Lola is a very nice lady who greeted me and took the time to show me around and how all the locks worked. Her home is almost more like an inn or riad, with several units she rents to travelers. While there were no glaring issues with my stay, I do still want to provide an honest review. The room is spacious, and for the price it was an extremely good value. The bed is small but fine for one person. The floors were quite dusty, and the room did not really look like the pictures. It didn’t feel as cozy or inviting as it looked in the listing, which felt a bit disappointing when you’ve been traveling and really want somewhere cozy to crash. I did have a bathroom to myself that was not attached and a bit down the hall, but there was a door that could be shut in the hallway so that getting from the shower to the room was possible without anyone seeing, so I did appreciate that. There were usually people talking in the courtyard in the morning, so I found it difficult to sleep in unless I had earplugs.
My biggest issue was that the Wi-Fi hardly worked, often not coming up at all, or being generally weak or shutting off completely. I’ve been traveling all around Europe for over a month and this was the only place I was not able to rely on Wi-Fi to use my phone. What was most frustrating was when I mentioned to Lola that the Wi-Fi wasn’t working, she was kind of dismissive and said that no one else has ever had a problem, but there are a ton of reviews on here where people are stating the same issues, so it’s clear that she knows about the issue and just chooses to shrug it off. Frustrating considering many travelers rely on Wi-Fi to get around. It would definitely not be ideal for those who need to work, as cafes in the area rarely had Wi-Fi either. I eventually had to turn on my phone and just deal with the daily charge.
I really liked the area. The city is very walkable and there are tons of places to eat and drink nearby, and the rest of the city is a short walk. I was traveling alone and walking home after 1am from Santa Cruz felt extremely safe. This is a fine place for a budget traveler looking for something very basic, just be aware of the Wi-Fi issues. Overall, I did enjoy my stay and did feel like I had lots of privacy.