Esencia Hostal Terminal Oaxaca

I’m absolutely in love with this place. This was my first dorm experience, and the first thing that impressed me was how clean everything is. The staff is very friendly. But the most important thing is that they have a 24-hour reception — my ADO bus arrived in Oaxaca late at night, and they let me in without any problem at around 12:30 a.m. I slept really well :) It can be a bit noisy at night, and there’s no kitchen. But that’s not a big deal — there’s coffee in the shop downstairs, and there are tons of cafés and food spots all around.

Hot water in the shower would be nice, but hey, it’s Mexico. It can be a bit loud and bright at night due to its proximity to the bus station, but that’s nothing my AirPods and a sleep mask couldn’t fix. More power outlets in the rooms would be welcome as well.

Staff was especially helpful, great location, tidy, cute, convenient, quiet No outdoor furniture/ lounge area

A little hard to find on Google maps. Just search for "Central de Autobuses ADO" and it's right next to that. Or use the booking.com app to find it.

The location is great near the ADO terminal. Also cheap during the day of the dead event. You can still make a walk to the city center. The room is a with a couple bunker beds. Room is clean with a window l. Shower is only for one. Wasn't clean and the hot water comes after 5-10mins. Notice there is no laundry and clothes washing is not allowed. It is difficult to find laundry during the event.

The beds were clean and comfortable. The showers and bathrooms were very dirty

Staff were all around helpful and great. EXTREMELY close to bus station. One fan in a room where it couldn't reach all beds. So needing to keep window open and it was bright and loud. No kitchen facilities. There was one maybe two chairs for common area to sit.

Not all the toilets had seats in the girl's restroom.

The staff is amazing (when they are there). This hostel is very very local. You will have mostly Mexican travelers in transit to their next location staying here. A lot of bunks in one room. The bathroom is clean and warm showers. Good for one night. I don’t recommend long stays here. It’s a little loud because literally right next to the ADO and not good for meeting other travelers from outside of Mexico.

The location is good, i also like the simplicity of the place. The staff that worked there was friendly (shout-out to Angel). My bed was relatively comfortable. First of all, it's very difficult to communicate with the staff/owners because the receptionists are available for a very short time window - therefore good luck trying to check in after 6pm. The owner is also very difficult to contact via phone call or booking.com messages. The hostel could also be cleaner sometimes, and hot water could be more consistent.

no staff on-site. the womens dorm (which we booked) had a man sleeping in it. the two other dorms were filthy dirty with unmade beds and full garbages. the front street way gate couldn’t be locked because there were no staff. a fellow traveller booked the private room and waited all day for staff to unlock the door. no one showed up. the lack of key to close the main gate meant that anybody could walk into the hostel off the street. i was there with my elderly mother, and neither one of us felt safe. furthermore, when I booked the room, I prepaid for 3 nights for two people. after realizing the sketchy situation, we decided to leave and find a safer, clean, hostel. all in all, we spent 1 hour at this hostel, I wrote and called the owners to no avail, and then asked for my money back. not only did the not pay back a dime, they never even responded. terrible service, dirty rooms - and thieves. They kept the entire payment of 1400 Mexican pésos for less than 1 hour tenurship of their facilities.

Location was the only upside. Beds were comfortable. Careless staff. Never actually around to help. The woman working in the morning shift shows up for random moments during the day and disappears the rest of the day. Never there when you need her. The bathroom was not clean (the sinks had hair all over ) until the touristic season started of day of the dead, then it was suddenly cleaned up. The woman told me I could extend my stay and that they had availability, but I needed to confirm quickly. I ended up canceling another reservation only for them to tell me they are fully booked. This was during day of the dead and nothing else was available in town and the availabilities were priced so high. She told me worst case scenario I can sleep on the floor, and that she will see with her boss and to meet her next day midday in the hostel. She never showed up midday. I called her and she said they cannot do anything. I got angry while trying to explain to her with my broken Spanish that I need them to help me because it's their fault. I saw her later at the hostel for a moment, and I felt bad for getting so angry I translated an apology for my temper and went to show her in the reception but she was nowhere to be found.. A kind Mexican woman hosted me for these 3 days and I ended up leaving the hostel.