Casa Malala
Save
Share
Avenida Santa Fe 2043, Buenos Aires C1123AAC Argentina
Travelocity
Orbitz.com
ZenHotels.com
View all 8 deals
Prices are provided by our partners for one room, with variable occupancy rules as provided by the property, and reflect nightly room rates, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
Payments made by partners impact the order of prices displayed. Room types may vary.
Full view
View all photos (22)22
Room & Suite (4)
Dining (3)
About
#75 of 627 Speciality lodging in Buenos Aires
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Malala Hostel is located in Buenos Aires, 900 metres from Recoleta Cemetery. There is a shared kitchen at the property. You can play darts at the hostel. Corrientes Avenue is 1 km from Malala Hostel, while Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is 1.3 km away. Aeroparque Jorge Newbery Airport is 5 km from the property.
Read more
Full view
Property amenities
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Free breakfast
Casino and Gambling
Game room
Pets Allowed ( Dog / Pet Friendly )
Business Centre with Internet Access
Concierge
Currency exchange
Wifi
Bar / lounge
Darts
Shared kitchen
Laundry service
Show more
Room features
Air conditioning
Microwave
Refrigerator
Good to know
HOTEL STYLE
Budget
Charming
Languages Spoken
Spanish
Location
Full view
100Great for walkers
Grade: 100 out of 100
125Restaurantswithin 0.5 km
23Attractionswithin 0.5 km
Contact
Avenida Santa Fe 2043, Buenos Aires C1123AAC Argentina
Name/address in local language
Getting there
Facultad de MedicinaBuenos Aires Underground6 min
Pasteur - AMIABuenos Aires Underground13 min
30Reviews0Q+A0Room tips
Reviews
Traveller rating
- 15
- 8
- 5
- 1
- 1
Time of year
Traveller type
Language
More
Selected filters
- Filter
- English
Popular mentions
POSITIVE ASPECTS: -The location of the hostel, in the leafy district of Recoleta, is ideal, close to a Carrefour supermarket and within walking distance of many of the city’s top attractions. -The property itself, a colonial period mansion, is absolutely gorgeous. -There’s a self-contained lounge area with a TV including sports channels (so you can watch live European football), Netflix and YouTube. -The showers were always hot with a strong water pressure. -The roof terrace is a nice area to relax and socialise. -The breakfast, including white bread, brown bread, a croissant, cereal, an apple, two oranges, juice and coffee, is a pretty good offering. -Some of the decorations in the hostel like the wall of hats from around the world, and the mural paintings on the roof terrace, were really eclectic and added character. -There was air conditioning in my room which was welcome during the 30 degrees plus nights during the summer. NEGATIVE ASPECTS: -The behaviour of certain staff members was combative, insolent and totally unprofessional, which to a degree soured my stay. I was made to feel that, as a guest, I was an intruder. Also, many of the staff were Brazilian and just spoke Portuguese so I was unable to communicate effectively with them in either the universal hostel language of English or the country language of Spanish. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Pay closer attention to the people you’re hiring; they should ideally be multilingual in Spanish and English, and should demonstrate a reasonable level of skill in customer service. -Upon checking in I was forced to pay in cash even though I requested to pay via debit card. According to Argentinian law, accommodation providers must accept debit card (although not credit card) payment, and they must accept this payment without making an extra charge. Therefore, they broke the law by not accepting a debit card payment. Just before I left the hostel, they started to accept debit card payments, but at an extra charge, again breaking the law. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Comply with Argentinian law regarding payment as you are not above the law. -There were numerous bed bug outbreaks whilst I was staying and rooms had to be disinfected. Despite this obvious problem in the hostel, staff blamed guests for supposedly bringing the bed bugs to the hostel, and would not allocate guests new beds even when guests presented staff with clear evidence of bed bug bites. During my stay a staff member actually quit her position and left the hostel as she couldn’t cope with being consistently bitten by bed bugs at night. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Put the welfare of your guests first by giving them new beds if it is found that there are bed bugs in their bed, and conduct a thorough disinfection of every room at regular intervals. -When I returned back to the hostel one evening I found, to my total disbelief, someone else sleeping in my bed. I subsequently learned a staff member had mistakenly allocated the person my bed, even though it was still clearly in use (with a number of my belongings on top) and despite the fact another guest in the room had told the staff member that the bed was not available. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Be better organised in regards to knowing which beds are occupied and which beds aren’t occupied to avoid allocating beds when they’re still in use. -I had all of my belongings moved out of my locker and placed onto my bed by staff without being informed why on two occasions, before enquiring about this and being told it was because I was using the ‘wrong’ locker. I was never allocated a specific locker and just used the one next to my bed. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Never touch guests’ belongings without their permission and match corresponding lockers and beds with letters or numbers to avoid confusion. -The Wi-Fi was often a bit patchy. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Invest in a better Wi-Fi service. -The lockers weren’t big enough to fit a standard 50/60 litre backpack inside them and the metal rings to put the lock through were so bent on my locker that it was impossible to fit the lock through them, rendering my locker unusable. Needless to say, this meant I was unable to secure any of my belongings for the duration of my stay. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Invest in new lockers with ample storage space which are easy to operate with a lock. -The beds were not made prior to arrival and the bedsheets given were very thin and poorly fitting. In addition, the mattresses were very uncomfortable and poor quality. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Replace all the mattresses and get new bedsheets that actually fit properly around the mattresses. -The dorms were crowded and the bunk beds felt very tightly packed together. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Reduce the number of bunk beds in each room to allow guests more space. -Some of the decoration in the hostel was very out of touch with the colonial architecture, for example a cheap display cabinet littered with plastic Pokemon figures or broken beanbags. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Consider removing decoration that isn’t in-keeping with the colonial vibe of the property or adding character. -Upon check in I wasn’t given any information on things to do or events going on in the city, which may be an indication of a lack of local knowledge. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Encourage staff members to enquire about the interests of guests and advise them appropriately on activities. -The music in the area adjacent to the kitchen, depending on which staff member was in charge of the music, was often deafeningly loud, and meant I had to up sticks to another area of the hostel just to escape the noise if I wanted to read a book or make a Skype call for example. I actually noticed incoming phone calls to the hostel going unanswered (and potential business lost) as staff didn’t hear the ringtone over the blare of the music. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Have a sensible limit on the volume of the music so as to not make guests uncomfortable or indeed miss your own incoming calls. -The music playing in the hostel was, for the majority of the time, Brazilian music, which got very boring very quickly to me personally. Guests are not allowed to touch the stereo so you are at the mercy of the personal tastes of the staff. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Create different playlists with different genres of music to keep the musical ambiance of the hostel fresh. -There were no locks on the toilet doors. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Like anywhere else in the world, put locks on the toilet doors. -I had to wait on occasions about 5-10 minutes to be let into the property after ringing the doorbell which was annoying. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Give guests a key to the property or install an entry system where guests can enter after inputting a code. -Taking into account the number of guests, there was not enough shelving space or fridge space in the kitchen to leave food / drink items. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Add additional shelving space in the kitchen (which I think was being done just as I was leaving) and invest in a third fridge. -There was often an accumulation of flies near the sink area which would seize upon any food or drink left attended for even a few seconds. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Conduct a deep clean of the kitchen and eliminate the fly problem. -There weren’t any actual glasses to drink out of but only old jam jars or old pasta sauce bottle that had their labels removed. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Buy a range of actual glasses including pint glasses and wine glasses. -The Tupperware was haphazardly arranged with no containers matched up to the corresponding lids, which was very frustrating when trying to store leftovers. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Ensure the Tupperware containers and lids are kept together. -Allowing the hostel dogs into the kitchen wasn’t conducive to maintaining its cleanliness. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Enforce a rule banning the dogs from the kitchen. -There was a splinter risk in the wooden tables adjacent to the kitchen area as there were large chasms running through them. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Inspect all the tables adjacent to the kitchen and sand them down or inject them with filler where appropriate. -There was no parrilla in order to cook a traditional Argentine asado. Suggestion for Casa Malala management - Invest in a parrilla that could be installed on the roof terrace.…
Read more
Date of stay: November 2019
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Helpful
Probably the most welcoming and fun hostel I've been to. Great location, good facilities, clean, tidy. The staff are excellent, really make you feel part of one big family and they know how to party. If I'm back in Buenos Aires I wouldn't go anywhere else.
Read more
Date of stay: April 2019Trip type: Travelled with friends
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from CasaMalala, Director de Relaciones con Clientes at Casa Malala
Responded 13 Jun 2019
Hi Wilfred! Thanks for your review. We are happy to hear that you liked our staff and received a good treatment. Our mission is to offer great service and a comfortable stay for our guests, meeting any needs that may arise during their stay. We hope we can see you soon again! Esperamos que tengas una muy linda VIDA!
Read more
Re-buena onda this hostel. I’ve been “hostel-crawling” through BA and from the 4th I’ve stayed at this is definitely the best one! Great localtion, travels vibes and amazing breakfast with many options all included in the price - and above one night there is not expensive at all. Paz (the Argentinian guy working at the reception) was great and run from a place to another to accommodate everyone’s needs.
Read more
Date of stay: January 2019Trip type: Travelled solo
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from CasaMalala, Director de Relaciones con Clientes at Casa Malala
Responded 13 Jun 2019
Hello Barbara! Thank you so much for your lovely review. We are happy to hear that you found an excellent choice for your stay in Buenos Aires. Our mission is to offer great service and a comfortable stay for our guests, meeting any needs that may arise during their stay. We hope we can see you soon again! Que tengas una linda vida!
Read more
+1
The reception was good and the people too. Little noisy for me but good enough. Nice location. Cheap. The problem that I had was that I got bitten by some bugs I guess in the matress. And they didn’t have any spray that I could use to kill it. They gave me some sheets and offered me to change room. But it didn’t help me out because I still got bitten.
Read more
Date of stay: September 2018Trip type: Travelled on business
Helpful
Response from FedericoS2271, Director de Recepción at Casa Malala
Responded 8 Nov 2018
We apologize for what happened. If we have had any problem with an insect, we have asked you to change your room to do the necessary spraying, so no one insect would come back. Maybe we have forgotten to offer you some medication if it was what you needed but at all times we try to solve the problem. Thanks for your review! Regards!
Read more
I have stayed only 1 night then ran away. Usually I try to understand and try to give better marks bland this is also a better one. Max 3! So, after a long journey I have arrived to hostel but there is no single sign, name, board or anything to understand where is the hostel. No name at the door or even the door doesn't even look like this is place to host people. No indication at all. Anyway I have checked my reservation again and the street number was correct finally rang the bell but no answer. Maybe 4-5 mins kept trying and finally somebody was leaving the hostel and I could get in. Went up stairs and looking around to find the reception or what ever its call just to register/check in but there were two ladies playing with dogs as if I was not there. Probably they were bot working there couldn't understand. Finally someone came and check in done. Went to room. The lockers are smaller than usual but nothing to complain about the size you can fit your day bag and some extra stuff. The problem is how to lock it. OmG!! Usually in hostels u use small size of pad lock. I have one small and one medium size just incase sometimes small one doesn't fit sometimes the medium one is too big but for this one you need a really big one because the distance between the two holes where you put your lock is huge. Forget about hostels never seen such worse design before. The door of the room. (Btw I stayed in 10 bed mix dorm) the door is huge. Its maybe 4m high and almost 2m wide. It looks beautiful I need to admit and this is an old building but the thing is its hard to open and close the door. It makes annoyingly high noise. I am not a light sleeper and I can even sleep if someone is snoring in the room but whenever is coming in to the room I woke up due to the noise of the door. There are so many information on the walls. Pages of them. In the kitchen, in the bathroom etc.. however all in Spanish. Which I respect if they chose to be like that and they welcome only Spanish speakers its OK but there is only one English information on the wall in the kitchen which says "do not feed the dogs" seriously? I mean even from that you can understand their dogs are more important their guests. I like animals and I respect their love to their animals but this is business I am not there to entertain you and/or your dogs. You are there to help me amd entertain me. That's why I am paying you guys. One other info which I find it late but you maybe not so I am neutral about it just writing here for your info. You can use the kitchen and cook until 1AM. For me its too late because the kitchen is located in the middle and the noise can reach all around. I habe mentioned about the noise twice and I know this is a hostel and I don't have high expectations but this is also not the first hostel I have stayed within last 4 months probably I have stayed in 10 different hostels in 2 different countries but this is the only one I wouldn't recommend. Good parts, the kitchen is big, breakfast was good, the bathrooms are clean and have nice hot water with good water pressure. The location was good for me too.…
Read more
Date of stay: July 2018Trip type: Travelled with friends
Helpful
Response from FedericoS2271, Director de Recepción at Casa Malala
Responded 8 Nov 2018
We regret you informality has bother you..... the antiquity of the house and the pets too! Thanks for your review!
Read more
PRICE RANGE
US$10 - US$12 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
ArgentinaCapital Federal DistrictBuenos AiresRecoleta
NUMBER OF ROOMS
8
Is This Your Tripadvisor Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim Your Listing Frequently Asked Questions about Casa Malala
Which popular attractions are close to Casa Malala?
Nearby attractions include El Ateneo Grand Splendid (0.2 km), Galeria Bond Street (0.5 km), and Notorious (0.4 km).
What are some of the property amenities at Casa Malala?
Some of the more popular amenities offered include free wifi, free breakfast, and a lounge.
What food & drink options are available at Casa Malala?
Guests can enjoy free breakfast and a lounge during their stay.
What are some restaurants close to Casa Malala?
Conveniently located restaurants include Rapa Nui - Barrio Norte, Pertutti, and El Burladero.
Is Casa Malala located near the city centre?
Yes, it is 0.8 km away from the centre of Buenos Aires.
Are pets allowed at Casa Malala?
Yes, pets are typically allowed, but it's always best to call ahead to confirm.
Are there any historical sites close to Casa Malala?
Many travellers enjoy visiting Recoleta (0.7 km), Museo Nacional De Arte Decorativo (1.5 km), and Basilica de Nuestra Senora Del Pilar (1.1 km).