Mad Monkey Village

This hostel is very hit or miss depending on what you're looking for. If you're a solo traveler and/or short-term traveler, I urge you to STAY AWAY. In terms of the positives, I enjoyed the pool area, the walking distance into town isn't as bad as people like to make it, the staff is nice, the food storage situation is good, and I found it overall to be really clean. That all being said, the atmosphere was the most horrific of any hostel I've stayed at in my entire life - and I've stayed at 50+ hostels across the Americas, Australia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe. Like other reviewers mention, nearly 100% of the people staying here are long-term workers which kills the social vibe. This is worsened by the absurd 'no-under-35s-allowed' policy which deliberately excludes non-backpackers. I have never experienced so much rudeness and coldness from other hostelgoers anywhere else in my entire life. Attempts to say hello to dorm-mates get shut down; pleasant conversation attempts at the pool get shut down, etc. The hostel is also disturbingly segregated by linguistic/national identity. French backpackers solely hang out with the French; Spanish-speakers/Chileans with other Spanish-speakers/Chileans; Germans with Germans; Brits with Brits, etc. This was true even at social events designed for people to intermingle. If I were a psychologist I would probably conduct an anthropological study on this hostel. I hesitate to give it a totally negative review because in theory this hostel has nice staff, a pool, and everything you need. But if you're not a long-termer, or not traveling with a group, this will be by far the worst hostel and environment you will ever experience.

Booked because of the many good reviews. However it is quite a big + noisy hostel with only 2 stoves and not enough storage and fridge space, which made cooking really not enjoyable. Also there is only plasticware to eat from. Room was okay not too clean but matress was okay. Price to value could be better.

I stayed at the Mad Monkey Village and it was good, depending on what you are looking for. The hostel itself is fine (small con is that you don’t have lockers and spaces to put your stuff) and the facilities are clean in consideration of the amount of people living there. It is social but 95% of people living there are long term stays so it is not the easiest to meet new people. However, I still think that it is a good hostel.