Casa Pepe

Casa Pepe Boutique Hostel is undoubtedly one of the best-designed and most aesthetically pleasing hostels I’ve stayed at. It offers a fantastic location, great amenities, and engaging activities. However, the staff, particularly the front desk team and supervisor, marred my experience. From the moment I arrived, I was struck by the modern and stylish design of the hostel. The dorm rooms were comfortable and well-maintained and featured a charming Juliette balcony that added a touch of fresh air and natural light—perfect for unwinding after a day out. The dorm was street-facing; I advise earplugs if you have noise sensitivity. The property is well-located, and there are ample networking opportunities with a more professional, mature crowd of guests, making it a great place to meet new people. On top of that, the activities and amenities, such as the rooftop bar and mezcal tasting, were excellent. However, things quickly took a turn when it came to the staff. I arrived two hours early and asked if I could check-in, but the front desk staff was unwilling to accommodate me, citing that the room wasn’t ready. I could see that several staff members were around chatting, but none were focused on assisting me as a guest. I decided to wait and went up to the rooftop to grab a bite to eat. Unfortunately, the bartender was inattentive, and after waiting for a while, I napped at the table. This wasn’t a great first impression of the hospitality. Eventually, at 3 pm, I returned to check in, but the staff insisted the room wasn’t ready. At this point, I expressed frustration and requested a refund, prompting the front desk to call the supervisor. Instead of addressing my concerns, the supervisor and the front desk staff recorded an unrelated video about my experience in Mexico despite my simply asking to get checked in. They spent more time filming the video and rewarding a staff member with a complimentary drink and an upgraded room for participating, all while I was still waiting. It was baffling. I finally got to my room and noticed it had been ready. I had walked the halls earlier and saw that the cleaning staff had already completed cleaning other rooms, including mine. The front desk had lied about the room’s availability, which seemed to be a recurring theme at this hostel. I had encountered this dishonesty elsewhere in Mexico, where staff members often lied about room availability even when rooms were prepared. To make matters worse, the co-working space wasn’t as accessible as advertised. When I went downstairs early in the morning to work, I found the evening staff had occupied the space. The room, which had a TV, small table, and game area, also had a bed set up, which made it uncomfortable to use. Adding to the disappointment, the staff had a child with them. Initially, I was impressed that this property provided lodging for its staff, but I was dismayed because I felt like I was intruding on a paid amenity. When I asked for coffee, I was mad

To preface this review, I love hostels and almost exclusively stay in them, party hostels included. This hostel was a huge disappointment. The private room was ok, basic but clean with a good shower. Bed was pretty hard. Rooftop terrace was nice, but quiet hours were meant to be at 10 PM, yet there was still music absolutely blaring and people yelling up there at 11 multiple consecutive nights, a weeknight included. I took a timestamped video, it was so loud in our room two floors below and we had to be up very early for a tour one day. Wifi in the room was also terrible. The water cooler in the tiny kitchen was empty more often than not over the course of our stay, even after telling them it needed refilled (conveniently forcing you to purchase water onsite). The worst part though was how money grubbing the managers were. We extended our stay by an extra night because we were going to the lucha with the hostel, but then afterwards we realized that they don't provide transport back with the tour and we also had a super early morning tour with a different company near where the lucha arena was. We asked to cancel the extension (after already having stayed two nights) about an hour after booking it, and although the receptionists asked for us, we were told management refused. This meant we were up at like 4 AM the next day to get ready and check out and uber over to drop our stuff off at the new hotel we booked near our tour pickup point. That brings me to my final point... this place is expensive!! It was over $100 US a night for a thoroughly unimpressive experience. We spent 104 USD our final night on a beautiful 4.5 star hotel that made me regret ever booking this hostel. Also, the city center area is not charming. Would recommend looking in La Condesa instead.

Let me preface this review by stating that I stayed in a private room, so I can't speak to what your experience might be like if you stay in the dorms. That said, they bill themselves as a "boutique hostel," and very accurately so! In addition to the facilities being nicer than your typical hostel, they organize nightly activities on a swanky rooftop bar/lounge/restaurant, tours during the daytime, and tasty breakfast in the mornings. It's a great place for digital nomads who need a coworking space, or just backpackers who want to meet other travelers.