The one day my $40 hostel turned into a full-on resort

I booked a hostel in Medellin for $8 a night back in March and showed up to find out they accidentally overbooked. The owner felt bad and put me up in this fancy hotel three blocks away for the same price. My room had a jacuzzi tub and a minibar with free snacks somehow. I spent the whole week sneaking back to use the hostel's free walking tours and rooftop hammocks. It was the weirdest win ever and I honestly felt like I was getting away with something. Has anyone else ever gotten an accidental upgrade like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

brooke_jones4d ago

Eight bucks a night with a jacuzzi tub and free minibar snacks? Thats not a win, thats a full-on heist with a side of luxury. I would have been paranoid the whole time waiting for someone to realize the mistake and kick me out. You basically lived like a king on a vending machine budget.

danielm803d ago

That $8 a night thing probably had some corporate booking glitch where the computer thought it was a broom closet or something. I bet the hotel had a policy that if they already took payment, they couldn't just cancel the reservation without a manager override. Most front desk people don't care enough to escalate a rate that low unless the computer flags it. Honestly, the scammer here is the hotel for charging $400 a night for a room that barely has soundproof walls and a shower head with the pressure of a gentle rain. So in a weird way, the universe balanced things out.

young.ryan3d ago

Yeah the "the scammer here is the hotel" part is spot on lol. I had a similar thing happen once where the hotel website let me book a suite for like $30 because of some promo glitch, and they just shrugged and honored it when I showed up. Honestly felt like the universe was paying me back for all those times I paid $200 for a room with a broken AC.