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

Worst hostel we have stayed at on this trip so far. Staff were uninterested and unhelpful to the point of borderline rudeness, the room was cold and dusty, bathrooms leave alot to be desired, the pool is full of green water, and don't wait for the free dinner as they don't cook enough for everyone (despite promoting it)... An overpriced hostel that looks nothing like the photos, very disappointing. No party either, it was a dead atmosphere the 3 nights we were here. If we came back to Santiago I would stay elsewhere. Only redeeming feature is their cat. 2/10.

I had cofirmed reservation on a known website with this place. As per reservation it was mentioned the value of the accommodation and the fact that it was possible to pay by card without saying any tax is to be added if oaying with a card. it sayd only that Chilean nationals need to pay tax of 19%. Those had been the reasons for me to decide to book for this accommodation place. When got there, none was speaking English (reception lady and/or her Brazilian boss). I tried to tell them that I want to pay by card and they said I need to pay 23,5% more. This was already written for me on a piece of paper in English this message. I imagine I was not the first one to have questions about it. With my very very basic Spanish i told them that this is never mentioned in my reservation. They said that's their policy and that they had informed me via a message in Spanish sometimes after my reservation was done. I told them that I don't speak Spanish and even so if just a message notification was sent it can't change the rules of the reservation unilaterally. Therefore I want to pay as I was expected to pay and not as they asked for. They didn't agree and the boss there literally pushed me out of their property telling me that I am not welcome if i don't comply with their request. That was outrageous and of course I didn't remain. I totally do not recommend this place