Ximena's Guest House

Staff are okay but not overly friendly, no fridge and you need to pay $1 to use the kitchen (though I was asked not to use some crockery- not sure why when they looked the same as the others). Also no water cooler or plug socket by bed to charge phone overnight. On a plus side, they made the bed which I thought was a lovely touch and there is a beautiful jasmine tree in the courtyard. Not sure this balances out the other issues though.

Completely sufficient! Friendly staff. Secure and convenient location. I was impressed that the shower was only a bit coldZ Unfortunately there are a lot of bad details: - mattress is not fully covered. No fitted sheet. Dirty mattress. - to get to toilet you have to pass over the shower - no mirror It’s kinda just dirty.

Only good thing is the friendly staff. The kitchen is small and not equipped well, the rooms had funny smells and uncomfortable pillows. The whole place is quite run down too, not good value for money

Best hostel in San Salvador! The location and the price are both excellent. I always stay here when I am in town. The host Lena is always very helpful and caring. You can't go wrong staying at Ximena's!

We spent two nights here before heading to the coast, which was more than enough. |We arrived about 9pm from the airport in a taxi, tired and stressed because our luggage had not arrived. |The lady on reception was pleasant enough but didn't speak any English and we don't speak Spanish so it was really challenging to to explain the situation with our lost luggage! |Lena (who apparently runs the place, and is connected to the travel scene- also speaks English)was away at the time we were there which was a bit unfortunate although we did speak with her on the phone and she gave us some pointers of things to do on the city. ||The strangest thing about the place was the fact that NOBODY else was there. At all!! So the two of us were sort of rattling about the empty guest house wondering if we had entered some weird parallel universe! ||It's is very worn and in need of a good facelift, the courtyard is pretty and well looked after but generally it's a crumbling old place. The vibe is that it was once a great place to be. ||Our shower came with instructions on how to avoid electrocution during use....pretty sketchy and not really acceptable to be honest. And the door on our room didn't work. ||We found a great pupuseria nearby for cheap breakfast. And a friendly bar down the road for drinks. |Although the neighbourhood is safe during the day, definitely take a taxi after dark.

We started our Central America trip in ximenas and it turned out to be a great decision. The location is great to get your bearings in San Salvador, close to the huge metro centre, tons of places to eat nearby and great local places 2 mins down the street, all the cheap beer and paposas you could ask for. It's located in a really safe neighbourhood which made us settle in much quicker. The staff were very helpful, our Spanish is terrible so there was a slight language barrier there but Lena the owner made herself available whenever we needed her. Lena was brilliant, she really had a genuine interest in helping us progress and giving us advice. She even let us leave our massive bags there while we continued our travels which was such a relief to know they where safe and didn't have to haul them around in chicken buses was a godsend. Rooms were nice, clean and comfortable and the hot shower was very welcome when we returned at the end of our trip. Wifi could be better in the rooms but I believe that issue is being resolved. All in all we wouldn't hesitate to stay in ximenas again, perfect place to get ready for a big adventure.

I really liked this small and simple hostal run by a local. Our room was very simple and the hostal is very quiet, but if you just search a place to sleep and not a party hostal this is perfect. The small inner yard was beautiful and they also had a terasse which was open for the guests and with a nice view. I would totally come back, i felt so safe and super welcomed. Thank you!

I hesitate to give the hostel such a low rating because the owner is seriously awesome. She is knowledgeable and passionate about the country and I was very happy I followed her suggestions for places to visit, transport to take, etc. It's just really unfortunate that the place is in such poor, decrepit condition (it was generally clean but needs a serious renovation). The mattress in my single room was horrible and there was what looked like mold near the bathroom. It felt depressing to be there. The worker at the front desk was inconsistent: sometimes very helpful, sometimes impossible to tear away from her phone. I really hope the place gets an upgrade because Lena is such a fantastic resource for the travelers to this city.