Hostal Antigua

We tried to stayed with this hostel having booked a private room 3 days before we were supposed to stay with them. They checked our card having taking a deposit before refunding it the same day and then send an email confirming our reservation. The day of check-in we were on an 8 hour transfer shuttle from our previous destination where at 6:30pm they charged our card again for the full price of the room. This was a travel card that we DON'T keep money for security reasons and only top up when we need it. No where on their website or reservation does it say they are going to charge the card, let alone before contacting us. After attempting to charge the card and it declining they contacted me saying "Your card was rejected by our system, so it's invalid reservation". I replied to them saying we were 30 minutes away from them and we can pay upon our arrival. Their response 20 minutes later was "Sorry your reservation was cancelled since your card was rejected by our system, and someone else booked" HOW UNHELPFUL. Having been sat on a bus for 8 hours, 30 minutes from checkin they had cancelled our reservation despite us telling them we were on the way and had given it away to someone else. When we went to speak to them about it, they were unapologetic and unsympathetic to us not having a place to stay on Saturday night not looking to resolve our issue due to their actions. Imagine in different circumstances we may have been arriving late via plane and not been able to get in contact with them at all and they'd cancelled our reservation and left us stranded late at night in a foreign city. I would not book with them as at that point what's the point of making a reservation if they don't adhere to it!

Hostal Antigua is fantastic. The hostel is very clean and the staff are so helpful and friendly. Staff are available all day and you can book shuttle buses with the hostel which are very good value. The kitchen facilities are great too. Check in and check out processes were also very quick and easy. Highly recommend staying in this lovely hostel!