Hostel Kankun & the Smoking Incident

I've written elsewhere about Hostel Kankun & our biggest run-in with the guy who runs it. But I've never written about the Smoking Incident... until now.

We Moved into a New Apartment!

After impulsively buying a new puppy, Ramon, our landlord at Hostel Kankun told us we could keep him there, no problem. Unfortunately, over the next couple of weeks, Diablo had a few "accidents" on the hostel roof, on the hostel stairs, in the hostel halls, & in the hostel "lobby." A few times, Ramon found Diablo deposits before we did, because the cleaning staff "accidentally" let him out of our area without telling us.

 

So... last Tuesday night, we came home and, after Jen went ahead while I locked up our bikes, Ramon told me he didn't want "the dog" living in the hostel anymore. "Starting tomorrow." I was shocked. "Ok," was all I could think to say. Later I went down to his office & asked him why. 

How noisy is Cancun?

This morning, I awoke early & went up to our hostel's rooftop patio to watch the sunrise. It was a lovely, peaceful moment, interrupted only by the arrival of another guest, who had been roused by the sound of music blaring from around a corner. It was 7:00 am.

Shortly after returning to our room, I heard more noise outside: this time it was the sound of a bugle call coming from a school about a block away...

The Bleeding Fan...

After moving into our hostel in Cancun, Jen & I were relieved to find that our room was equipped with a fairly powerful fan. It gets hot here & we have no air conditioning, but we find that, with a fan on 24-7, we don't really need A/C.

We don't really need a clothes dryer either.

Drying clothes, hostel style.

This handy, unassuming little appliance has also been the source of much amusement...

Domino's for Breakfast, Hostel Style

Jen & I eat a lot of pizza, mostly from the Domino's Pizza Centro just down the road.

Domino's Pizza Centro
(998)884 75 16
Av. Coba No. 43, Cancun Q.Roo 77500

My Top 5 Hostel Bloopers

Not much explanation needed here. Living in a hostel means living with strangers, & living with strangers means living with bloopers!

Here's the list. Enjoy...


1) The Bedroom Break-in


One day, I hung/wrapped a plastic Hawaiian party necklace around part of the deadbolt on the inside of our door. Some time later, I went out, locking the deadbolt behind me.

When I came home, I found that I couldn't open our door. The plastic necklace had become tangled in the bolt, preventing it from sliding open. Oops. Luckily, the door opens out into the hall, meaning that the hinges are accessible from outside the room.

With the help of a neighbor, I used a butcher knife and a hammer to pop the door off its hinges & enter the room.

I removed the necklace & used it to tie a bandana around my makeshift electric tiki torch.

The best part of the story (or the worst) is this:

Though this incident occurred in the middle of the afternoon, despite being on the second floor, directly above the main office, none of the staff heard anything (apparently) or came to investigate. So much for security!

Meson de Tulum Hostel Review

Meson de Tulum is a great hostel. It's use of indigenous wood and its nice swimming pool make it very unique. Jen & I have not stayed here (yet) but have visited a friend (Jean-Francois) who stayed there & seemed to like it. The staff are very friendly. Rates are fair & we were offered a Tahitian-style room for 4500 pesos/month (including drinking water & daily breakfast).

Reviews of the hostel are quite good. On HostelBookers.com:

Ants in my... Hostel

I've written before about our hostel here in Cancun (Hostel Kankun), easily the cheapest hostel in Cancun. Indeed, it may be the cheapest hostel anywhere in North America, if not the world. It is certainly the cheapest I've ever encountered in a big resort town.

Reviews are mixed, naturally, with many complaints about bugs. I was pleasantly surprised, then, when I moved in & noticed very few 4,5,6,7, or 8-or-more-legged critters.

Having said that.. attentive readers may have noticed something curious about that last comment: the word "noticed." On closer inspection, it seemed the room was teeming with tiny (I mean teeny tiny little) ants. It reminded me of a story Jay Leno once told about leaving a chocolate cake unattended in a dingy apartment & later suddenly *noticing* that it was moving.

Ewww!

Hostel Quetzal

Hostel Quetzal is a fantastic hostel. It has won several awards, including HostelBookers Award for Excellence 2010. If we could afford it, Jen & I would probably live here. We've joked about dropping by sometime to see if we can crash one of their parties, or one of their dinners, prepared by a professional chef!

 

Hostel Kankun Rooftop

I've written elsewhere about our great hostel, Hostel Kankun.

Here are some shots of the hostel's rooftop patio. 

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