Hostal Rio Magdalena

We had an overall very positive experience at Hostal Rio Magdalena. We even booked for an additional night upon our return as we were very satisfied with the service we received. The reception was always very friendly, helpful and ready to accommodate. The common spaces are green, we had breakfast in a nice garden, and then relaxed by the pool. The first night we had some noisy neighbors, the reception did everything to quiet them, and then gave us another room the next day. The second time we returned, we were very muddy from having had to hike in the mountains for hours, due to a blocked road from Samaipata, the hotel was very accommodating, offering us a place to clean up and wash our clothes and bags.||Some rooms are brighter than others, but all generally above average.||But overall a very nice experience.

We stayed at the Rio Magdalena twice, after landing in Santa Cruz and before flying back home. We chose the hotel for the price, the location and the climatization.||||First, the good points: staff was very friendly to us, helping us with transportation, arranging for a taxi to the airport during the night, etc; it is conveniently located, a 10 min walk to the historical centre; breakfast is basic but good; we felt safe staying there.||||The less favourable aspects : on our first stay, the cleanliness of the room (and especially the bathroom) was very questionable. We did not even take a shower as it did not seem to have been cleaned after the previous occupants; plumbing was very capricious; towels had seen better days (a common complaint in Bolivia); wifi worked on and off; there is no sign outside so can be a bit difficult to find when arriving at night.||||Overall, not a disaster but not a "find" either. Seems pretty normal for Santa Cruz, where budget choices are not great.

It's nothing to write home about, but it's decently clean and within walking distance (7 blocks) to the main plaza and good restaurants. ||The good: staff was friendly and helpful, quiet at night, mostly clean rooms (some are better than others), seemed safe within the compound, ok breakfast. ||The not-so-great: sheets were a bit old (but clean), some rooms smell a bit of cigarettes with stained walls, hot water is a tad unreliable, but a good value that close to the plaza...

It is a strange place. Has no signs at all, so had we not booked it I would never walk in from the street. When our taxi pulled over I was quite tempted to ask the driver to go somewhere else as it looks so uninviting. The lobby is dark and damp so we were quite worried how our room is going to look like. However we were quite pleasantly surprised when we saw that the rooms are in new building. The room was good size and clean. Unfortunately there was no hot water in the shower. On the second evening we had no water for a few hours at all. The choice in Santa Cruz for hotels seems to be quite limited so all in all this is not such a bad option. On the other hand it could be so easily improved that it is a shame the management let it to deteriorate so much.

We had found a good deal for this hotel and where quite excited about having a pool and a relaxing spot to enjoy Santa Cruz. We stayed 3 nights and were a little disappointed. The place is ok but many little things make it too expensive for what it is. The pool is not really clean and there is no spot or chair to enjoy it.||The room could be cleaner, the mold in the bathroom is not so plaisant (though quite common in Bolivia). To be fair, the shower was hot, which is often a luxury. There was one bulb missing, we asked for it but they didn't have extras. ||And they're not really on commercial gestures. We didn't have breakfast on the second day, but had an extra one the day we arrived. We asked to call it even but they charged us for the extra one and the one we didn't take.||Nothing really serious but a feeling of an average place a little overpriced.

Hotel located in a bad area, difficult to find by taxi!Staff does not speak English & is not polite. Lobby is dirty and very dark. Our flight was very early next AM and despite promising to get us breakfast earlier (or at least coffee), that never happened. The night you talk to one person, another in the morning not knowing what we were talking about. Internet connection NOT WORKING.||We are very well traveled, had been all over Asia and Latin america and have seen bad hotels, but this one wins the price for the worst & the dirtiest-smelly, musty, filthy, yucky, icky...we felt we would get contaminated just by breathing the air. Doors, windows not closing. Despite coming from very far distance and flying out early next day we took no shower-we felt by doing so we would get dirtier! Sheets were disgusting and stomach-churning-We slept with our clothes on. Towel, only one small for 2 people dirtier than the sheets. We had never seen such a place before. On the top of everything they promised to call us a taxi to the airport the next morning. (We knew the price from center to airport was 50 bolivianos as told by a the driver who took us in a very nice SUV cab from the airport to Biocentro Guembe and charge us 80 bolivianos despite the Centro being far away from the airport and city center. Folks at Rio Magdalena claimed price was 60. Receptionists called the cab and we saw how the driver ran to give the hotel guy 10 bolivianos (the extra one they were charging us) right in front of our eyes. Than he drove us as lunatic, almost getting into an accident, hurrying to get the next person from the hotel. Car was old and almost falling apart. All in all we would never ever stay there again and would not recommend the place to our worst enemy! This place need close doors. Even the dingiest hotels from the movies from Mexico city look better c/t that hotel.

Clean-ish by Bolivian standards. Ask for a receipt when you pay for the room (and the name of the person you paid), as they don't keep good records & may question whether you paid or not when evening to morning staff changes. Same with laundry...receipt & exact price up front (our laundry magically gained almost a kilo between the lobby scale & the lavanderia). Breakfast is okay.

The rooms are a bit dark and small, but the garden and pool area is quite nice. Breakfast with scrambled eggs and delicious(!!) papaya juice included.||A bit hard to find as there is no sign, look for a reddish building with a black wooden roof in front.||Not the cheapest one but good service, kind staff.