Reviews of some hostels in Bogota

bogotabrian says on Apr 1, 2009, 11:25:

Too many people have too much time on their hands to respond negatively to every post they can on PBH. These people need to get a life. My opinion.

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bogotabrian says on Apr 1, 2009, 13:19:

Tone Loc, seriously man, I dont mean to pick on you but all the negativity is what is seriously wrong with this board. Maybe its not what you say but how you say it. Not all travelers only go to hostels, drink beer, and eat pizza all day. I mean some do but the large majority just like to go to a place where they can speak English and meet with other ex-pats or travelers to share experiences after a large dose of Colombian culture all day. Suggesting that a backpacker should stay in a Colombian establishment just because they are in Colombia is idiotic.

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Inbalt says on Apr 1, 2009, 15:01:

I happen to be the owner, one of them anyway, of musicology hostel mentioned by Brian above but I'm here with the backpacker hat and not the hostel owner hat (and i have 2 of these hats :-)).
I have traveled to over 73 courtiers and in all continents and in ALL of them stayed in hostels. Hostels don't necessarily mean, and in most cases don't, that there is only 1 nationality of travelers there as Ton Loc suggests (actually it shows he hasn't stayed in many hostels). Hostels are a great place to meet travelers from other countries, find travel partner, one night party partner and just get exposed to all kind of travelers from different places in the world. Staying in a hostel doesn't mean you are missing on the country/culture you are in. (and certainly don't mean you eat hamburgers all day long). Also don't forget that in most cases travelers don't speak the language of the country they are in so staying in a hostel where the staff speaks english and can point out for you the best local places actually increases your cultural experience of that country.

and you know, even if it is all you say, 20 gringos ( don't like this term. Has negative connotation to it although it has nothing negative in it of course) eating hamburgers all day so what. Some people have different ideas of how to travel, of what makes them happy etc. You don't have to agree but have to respect other opinions. This is actually what traveling is about. Seeing things different than what we know. Different ways of thinking, behaving etc. Broadness of the mind my friend.

and last comment that has nothing to do with the topic and hope the owners of the site don't take offence but i have a problem with the name of this site. It is one of the myths we all grow up on, no matter where we are from, that rich and sad poor but happy. Why not grow up on rich and happy? Just for the record I consider myself one of the richest people hanging around this planet, but I have no money (in case you were going to look for my name on the Forbes list).

Happy travels all (I'm off tonight to Brazil....Yahhhhh)

Inbal

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BillBigD says on Apr 1, 2009, 15:17:

Brian- Did you find any things that you liked so much that you will be adding to your place?
Inbalt- Goodluck with your place.

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Atrevido (☼Travelguide writer) says on Apr 1, 2009, 16:53:

bogotabrian says on Apr 2, 2009, 07:42:

Inbalt - you make a good point. Sometimes without a good grasp of the language you can actually miss out on some sites. Good point.

BillBigD - Good question. I don't know if I took away anything from the actual hostel features but I did get a lot of good information from the owners like Andy and Inbalt. A good piece of advice from Andy was to get rid of the guests who cause trouble right away. This improves the experience of everyone staying at the hostel. I was always giving the really rude guests or ones who break the rules too many chances. In a year´s time Andy has told over 20 people or so to leave who broke the rules. I have only asked 2 people now to go. Inbalt is going to create a real social type hostel with a lot of activities and games. I had already started doing that with beer pong and it's been a major success. I am having a blast with it!! We are adding Trivia nights on Tuesday now too.

Atrevido - thanks! Will do.

Tone loc - no biggie. Biggest problem I had was with the "tone" of your post. Just sick of all the negativity on this board. Most people I talk to who read this board feel the same way I do.

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webmanco says on Apr 2, 2009, 09:19:

A hostal is not in my budget.

No hay extremo cierto o verdadero, porque los extremos opacan, enruedan, (lavan cerebros) verdades. Yotas

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miamimike says on Apr 3, 2009, 22:25:

Tone Loc says on Apr 1, 2009, 11:50: flag

I don't respond negatively I just don't understand how somebody can travel to a country far away from his own country to stay in the same hotel as the people from his own country.... Stay in Colombian hotels with Colombian people, but that's my own opinion.... I think somebody who comes to Colombia wants to see how the Colombian people live, learn about the culture, eat Colombian food and not hamburgers.
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Got to agree with you on this Tone Loc. Likewise I never could understand either the purpose of traveling 1000s of miles only to gather with people in the same langauge as the place a Traveler just left. Guess that's the difference between a Traveler and a Visitor. Another reason I never frequent tourist hangouts like Zona Rosa is that places that cater to Americans like Zona Rosa jack up the prices thinking all Americans have unlimited funds so they jack up the prices double/triple. No way Jose!

Bésame, bésame mucho Como si fuera esta noche La última vez Bésame, bésame mucho Que tengo miedo a perderte Perderte después Bésame, bésame mucho Como si fuera esta noche La última vez Bésame, bésame mucho Que tengo miedo a perderte Perderte de

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