Name: Casa Lahar
Address: costera sur 45 bacalar, Q.R., Mexico, Bacalar, Bacalar, Bacalar, 77930, Mexico
Rating: 8

Smoke-free property

Garden

Terrace

General

Non-smoking rooms

Family room

Shower

Rooms

Common kitchen

Restaurant

Packed Lunches

Meals

Internet access

Internet

Spanish

English

Languages Spoken

Bike rental

Recreation

Parking

Water park

Private beach

Next to the beach

Pool and beach

Snorkelling

Sports

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Chetumal International Airport

Sarteneja Airport

Casa Lahar

Bacalar

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

This place is practically not a hostel anymore. The room was miserable, and most of the services they list were unavailable. My understanding is that the place has financially suffered from Covid-19 and undergone major administrative changes. They now use the room next to the gate/by the street as the reception area, which is also the place where the volunteers/staff are housed and the sheets/towels are stored. This is also the room where hostel customers are housed. So, anyone who comes to check in or ask for something pops into this small and heavily congested room and looks for someone to answer them, if they can find someone. I had a 3-day booking and arrived late (3: 00 am) due to the strange hours of the ADO bus (the only one running on my route). I had emailed them in advance about this late check-in and been told to knock on the window to get them check me in. One of the volunteers checked me in after confirming my reservation on his phone, and I paid him for my stay in cash, as requested. The room did not have an AC, only fans, some of which were broken. I only slept a few hours that day and had to sleep in one of the hammocks outside for the rest 2 days because the room was unbearably too hot. The bathroom was dirty and stank, and the room always smelled like the bathroom. I just used the toilet in the bathroom and used the showers outside. Sİnce there was no centralized reception/check-in system, each time one of the volunteers saw me the first time, I had to explain them who and when checked me in, as if I was some outsider trying to justify my presence. There is no centralized record-keeping or cross-communication among the staff. My booking also included breakfast,but the volunteer who checked me in told me there would be no breakfast. I let it go and went for the kitchen to prepare something for breakfast myself, but I was literally blocked by this woman the moment I stepped into the living space/kitchen area in the adjacent place. She said the place was unavailable because a group of people reserved it as a whole and they had just finished cleaning. I asked whether there was another kitchen I could use and she said "there is a toaster upstairs," which didn't even make sense since she wasn't letting me go inside anyway. I again let it go and walked all the way to the downtown to eat. I spent most of my days enjoying the lagoon and sightseeing etc. and used the garden area when I was in the hostel, including sleeping in the hammock during the night time. I briefly used the kayak equipment in the garden, making up for the lack of breakfast. On my last day, I packed my belongings and placed them by the wall in the room and went for a swim. After I came back, I had a shower in one of the showers in the garden and passed time in the garden area until it was time for my departure bus, which was scheduled for 6:15 pm. Just before leaving, I went into the living space/kitchen area to charge my phone and eat some snacks I had. The previous group had already left, and I assumed the people around were other hostel customers using one of the rooms upstairs. I saw that the hostel rules were listed on the counters in the kitchen and living room and read them very carefully. They clearly listed the living room, kitchen, and the balcony upstairs as the common areas and went ahead with mentioning the rules of using them. I just went to the balcony briefly to look at the view and take  a photo before I left the hostel. Unlike our room, the entire place was impecabbly clean and neat. I was just about to leave for my bus, trying to take home positive feelings and ignoring all the inconvenience when one of the volunteers and the same woman who had blocked me the other day came to me to scold that I was not supposed to go in there because it was rented as a house to another group (Spanish-speaking), who apparently asked the woman who the hell I was and what I was doing there. While I was trying to be positive and let go all the nuances, these people were just seeing me as a pest!!! I was quite embarassed to think that the group who rented the entire place thought I was an outsider while I thought I was just using the common areas, as I am entitled to since this is supposedly a hostel, and the living room/kitchen/balcony area were supposed to be common areas, which was clearly identified in the hostel rules listed. I had to tell the woman and the volunteer by her about all the inconveniences they have made me go through in the past three days, including no breakfast, miserable room conditions, sleeping in the hammock at nights, showering in the garden and now being treated like a pest because they suddenly decide to rent the entire place as a whole and throw hostel customers to that miserable room/hostel storage area/reception/staff-housing place by the road, with no keys or lockers. Suddenly I was shamed for being a negative person and yelled at for going into other customers' area when I thought I was just using the common areas. She kept saying that the check out is at 12:30. What is to check out? There was no key to hand back, I did not even sleep in the room for the last 2 days, and I had already packed my belongings. I just did not put my baggage outside the room because it is by the road and any bypassers can take it away. In other words, I did check out the room. Isn't it normal to pass time in common areas until your departure? Checking out does not mean leaving the premises. You can spend time in a hotel lobby, restaurant, bar whatever. She obviously remembers the check-out time but how about the breakfast that was supposedly included in the price? How about the common places that a hostel is supposed to have? She says the price was just for the bed. That is not what is listed at Hostels.com, and a hostel is never "just a bed." If you decide to run the place differently than before, then why are you accepting hostel customers through Hostels.com and listing services that are not available anymore? They simply trap you, eagerly take your money, do not stand by their promises, and treat you like a pest, and when you finally complain, they shame you for being negative. Avoid this place; it is only a ghost of a hostel. After this bad experience, I started to make each of my bookings during the rest of my trip for only one night and extended daily if I liked the place.

Ghost of a hostel

Loved everything here. The energy of this place & the sunrise just in front of Casa Lahar! The location is perfect, away from the city centre yet walking distance nearby. The beautifull & magical lagoon just in front. Friendly staff that spoke good english and always ready when needed. Thank you Dani, Legna and everyone else for this great experience. Definitely coming back to this place when I'm in Bacalar. And love to recommend Casa Lahar.

The Beauty of a Magical stay in Bacalar

So I stayed with my family at casa lahar I reserved an individual cabin for 4. We arrived and they allowed us to check in before 3 because the room was ready Wich made it easier for us because we were only there for one night. So we got to do the tour they offer you around the lagoon. Later we went into town to catch some dinner then the next day we had a continental breakfast included with our reservation in the hostel. Everything was nice and clean and most important we had our own bathroom, although the cabin didn't have air conditioning there was a fan for everybed so we were okay. I do recommend casa lahar it's a very chill experience and you have the lagoon a few steps away.

Nice experience

I would definitely recommend checking this place out! I had a very nice ambiance to it. There are private rooms available with a shared bathroom (bathroom was very clean) the option to tent also. Amir is the tour guide for that casa....amazing personality and great energy! I will be back...and I’ll remember to bring the keys with me this time! Hahaha much love 

Bacalar 

Hostel has a nice location on lake front where on can rent rooms, share rooms, rent tents or bring tents. However, it is sometimes loud when camping outdoors. Casa Lahar is "pet friendly" which sometimes means that people bring dogs that are aggressive or bark a lot. This happened while I was there. There is little English spoken so knowing Spanish is a plus. There is only one plug to charge electronics and no table near the plug to put your laptop or pad so you can easily type on it while it is charging.

Nice location on lake front but sometimes loud when camping outdoors

We booked an individual room but when we came the bathroom was a sharing bathroom with other rooms 
The bathroom is so small and dirty, the smell was reaching the room 
It’s noisy, everything is falling down in the room and everywhere else 
The staff service is inexistent 
A lot of people are coming from outside of the hotel to go on tours in the lagoon 

It’s definitly overpriced for what it is. When you go to bacalar you are not looking for this

I found the staff here to be money hungry, no luggage room and the owner wasn’t too impressed when we asked where to store our luggage after checkout until our bus at 2pm. He said in the hall upstairs but if it wasn’t gone by 1.30pm we owed 35 pesos each. The hostel is outside of the town and about a 20/25 minute walk to anything, there should be bikes for free or at a cheap price. No breakfast included and the tents for camping are tiny. Once you check out there is only one outdoor shower for you to use with a sheet that blows in the wind as the door. I don’t think the staff care for you much especially not once you check out. Free water refill is pretty standard in hostels and it didn’t exist here either

Terrible

As mentioned in previous reviews, we had an uncomfortable stay due to a very closed, unfriendly, pretentious atmosphere. Most people there are volunteers or family members so we felt like intruders in their space!  Not friendly...not attentive at all. 

Regarding booking, when we reserved a twin room we expected 2 beds but instead were welcomed with a double bed and sofa bed with no sheets.

First night there was no water.  Bit dirty in some communal areas and to get into the kitchen we had to pass the family who were dominating the space most of the time...

Don't spend your money here... there are better places.

Casa Lahar

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