Please note that this review of Arcadia Hostel is not from a recent trip, and so prices etc are no longer correct, and significant changes are likely to have happened.

Our opinions may well be out of date, and we do note that this accommodation currently has excellent reviews from most recent travellers - quite different from our own experiences there.

We have returned to Colombia since that first trip when we stayed here, so be sure to head over to our Colombia Page for all the up to date travel guides.

Staying in the main backpacker part of town - Poblado - is quite expensive. As we were planning on staying in Medellin for over a month, we wanted to crash somewhere relatively cheap whilst we tried to find a deal for something long-term. This is the reason why we stayed at Arcadia, a Greek mythology inspired hostel.

location

Poblado is the area of Medellin where most backpackers will stay and/or end up on a night out. Arcadia is a few minutes walk away from the main street and so away from the noisier parts - it's in an ideal spot.

best thing

There's a couple of decent social areas inside and outside to hang out, grab a beer or catch-up with travellers. They do have a big barbecue at the weekend which sounded like it could be fun.

worst thing

There were several elements of our stay which really left a sour taste. We arrived to the hostel at about 10 a.m. after an overnight bus journey from Santa Marta. Official check-in wasn't until 2 p.m. but two beds were unoccupied and available in our dorm. However, the guy at reception refused to let us check-in until the official time - this was entirely pointless, entirely rude in its delivery and set the tone for the customer service for the duration of our stay from everyone (which other guests suffered from too). This same member of staff also ignored us for at least 30 minutes when we first arrived, failed to show us around or provide us any information about the hostel.

If staying in the cheaper dorm downstairs, appropriately named Hades, then your nearest bathroom/shower is up two flights of stairs through the reception. There was never toilet paper and it was unclean at any time of day we used it.

Additionally, it is worth knowing that this is a definite party hostel. Whilst we have no problem with people getting drunk before a night out (hell, we'll often join in ourselves!), Arcadia had a problem with people coming back at 4 a.m. and continuing the party in the communal areas. Thankfully, the downstairs dorm is protected from most of the noise, however, we know that guests on other floors were severely affected by this.