I don't understand the amount of high reviews this place has. Might be different as a single traveller, but then the social atmosphere seemed missing. The first room we were put in smelled so badly of smoke that we had to ask to be moved to another room. To be fair they move us to a much better room, not sure why we weren't put in that one in the first place. The first room was also really unclean (hairs in the bed from previous guests, sort on the floor), second one was clean. The rooms lack any sort of storage or shelves to put your clothes on. The walls are paper thin to you can hear everything going on in the rooms around you. The shared bathrooms never seem to get cleaned, which is a problem when your not allowed to flush toilet roll and have to put it in the bin... Staff weren't particular helpful, apart from one guy, they only speak Spanish, which as an hostel for international travelers hostel can make thing tricky. The art gallery and shop are quite a cool idea, but having a recording studio in a hostel so small with really thin walls is a bit of a daft idea. The terrace bar could be good, but nobody was ever there except one dude smoking all the time. Kitchen is quite big, and there is decent communal seating. Breakfast was tiny. The location is excellent for El Poblado.