Alpha Arenal

Warning: the owner Wilson got drunk and touched me inappropriately at the club. Please do not stay here if you are a solo female because it is not safe. I booked 4 nights and had to leave due to safety. Do not stay!!

They stole a receptionist worth of 3 months of salary, they didnt pay her while giving her excuses (i met her there and kept in touch). The hostel was ok but it is definitely not a trustworthy place.

Reeked of mold, dirty beds, one bathroom/shower for the whole place

Friendly Staff, but a lack of communication caused some problems. The breakfast was tasty, but somewhat awkward as the when and how wasn't communicated up front. I Initialed my food as opped to writing my full name and came back to find it was taken or thrown away, luckily it was mostly returned. The room smelled like BO, the bin was overflowing with toilet paper for over a day, the door had a crack in it, and my roommate was not offered a key, so we couldn't lock the room.

Note the staff rating is for actual paid staff NOT the volunteers as the volunteers were great and so kind and way more friendly and helpful than actual staff. Although I gave lower scores, if I had to rate the hostel on the volunteers and other travelers and locals who rent here, I’d give it 100000/10. One older lady cleaning staff is really unfriendly - I had to avoid saying good morning or anything to here as she was never pleased and even annoyed or mad I would greet her.

The staff was really great, but the conditions were not as great as I hoped. One person said they were better than most, but I have had much better experiences. There was only 1 shower and bathroom for 8 - 16 guests, which I thought was not okay. However, the staff was really nice and the tours they offered were great.

C’est très sale!!! Un membre du personnel seulement bien. Encore la, douche, planchers , toilettes sales. Matelas à être changé Ambiance marque pour jeunes

I stayed in a private room that had no toilet paper or hot water, and a massive ant infestation at one point. I also saw the most ants I’ve ever seen in my life in the kitchen which ranged from messy to downright filthy during my stay. Mattress was like sleeping on a rock and the place isn’t soundproofed so you hear every room and everything happening on the street. Location is central and parking is easy which was nice. Planned excursions were cash-only even though actual locations took car...

There is no privacy in the "private" rooms - the toilet and shower was just separsted from the room by a near transparent sliding door, that does not even reach the roof, so expect to get REALLY familiar with your roommate (smells and sounds from the bathroom). kitchen often had flies since it has no window. Locstion was good, host was knowledgeable, rooms generally clean. No AC in the rooms, so they can get a bit hot.

Betten in den Zimmern hatten keine Vorhänge, anders als auf den Bildern gezeigt. Zudem waren Zimmer und Bad sehr klein und die Luft war stickig. Über der Tür zum Bad gab es eine Öffnung die nicht verschlossen werden konnte. Dementsprechend unangenehm für beide Parteien. Küche war ok, aber sehr klein und abends sehr dunkel, selbst mit licht. Positiv ist die Waschmaschine und der Trockner für wenig Geld. Kein Langzeitaufenthalt zu empfehlen!

​Wilson was great and helped us book attractions at the best prices. The hostel was clean and had everything we needed, like a well-equipped kitchen, hammocks, and chairs.Some nights were warm since in the room I stayed have fans instead of AC, but overall, it was an enjoyable stay!

Really nice hostel to stay at! Wilson was really helpful throughout our whole stay, gave us plenty of recommendations and made sure we were enjoying our time there! Would definitely come back :))

Had an excellent stay here and staff is great

Wilson was great & helped us a lot

Brilliant hostel, Wilson is an amazing host - super friendly and knowledgeable about all the activities in La Fortuna and price comparisons. He offered us some really helpful travel options for our next destination as well, would definitely recommend staying here. the dorms are lovely too and great to have hot water after a few weeks without warm showers!

Excelente Wilson como anfitrion, es local y ofrece una maravillosa atencion. Tiene tours interesantes y por buen precio, les recomiendo la estadia aqui, estuvimos dos noches y las habitaciones son muy comodas.Gracias!

Lovely volunteers, great price for private room en-suite. A bit quiet

Beautiful property with plenty of spaces for relaxing!

Great stay would stay here again!

Nice chilled back hostel . Nice and friendly manager and the young people working in the hostel are also very helpful. They organise events on some of the evenings . Good place if you’re looking for a chilled layback kind of vibe. Met some really cool people here too .

Really had a nice time here. Wilson, the manager is super helpful and I loved all of his recommendations. Def book your activities through the hostel, it's much cheaper than what you find online.

Bed 3 in the 6 person mixed dorm is not the same quality as the other beds - for some reason the bed above it is so low down compared to the others so you cant actually sit up in the bed. The fan is attached to the bottom of the bed above it by zip ties is also facing the wall so ends up being pointless and just a prime place for hitting your head. Breakfast is only available at 7.30am, no earlier, no later. Would be good to know that when booking. The hostel looks alot nicer in the pictures. Th...

Dirty, just one bathroom for the dorm of 8 people and If someone was taking a shower and you had to go pee there was no other bathroom to use. At the desk they gave me à WhatsApp nr in order to contact them if I needed to book a tour or something else: wrote 2 times, not an answer in both cases.

We had a lovely stay at Alpha Arenal, everything was perfect and chilled with a great vibe to it. The excursions offered were superb. Thanks to Wilson and the team for making this a super pad whilst we enjoyed the sights and sounds of La Fortuna

Great hostel, Wilson does a fantastic job of running the show. Would have loved some hot showers given how cool La Fortuna gets at night, and our dorm was facing the main street which made reaching the lockers (inside the main building, blocked by two gates) a little inconvenient. But these were minor gripes during an otherwise pleasant stay. Thanks!

Fantastic experience! Stayed for four nights, staff were super helpful the entire time and helped us out with planning our itineraries. Clean kitchen and common space with lots of seating. Very close to La Fortuna city center (~3min walk) but still felt private and calmer. Molly the dog was a lovely surprise as well!

For a sleep, the place is nice. Well located Other reviews were right, cleanliness is not good. I went to the bathroom and had cockroaches. Rathered showering at the hot springs than there To sleep was good, clean beds. Wouldnt return again and book another hostal next time

Overall it was a pretty decent hostel. The rooms can use a bit more of cleaning. Also, they advertised a volcano view from the room, and that’s not true. One of the staff members woke me up early in the morning inquiring about an issue with the pipes and I found that disrespectful. They could have waited three more hours for me to checkout and inspect the room.

De accommodatie is prima om een paar nachten te overnachten, maar wij hadden wel hogere verwachtingen aangezien ze een 9,2 scoorden. Mijn waaier was van het plafond en hing aan de kapstok (wat ik dus wel had geboekt). Daarnaast sliepen wij direct aan de straat waar je alles van hoorde. Ook de servicebalie zat hier direct aan vast en werd je gemiddeld wakker om 06:00/07:00 vanwege het gepraat achter de balie. Tot slot was de kamer mega licht door dus het raam naar de receptie.

Me and my partner booked the private double room (108) and were very pleased. The staff is also super friendly and helpful - which compared to previous hostels really makes this one stand out. There are always people around to chat with, and activities/bar outings being planned amongst the guests. It’s the perfect social setting without being a party hostel. Our room was very clean (we always inspect for bed bugs and I am happy to report we found none) and the shower was amazing!