La Casa Roja Hostel

Ok so my expectations for this place were not high to begin with, I mean it’s a budget hostel so you can’t expect much, but I was let down again and again by this hostel once arriving. For one, the pictures are not what this hostel looks like anymore. The tiki bar has been torn down, the doors to your room do not lock. They show pictures of a jacuzzi but it isn’t on or even warm. On my partners bunk there were nails sticking out of the bottom of his bed. The water doesn’t get hot in the shower, in fact 90% of the time it’s literally freezing. Multiple days a week they advertise free drinks and then the staff is supposed to take you to have free entry to the club. The one night we tried to participate, all of the staff said they were too tired to take us. I’m sorry, I thought it was your job? In addition, the hostel advertises pool parties a few nights a week, but it’s nothing near a party. Everyone was on their phones or reading, there was relaxing music and nothing else to do. Don’t get me wrong, I love reading and relaxing, but not at a place that was advertised as a party. At least advertise it for what it is. Half of the workers they have working at the bar are volunteers, which I am all for! We volunteered in Valparaiso, but the volunteers were more interested and in chatting with each other than helping the guests, one night I could barely order a drink. And the problem is that you aren’t allowed to bring your own alcohol into the hostel, yet the bar is closed on Sundays. Since the bar is closed they don’t even play music or turn the lights on on the patio. Not to mention, when we checked in the receptionist tells us that if we do not have this “PDI” receipt then we have to pay 19 % more for our beds. Of course this was just a receipt that they gave us when we were going through the airport, NOBODY told us to keep it or even told us it was important! We’ve been in Chile for two weeks and didn’t think we needed it so obviously we through it out, we are backpackers! DO NOT THROW AWAY YOUR PDI RECEIPT OTHERWISE THEY WILL MAKE YOU PAY MORE!!! And let me tell you, this hostel is not worth paying more for. Also, when we checked in the receptions was incredibly unwelcoming and had quite the attitude with us. This morning we went to the “24 hour reception” and there was nobody there. We rang the bell, and looked all over for somebody to help us but nobody could be found, instead there was someone sleeping in the common room. So we had to leave the hostel without getting assistance. Next up, the wifi. It doesn’t work well at all, plain and simple, if you need to rely on wifi for work, don’t stay here. Also, there are no regular outlets in the dorm rooms, only USB, so you can’t plug in anything but a phone. Next, the cats AND RATS. There are two house cats living at the hostel and they have free range, meaning they are free to lay/ climb into your bed. I love cats and they looked clean so it was fine with me, but my best friend is really al