I lived here for a week in May 2021. I am posting to warn others about Ivy. I am a long-term renter in Medellin and decided to quickly leave this place. I was sold a bunch of lies about the building. I had pre-booked the apartment and shortly before I arrived they texted me that they needed to do some work on my apartment. Turns out that work involved tearing down the exterior wall of my apartment. They removed the entire exterior facing wall in the living room and put up an awful temporary wall. They tore down the entire exterior wall in the master bedroom and stacked up all the furniture in the corner. They took out the vanity, the shower doors, the toilet and mirror in the master bathroom. I have attached photos for you to better understand. They promised they would put it all back together in a month while I took shelter in the second bedroom, and that was a lie. Men were crawling outside my windows on scaffolding, jack hammering away for hours, the entire apartment shook and there was an incredible amount of noise and vibration that made it impossible to live or work there. When they weren’t jack hammering, they came inside the master bedroom and had lunch and chatted away, it was like sharing an apartment with a bunch of construction workers. They would enter the apartment on a daily basis through the master bedroom or the main door. The apartment and building are completely uninhabitable. As I was leaving, Ivy administration tried to change the terms and conditions of my stay. I let them know the day after I moved-in that I was looking for another place to stay. As soon as I gave notice, they tried to keep 2 weeks of rent (they literally made up us agreeing that I would give them notice) and it was only after I threatened to post online about what is going on at Ivy that they gave me back my money. I warn you to not believe the photos you see online, go see the place in person for yourself without warning them you are coming so that they clean up and stop all construction. Photos online show the apartments in great condition and the co-working in awesome shape — it’s a lie, go see it for yourself. I have attached a photo of the exterior of the building that I took in July 2021 - it’s still under heavy construction and it’s been that way for months. Here are some other lies: that construction would almost certainly be done in June 2021 - don’t believe this (even with the rent discount it’s not worth it and they aren’t even close to completing the project). The building at the time I took a tour was full of construction dust, dirt, bags of cement, scaffolding, workers, little to no security at the building since men need to work and they can’t be bothered to keep the door closed. The entrance to the building, the hallways, the elevator, everything is covered in dust and dirt from full on construction. They have a woman that cleans but it’s impossible to contain the construction mess. The building is covered in black construction enclosures that make it look awful and block the view from your apartment. There is scaffolding blocking the garage - there is no parking here since the garage is used for all their construction and it’s a mess. The internet was always disconnecting. The Smart TVs have a defect that causes the apps to not load so you are always resetting your tv to factory. The washer and dryer are located in the kitchen so the sound and heat flow throughout the entire apartment. The dryer is vented right outside your apartment door, so every time you leave the apartment you step on lint that gets pushed into your apartment’s floor and entrance. The bed and furniture are poor quality. They hung some fabric art on the wall and it’s of poor taste. The building is made with poor materials - you can hear everything, every where. Shockingly, the owner would take audio from two floors below of me with my girlfriend having conversations and doing other things and send it to me - it’s the building, not me. The administration never leaves you alone - constant knocking on the door, messages, etc.…
Ivy hostel was the first hostel I have been to, and it was a great experience! I am an exchange student at the local university in Medellín, and my plan was to stay at Ivy for a week to get everything done that I needed to do to prepare myself for the coming semester. The hostel is super cheap and very nice. They have warm water and comfortable beds. If you are concerned that your Spanish is not good enough to communicate effectively, do not worry, just ask for Sarah or Victoria (and I'm sure others) and they will speak to you in near perfect English. Coming to Medellin, I was also very concerned about things I needed to do such as find an apartment. The staff helped me find a great place to stay and helped translate the WhatsApp messages I did not understand with my now landlord. There were many times I needed advice on Colombian culture or what to do around the city or even just needed my passport copied and printed. Every single time they were so happy to help me and I am so grateful for an amazing experience. Lastly, and probably the best part. Ivy is a great place to make friends and talk to people. I went out to bars and restaurants with people from the hostel (locals and visitors) and it was a blast. Would recommend your next stay at this place.…
The staff offered to switch us to bottom beds as soon as possible but didn't. When we used the bottom beds they charged us an extra night for that. They came into the room in the middle of the night to check which bed we sleep in, even though we locked the door. VERY creepy!
Amazing location. Amazing staff ( Pahola is awesome). Amazing/delicious breakfast. Bathrooms (yes, there are many bathrooms to choose from) and rooms are well kept. One of the best hostels I stayed in Colombia for sure.
Staff are incredibly friendly. The email instructions to find the Hostel were so perfect from Aguacatala. I got a wonderful breakfast from the beautiful Pahola. Great advice on how to visit Guatape and Park Arvi. The only thing it needs is mosquito barriers in the front entrance. You can get bitten badly overnight even if you put on 50%DEET. There was a Californian traveller with zika virus illness there which was contracted from Cartagena and not accessing to healthcare for fear of not being able to communicate to doctors in Spanish and healthcare costs. Barriers like mosquito nets and window and door nets would be more effective and especially become more important in hostels where foreign visitors find accessing healthcare very difficult for language reasons. Otherwise Ivy hostel was a wonderful stay for me.…
I went to Medellín with 3 friends, two of them where coming from United Kingdom. We stayed in this hostal due to a recommendation of a friend and she was absolutely right ! Friendly host that gives you a lot of recommendations on what to do on Medellín. As well they’re super friendly, and they are always up for a fun night out. If you are looking where to stay for a couple of nights in Medellin this is the place, as is not too far from many interesting places in Medellin and the metro for easy transportation. Super recommended to stay in here
We originally planned to stay at Ivy hostel for 3 nights, but ended up staying 2 weeks! The dorm rooms have loads of floor space, and are quite roomy. I loved the fact that they had really soft and comfy blankets, as it can get slightly chilly at night. The beds are comfortable and the rooms are all fairly quite. They also have powerful hot water which is great! Breakfast is also included which is yummy and sets you up for the day! The staff are phenomenal! All of them can speak fluent English, and can give recommendations of where to go, how to get there etc. Mauricio is an absolute star! A super cool guy! Daniela was always up for a chat and made sure we were comfortable! I would highly highly recommend this hostel.
We started with 1 night booked and stayed 5. We loved Ivy hostel, as a couple who prefer chilled-sociable hostels but that aren't party places. The hostel was super clean, good wifi, comfortable beds. The best part is the showers - omg best showers we've had on our whole trip!! Super cosy couches and netflix room. Lots of bathrooms. Breakfast is great and filling, eggs toast and fruit (but big portions) with unlimited coffee, tea and fresh juice. The owners are also super cool and super helpful with recommendations. The reception and cleaning staff are also lovely. Our only complaint would be that laundry is a bit spenny given that its air dried, but mainly cause we had loads to do and it was based on kg rather than per load. 5ish mins walk to the metro which takes you everywhere you need to be in medellin, 5 mins to huge mall, supermarket and atms. Not in poblado (one metro stop away) but to be honest we went there and although nice, all restaurants etc were western based and expensive. Recommended!…
We stayed in the Ivy Hostel fir 3 nights. The hostel is in a quiet and good area near a huge shopping mall where you also find a supermarket. The next metro station (Aguacatala) is only a 5-10 minutes walk away and also at night, given that there are many people all the time and the area is generally good. To the Poblado area you can easily walk in 20-25 minutes, just next to main road. So, you can also walk safely back from Poblado during the night. The hostel itself is nice. The kitchen is well equipped and big enough. Our bed was rather old and was creaking every time we moved, i.e., the other one always wakes up if you move during the sleep, which sucks! The bathroom is usually clean but there is often no soap or paper, so you can‘t really clean your hands! There is a laundry service but it is rather expensive and took two full days to do it (others usually do it the same day!).…
Lovely hostel; clean, secure, absolutely charming staff; generous and healthy breakfast and a beer at the bar in the evenings... what more can you ask? Can only agree with the other 5 star reviews; well worthwhile
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