Iguana Hostel Oaxaca

This Hostel receives a 5 stars from me, though I will also be honest about my stay. If you're a needy traveler, who needs their own space, who is a light sleeper and needs long warm showers, this is not the place for you. The vibe was very youthful, and the volunteers were very kind and attentive. Me and my group made great friends at the hostel and the breakfasts were nice. They have planned events and tours for cheap, you could really good a good insight into the area just through their built in schedule. This place is friendly to everyone, and there was even a very cute dog that would hangout in the hostel. The rooftop was the crown jewel, it had little nooks with hammocks, an affordable bar, and the bartender was incredibly nice (shoutout to Vic!) Though beware, if you can't handle what I said above. There were nights I needed to use earplugs to go to sleep due to rowdy people. There were times the dog would get stuck on the top step and bark to be let down. Oaxaca has a water crisis so the showers must be used sparingly and you need to use bottled water or a dedicated tap to brush your teeth if you're a foreigner and want to avoid travelers diarrhea. For the cost, experience, and people-- the down to earth experience me and my friends had here, there is nothing more I could've asked for staying for my first time in Oaxaca.

Wonderful atmosphere. You will feel like family and return every time you are in Oaxaca. Great tours and activities including a rooftop bar. Delicious hot home style vegetarian breakfast included in the price and it is different every day of the week. Quiet Places as well as Places to get to know other guests. Now I have friends from all over the world including a huge kitchen available to guests who like to cook. Great staff. Places to eat nearby. Close to the center of town. Great shopping nearby.

Best hostel I’ve been in, great value for price, huge rooms and everyone gets his own bed with tons of space, all the staff and the vibe is really nice it also quiet but also very social especially in the giant rooftop. Great location also. Highly recommended and I would definitely come back when I’ll be in Oaxaca again

Kind of dirty. One volunteer had a dog that pooped inside the hostel & no one cleaned it for hours. Another had a loud phone conversation that woke everyone up before 7am. They do a few activities that look okay but other hostels had more interesting options which we chose instead. The room was a bit rough, which we don't mind, but for the price it probably wasn't really good enough. The door had large gaps around it which offered zero soundproofing. The room smelled like dogs. Strict 11pm quiet time was good, but unfortunately not enforced in the early morning so we were woken up each morning by loud guests / volunteers. Breakfast was the highlight and the location probably couldn't be better.

This place is run almost solely by volunteers and the guy who owns it, Anthony, offers no respect to them or his customers. He patronises people and at first I thought it was everyone and then I noticed it was women and queer people. He has a revolving door of 3 weeks per volunteer, but despite the fact that he requires no experience on application, still expects you to be perfect. All mistakes are met with aggression and blame. Everything is constantly breaking and his excuses as to why these things can't be fixed or dealt with by professionals boil down to him not wanting to spend the money. When I visited there was a consistent bed bug infestation that Anthony refused to accept the gravity of. He just replaced the bed sheets and would offer the bed to the next customer. The pipes were constantly blocking and he chose to undo and fix them during the 2hr breakfast window. So everyone eating (most of his customers) had to smell sink sewage whilst trying to eat food. In Anthony's eyes everything is always everyone else's fault. Not his mismanagement. Not his lack of presence. Not his treatment of the people working there. Not his underfunding. He either needs management training or therapy because his attitude is pathetic. The only thing enjoyable about this place is the customers and the volunteers but you can find that at any other hostel, which I would recommend you go to.

It's a good fun hostel, ideal if you want to meet people, get advice, have a bit of fun. I didn't find it was very loud or anything like that as some reviews suggested. People staying up late on the roof were asked to move to a section where the sound wouldn't bother others. The dorms don't feel cramped at all, and there's none of the creaky awkward shuffling around you tend to get with some bunk beds. The group chat was very fast to respond yo any questions that got asked. I had fun!

Dorms are noisy and not super clean. The dorm location is right near reception and the common space. Beds are spring mattresses and just OK. A super budget option. The rooftop is OK but not super Comfortable to relax. Mainly a bar like atmosphere with tables and benches. Location is great though. Reception was nice and very thorough

Very very badly maintained and run-down hostel. It doesn’t look like anything in the pictures. I had booked a private room and the room and bed were in a pretty dilapidated state. I felt so uncomfortable that I actually moved to a different hostel, and the owner refused to refund me even a single dollar (I had booked the room for 3 days). It didn’t seem very social, and is full of hippies and has quite a few older people. The only positive thing was that they actually gave me a fan when I asked for it as it was so hot.