Argdivan Beach Hostel

First hostel in CR. I arrived in rough shape after a difficult departure from US. After 3 days i started to relax &decided to get to bed early, possible because the other guests & volunteers in my dorm were considerate. I had just gotten in bed a bit before 8pm (20:00) when i heard the sound of power saws & drills in the next room. Less than an hour later workers suddenly barged into my dorm with ZERO warning & told me i had to get out of bed so they could pull my bunk away from the wall to install an AC unit. They were at it until 10pm. Luckily i had the foresight to grab my belongings and put them on top of the lockers on the stairway landing because when i returned to the room after they were done, the bunk was still away from the wall, but not far enough... the sheets were covered with a fine layer of plaster dust. Nobody offered to help move the bed or replace the sheets so i shook them out & finally TRIED to sleep, somewhat shaken myself. The next morning, rather than apologizing or offering a partial refund, i was impatiently told that i would have to move to a dorm with no AC or pay significantly more for the remaining 3 nights i'd already paid for. The fridge was much too small for the number of guests. Not much Teflon was left on the pots & pans. Almost all of the pans were badly warped with overuse. The faucet on the outdoor sink was broken. The drains of the showers in the back yard were clogged so you'd end up standing in a pond. The racoon-proof floor-trunk where we kept non-perishable food (no food cabinets!) had a sharp latch protruding at an angle that kept gouging peoples shins & knees to the point of drawing blood... one of the volunteers had many scabs from it! The German volunteers were very kind & helpful but the Argentinians, including the manager (who pretended to understand more english than she actually did) seemed to resent me for being an older gringo who spoke Spanish very poorly & arrived without a serene, happy-go lucky attitude. I was friendly & courteous but visibly stressed on arrival... IN NO WAY grumpy or impatient until the unannounced after-dark intrusion into the space i'd paid to sleep. In retrospect i'm shocked & disgusted that they didn't bother warning us. Somebody MUST have known, at least earlier that afternoon, that the workers might be coming that evening... no???

Our stay was a mixed experience. The room itself was very basic and could not be locked; instead of a door, it was separated only by a fabric curtain. During our stay, we also noticed a mouse in the room, even though we did not keep any food there. The kitchen situation was quite challenging and required a lot of patience. On the positive side, we really appreciated that we were allowed to use the kitchen once more after check-out, which was a very kind and generous gesture. The volunteers were generally very friendly, and especially Jorgina stood out as being extremely helpful and supportive. Overall, there were both positive moments and clear areas that could be improved.

LOVED my time here. The staff are super kind and helpful. The rooms were clean and I appreciated that every bed had curtains for privacy. Location was great too. A quick walk to town and the beach.