Mezcal Hotel & Hostel Cancun

The Mezcal Hostel first opened its doors in 2014 and has quickly established itself as the go-to hostel downtown for Australian, German, and Nordic travelers (there are also a smattering of North Americans thrown in the mix). While it’s billed as a party hostel, things generally simmer down after 10 p.m. when the pool closes.

 The hostel is in fact a remodeled series of residential homes that were combined and expanded. After guests make their way past the dolphin guarding the entrance, a walkway between two of the buildings leads to the pool and outdoor lounge. The atmosphere is friendly, festive, and multicultural.  The reception area is set up with a sofa facing a flat-screen TV and various clocks showing the time around the world. There are also the first of the many yellow signs hung on the walls with tips, hints, and hostel rules in English and Spanish. The dorms are located upstairs in the main house. 

The outdoor lounge is where most people spend their time, as it’s here where the free breakfasts take place every morning, and the free themed dinners are held every night. Themes may include movie night, bingo, poker night, and margarita Tuesdays. The area features rustic wooden tables and bar tops, as well as hammocks (the sun during the mid-morning hours can be a bit brutal, but there's shade later in the day). 

If guests have a desire to head out into the surrounding city, Tulum Avenue is around five minutes out the front door of the hostel, just across the plaza in front of the city hall. From there, the ADO bus station is another 10 minutes on foot down at the north end of the avenue, or guests can hop the R1 bus south to the beaches of the Hotel Zone. Taxis are readily available. 

The local fruit and meat market known as Mercado 23 (Market 23) is just behind the ADO bus station, and between that and the stretch of Tulum are plenty of restaurant options. The Parque Las Palapas is just west of Tulum Avenue, another two to three minutes on foot from the city hall, and has live events every weekend as well as street food stands and restaurants. 

Hostel Mezcal features both gender-mixed and single-sex dormitories with bunk beds. There are five dormitories sleeping six or eight, and 10 private rooms for those who want their own bathrooms.

While most of the rooms come with showers only, one of the dormitories features a bathtub, and one of the private rooms does as well.

The rooms are simply furnished with cabinets. Secure storage is on the main floor, behind the kitchen in locked-off storage areas, so guests are advised to only bring toiletries upstairs to the rooms.

Air-conditioning is typically only available overnight in the dorms, but the private rooms have their own controls for those who may want to stay cool in the daytime hours as well. Dorms can get muggy during daytime hours. Private rooms come with double beds and 32-inch flat-screen TVs. 

Free breakfast is a bonus in any destination, but the Hostel Mezcal kicks it up a notch for a budget hostel and also offers free dinner to its guests, along with themed events that take place every evening. Bingo nights are when guests can also win tickets to tours and discounts to clubs and discos in the Hotel Zone, but there are other nights like movie night, Mexican night, and Sunday barbecues. 

The pool typically closes around 10 p.m., but guests can hang out in the surrounding hammocks and eating areas later into the evening. Dinners usually wrap up around 9 p.m., but the events can sometimes go a couple hours later to around 11 p.m., which is when the hostel begins to quiet down. While it’s marketed as a party hostel, the staff generally tries to wrap the evening festivities so that people can be asleep by midnight should they choose. For those who want to party until the wee hours, the Party Rocker staff is available to take guests to clubs in the Hotel Zone. The staff can also book excursions throughout Riviera Maya.

The kitchen features a full-size refrigerator, stove with oven, microwave, and coffeemaker, as well as kitchen utensils shared between guests. There are half a dozen parking spaces out front marked with yellow lines, but guests can find dozens of other spaces available around the park just out front of the building.