of our arrival we were flying from Oaxaca and then taking a bus to Tulum and we got a msg from Booking.com informing that we needed to update our payment card information. Within less than 1h30 of the email we did that - booking.com said we would have a deadline of 5h to do so. So later that day on the bus ride when we’re about to arrive at the location we saw there was a msg from the hostel informing they had a problem and would need to change us from the private room and put us on the shared one with also shared bathroom (something that because of Covid we didn’t want to do, and for that reason we booked a private room with private bathroom). Arriving at the hotel we explained that we didn’t want to go do a shared room and they told us that our room was with no water or working air conditioning, and for that reason they had to change us. We then proceeded to call Booking.com to ask how to resolve this problem as we were being very careful and didn’t want to stay at that only room option they were providing us. For then booking.com to inform us that they have spoken to the staff at the hotel that because they tried to take payment of our card and it didn’t work they canceled our reservation - which wasn’t what the reception and their manager was saying to our face. So hours after being traveling nonstop and in baking heat and carrying all our bags we had no hotel, because clearly they have then proceeded to book our room to someone else and were lying to our faces we were sure we were not staying at this place. Also the staff at reception were pretty rude and kept laughing when we were complaining about the situation and saying “this is a hostel” as this is what you should expect. Well no, because we booked a private room for a reason. And hostel or not they should provide a better service. I will also open a complaint with booking.com over this. Honestly don’t stay on this place.

This hostel has potential. Unfortunately, potential is all it has. We arrived to our dorm room where we, not unreasonably, expected there to be lockers to keep our valuables safe. Lockers were in the description of amenities offered. All of the lockers were full and the doors were all broken. The receptionist basically told me there was no solution to this problem. It took me an hour of persistance to convince them to do something and finally they did fix it. This was just the beginning of the problems. Next was the “air conditioning” that was promised. There was a single stand alone air conditioning unit in the hallway but the dorms were behind closed doors and we were incredibly hot the entire time. I literally dreaded going in to the room because every time I did, I ended up drilling in sweat. There are 16 double beds in the dorm meaning that there can be up to 32 people in this tiny dorm at once. There was nowhere to store the many bags which means bags were littered throughout the dorm on the floor. Climbing down from the top bunk meant risking stepping on someone’s bag and potentially injuring yourself. Last but not least was the lack of hot water (which was also advertised) we experienced in the morning. I turned the tap on and let it run hoping it would finally warm up but after about 5 to 10 minutes, I gave up and took the coldest shower of my life. For what we paid, this hostel was incredibly disappointing and I would not stay here again nor would I recommend it. The only positive note was the staff who were friendly.

This was the very first hostel I ever stayed at & wow did I absolutely love the time I spent here. The staff is absolutely incredible. I ended up learning all their names. I was only supposed to spend 2 nights here, but because the location of the hostel was so convenient & the staff was so kind & the food was so delicious & the facilities were so clean, I ended up staying for 7 nights! I’m writing this review the morning of my checkout from the hostel. I’ll definitely be back! A huge thank you to all the staff/workers you made my stay in Tulum very enjoyable!

Private suite for one night. Initial impression was good as they offered us free welcome drinks upon entering the building. The building itself is very unique and I really enjoyed the aesthetics and vibe. Unfortunately during check in, I was told that breakfast was not included in my stay despite my booking description clearly stating free breakfast. This caused a headache as I had to argue with the front desk clerk to get my free breakfast, which sadly I did not. The room itself was clean and quite nice as private hostel rooms go. However there was toilet paper when we first entered and the shower head had the lowest water pressure I’ve ever experienced. It took me upwards of 2 minutes just to get some shampoo out of my hair in the shower. In the evening there was a party with DJ in the lobby and we were again offered some free shots by the bartender, which was nice. Overall it was a good experience. I wouldn’t want to stay longer than 1 or 2 nights though because of the terrible shower.

We had an average stay here. We were upgraded to a "cabin" when we checked in as the dorm room didn't have enough locker space for 2 bags, but the cabin was tiny and very noisy - we could hear everything our neighbour was doing all throughout the night. The airconditioning kept getting switched on and off for unknown reasons, meaning we were either too hot or too cold. The kitchen is a bit grimy and barely has the basics in it - it was very disappointing for a hostel. The pool was great though and the bartender made an excellent margarita, and the staff were generally helpful. Excellent location though, right opposite the ADO bus station

We have absolutely enjoyed our stay. The “pallanda rooms “ are private and big enough for sleeping, which is great for short stays. The hostel was 75% capacity full and we did not meet anyone in the (clean enough) shared bathrooms - their capacity’s great. Free water pleased us as well. And we loved the live music at the bar at the evening. Pools were clean and cozy to sit around and just hang out or wait for the bus from the super-near ADO bus station. Noise was not a problem - nor like in other places in Tulum. The only one minus point was that we had to ask in the middle of the night for some promised extra blankets, because we were not able to regulate AC.