Selina Antigua

It’s really nothing special for a Selina you can get much better rooms for cheaper in Antigua unfortunately.

As a solo traveller, I booked a private room for a bit more privacy and tranquility. How was I wrong... The private room I got was on the ground floor, close to reception and basically in the entryway, so imagine the noise of every single person leaving/entering the hostel, including at ungodly hours. The room was dark, extremely humid, tiny (no space to open a big backpack or suitcase) and nothing like the photos (they only show Instagramable photos on their website and Booking, obviously). And cherry on top, the bathroom window was impossible to close and was overlooking the same busy entryway, so ZERO privacy whatsoever. They also claim to have this sense of community in the common spaces, like a real hostel, but I didn't find it and I am not sure which crowd this Selina attracts. Horrible experience...

We didn’t know what to expect but we’re very pleased with our room + private bathroom. The bed was a king and comfy and the bathroom had amenities (shower gel, etc). There were towels and robes! It was pleasantly quiet for sleeping and we thought the courtyard and pool were fun and pretty. The pool was cold (!) which put my kids off using it. The person at the front desk was friendly and happily arranged an airport transfer for us.

Overpriced which is on me for not doing my research, but what I can’t forgive is being overcharged by this Selina location. During my recent stay in Antigua, I was expecting to be charged for ~$258 for two nights but was charged ~$334. I had moved my reservation at one point from 5/29-5/31 to 5/30-6/1 via a chat in the Selina app. At no point was it raised that my price would increase. If so, I would have canceled. I didn’t realize immediately because upon arrival I was given the price in local currency rather than USD. Given the strict rules regarding modifications/cancellations, I was also not able to cancel the second night (once I realized the pricing error). The front desk informed me that it was the “right rate” per their reservations department and directed me to them for further concerns. However, the reservations and customer care team have been completely unhelpful. Besides the pricing issue, I would probably have given Antigua Selina a 3 and Atitlan Selina a 4 but I would never stay at or recommend Selina ever again. Companies cannot simply decide to charge you a random rate without your consent. Hopefully this is not a usual practice of theirs but given their inability to correct the error and honor the quoted rate, I wouldn’t be surprised. Hilariously, I received a response to my review on Google asking where I booked through. I booked directly through Selina. They did not follow up further so I guess this response was just for show?

It didn’t even include breakfast!! We thought we had paid too much and that was confirmed when we spoke with another guest who said they paid $40. A nite. Apparently it costs $160 more if you don’t want to share a bathroom. The sign when you walk in said you got 30% off when you booked at reception but we were only given a 25% discount. The explanation was confusing.