El Árbol de la Vida

Value for money, great location next to free dock, safe, kind staff. Comfortable enough. For the price you can't complain

Mosquito net was really small and had heaps of holes, didn't fit over the bed. But we didn't get bitten by mosquitos despite this

- cute, chilled, cheap and cheerful - close to dock where you can swim for free - 25 min easy walk to bus station - easy walk to shops and restaurants - held our bags for us free of charge after check out

- toilets are quite far from dormitories but that’s my opinion because I go toilet in the night time

The hostel is really close to the free pier.

This review refers to the double standard room. Dorm might be different. Where to begin? Note that I have done my fair share of super low budget traveling... Comfy bed in rural Laos for 2€? Check. Satisfying street food dinner for 50ct? Check. The room was just obnoxious! It is very clear that our and the neighboring room were added to the hostel subsequently and had not been there in the original layout. Basically what was done is they had extra space on the ground floor and chipped in some doggy wood plank hut beneath the concrete building which sat on pillars over the wooden hut. The wood planks which make up the 4 walls of your room REEK. It is like they had been submerged in brackish water mixed with crude oil for years. Whenever you are inside the room you will constantly smell whatever the wood of the walls was soaked in. There are no windows in your room, however there is a 30cm x 30cm hole in the wood planks which is covered with a dishcloth. The window can easily be reached through from the outside, since there is no glass. Given this deadly combination of stench and no ventilation it is impossible to sleep. Admittedly there is a fan in the room but even at the lowest speed it sounds like a thunderstorm raging through your room at night. Booking this room is a waste of money, since the only reason to be in the room is to sleep which you effectively cannot do. When asking the host for a towel (we only had one in the room even though I booked a room for two) the host happily handed me one. However, he had just exited the bathroom (in which he had been for quite some while) and didn't use soap to wash his hands. Why? Well... there is no soap available. Ugh! There are two showers. Since the signs are faded I ended up using the ladies' shower accidentally. Realizing my mistake only after exiting, I also noticed that a window from the dorm upstairs conveniently gives you an exquisite view through the window of the ladies shower...

The location is awesome. Just a couple of minutes walking to the public access to lake Bacalar. Public and free accesses are few. The lake "mafia" will try and charge you to get into the water. The carer tries his best to keep things running. He is well intentioned.

Seems like the place is really poorly stocked. Seems that everything is a last minute purchase, toilet paper, dishwashing liquid, water, etc. The room is moldy and dirty. Including bedsheets and pillows. There is no privacy at all in the lower bedrooms. You should consider it like a camping adventure. The entire place looks like it was a project of love that has been abandoned. Broken stuff everywhere, tables, windows, handrails. You can tell that it was a nice place once in the past, now it's just derelict. The photos do not reflect the current reality

had our own rooms for the same price as hostels, well located, within walking distance of the lake.

the room got really hot, fans weren't enough but can't have everything for the price! :)

Location was excellent just 2 minutes to a public Dock for Lake swimming about 20 minutes walk to the ado. The staff were so helpful going above and beyond to help. The room didnt get too hot and was nice and comfortable with the fan. There were no mosquitos which was a surprise. It was good value for money and I would stay again.

Everything was good.

Thé location is great (right by thé laguna) and we went to the restaurant up thé block multiple times.

Thé rooms were incredibly dusty. Would not recommend to anyone with allergies and/or asthma. Also, thé rooms are only equiped with a small fan so it was quite hot when we were there (early June). Oh and thé property manager and some of his acquaintances kept us awake one evening as they were talking loudly outside our room for a couple hours.