Hostel Kankun - Cheapest Hostel in Cancun!

I thought I should post a little note about our first hostel in Cancun, Mexico. For short-term guests, it's a good cheap place to sleep. Stay long enough, however, & you may have issues with the owner.

Hostel Kankun
End of Calle Maranon, West of Yaxchilan Ave
MZ 7, Lote 26, Supermanzana 25
Cancun, Mexico
CP 77509-CR-77511
HostelKankun@Hotmail.com

 

It's located downtown (centro), at the end of Calle Maranon, just west of Yaxchilan Avenue (the left-most red circle on the map below). It's a 5-10 minute walk west of the Parque de las Palapas, & ~1 km from the edge of the hotel zone.



Cancun Hostels

This was our room!

   
Reviews of the hostel are mixed. On HostelBookers.com, for example, it has these ratings:


Atmosphere: 57.6%
Location: 84.0%
Facilities: 55.2%
Staff: 87.2%
Overall: 75%


But the complaints (mostly about cold water, dirt, noise & bugs) kind of make me laugh. Beds start at $5/night, which makes Hostel Kankun the most affordable rental in all of Cancun. So, really, what do you expect? If you're looking for glamorous digs, the Ritz Carlton is just 20km south of here, & costs only 100x more.


Because I was expecting so little, I was pleasantly surprised. This place is great value for the money. And you can get an ever lower monthly rate. Jen & I checked out a dozen other hostels in the area (& there are other good places, like award-winning Hostal Quetzal & the Meson de Tulum, which has a pool & funky Tahitian-themed rooms) & decided to stay put.


There are about 15 rooms & the fact that 1/2 of them are usually occupied by long-term guests (people staying for many weeks or months), many of whom have been coming for years, should tell you something.


Pancho, the owner's assistant, is very friendly & helpful (tho he only speaks a little English), but Ramon, the owner, is among the few people here we really dislike. Initially, Jen & I were amused to learn that "Ra-mon" means wise guardian. After learning more about him (see below), I started calling him "Mon."


My 5 favorite things about this hostel?


5) Location. It's a 10 minute walk to the main drag, Tulum Avenue (which almost every bus runs along), & the Parque de las Palapas, which has several food stalls. It's also within a 10-15 minute walk of Chedraui (a department store/supermarket on Tulum), Walmart, Costco, & Domino's Pizza.


There is also a nice park across the street (we can see it from our window) and some open areas between cul-de-sacs (though I'd hardly call them, as the hostel does, "our forest area").


4) The roof-top patio (see my post here, with some pix). It's a bit basic, but the views are amazing. I want to brick off a corner & make a little swimming pool but when I ran the idea past Ramon, he didn't exactly love it.


3) Internet. I was pleasantly surprised by the Internet service here, which is as good as our service (Rogers) in Toronto. Streaming youtube videos, for example, is no problem. One note: our room is on the 2nd floor & I've heard other guests complain that service was patchy in their rooms. On the other hand, I've found spots with decent reception even up on the roof.


2) Price. You just can't beat $5-10/night.


1) When I first posted this, I said that Ramon & Pancho topped the list. Pancho is a good guy, but my opinion of Ramon has changed so much that he now ranks among my least favorite things about this hostel. In fact, he ranks among my least favorite things in Cancun.


My 5 least favorite things?


5) Common areas. The problem is... there aren't any, which explains many of the hostel's low ratings on Tripadvisor. It's more like a basic hotel than a hostel and only has that "funky hostel" vibe when backpackers are here, which seems to be less than 1/2 the time. There are often people hanging out &/or working in the kitchen, but there are no planned events or communal meals, as there are in many other hostels.


4) Water. I'm still not sure how the hot water works here. After several days of cold showers, I asked Ramon how the hot water works. "Oh, I forgot to check it today," he said, "thanks for reminding me," and disappeared into his room. So it seems that you can ask for hot water if necessary. The water pressure everywhere is on the super-wimpy side.


3) Noise. You do find some yahoos here -- hey, it's a hostel. But the main problem is the d-o-g-s, which are everywhere. Many people have them, including several neighbors. They stay outside most of the time & bark at passing people, cars, &, most annoyingly, each other. If you love the sound of dueling doggies at dos a la manyana (2 a.m.), this is the place for you! It's 10:30 pm & there's a dog barking right now. I wear earplugs & have a fan on at night, so I couldn't care less, but other travelers might just go crazy.


2) Bugs! I've written about the ants before & they can be annoying. But there are also enough mosquitos, beetles, cockroaches & spiders around (especially in the bathrooms & kitchen) to keep an entomologist quite busy. No black widows or scorpions, tho, so far!


1) Kitchen. Basic & buggy, & the 25-watt light bulb makes cooking at night a little creepy. There's no oven, not even a microwave, but the dual gas range works well. There are a few pots, plates & bowls, but don't expect any fancy utensils. We once asked Pancho if he had a can-opener we could borrow & were advised (with genuine kindness) to use a knife. We've also had neighbors borrow our forks because there were none in the kitchen.


0) Ramon. Watch out if you stay here. If you make a deal, get it in writing. Ramon was fine with us having a puppy, until he forced us to get rid of him with 24 hours notice. Then he asked us to leave!


But the scariest Ramon story comes from another guest: he told her she could stay but only if she didn't have overnight guests. She agreed. Then, one morning, she heard a knock at her door & before she had a chance to open it, Ramon entered without her permission, allegedly to check that she hadn't broken her word.


Obviously, we no longer endorse this place & will probably never stay here again.


One last note. Don't trust any info or photos posted by the hostel. They are not accurate. Their kitchen currently looks nothing like the photo you'll find on hostel websites. I'll post a real photo if I go back & get one.


Also: here is a list of amenities which the hostel claims on various websites that do not exist except as figments in Ramon's imagination:

-- Common Room (you mean the kitchen?)
-- Hot Tub (Say what? Ramon, 2L of tepid water in a housekeeper's pail do not count as a "hot tub")
-- Wheelchair Accessible (only if you can get up the curb in front of the hostel & don't need the kitchen, up 3 flights of stairs)


-- Tours/Travel Desk (you mean the "travel desk" in the picture below?)

Anyway, the whole place is very basic. You'll get four blank walls, which could use some fresh paint, and ugly tile floors. The style is a cross between bomb shelter brutalism & Third World minimalism.

For more information: 
http://www.hostelbookers.com/property/prp/8337/arr/2012-06-05/ngt/1/ppl/1/


Note: I have also visited & reviewed Meson de Tulum & Hostel Quetzal.


Last Update: June 2012