I want you to meet Oskar. I’m not too fussed whether you’re backpacking and need a hostel, married with 3 kids and unable to leave home, or my Mum.

I just want you to meet Oskar.

Oskar is cool beans. A Bogota local, he spent a couple of years in London and Bogota in finance, then decided ‘nope, this isn’t me, I like people, I want a hostel’.

So he got a hostel.

He found an old house in Teusaquillo, Bogota, which he converted into a hostel that reflects him as a person – welcoming, cool and fun. You know when you get asked ‘why did you like it?’ and all you can say is ‘dunno I just did’? There’s a lot of that about Hopi. It’s the vibe. It’s Mabo.

I can, however, pinpoint some stuff that Oskar has nailed. It’s not going to give you any sort of idea why Hopi is one of our favourite hostels in the world, but hopefully it convinces you to get your arse there.

The Staff

Between Oskar, Felipe, Lorena and Laura, Hopi has dead-set got the most awesome team that a hostel could have. They’re all super nice and super cool people.

It is exactly like a sharehouse, except your housemates make your bed and don’t leave their freakin dishes on the sink. You just hang around with them, get pointers on the guitar or rock wall (yes a friggin’ rock wall – JUST YOU WAIT), and wring them out for their local knowledge sponge style. There’s no awkwardness, you’re just at home with friends and it’s great.

It’s unreal how much the staff affect what you take from a hostel. If I stayed in a cardboard box with the Hopi crew, I honestly feel like I’d have a mighty fine time.

The Communal Room

I’m not one for holding hands while humming out my Chakra in a spirit circle. It’s just not my jam. When I peeked into the communal room at Hopi I thought to myself ‘what sort of hippy shit is this?’ A bare floor with nothing but throw cushions and Japanese low-rise dinner tables, walls with trippy murals and a heavy musk of incense in the air.

But it more than came into its own. The guitar (a surprising rarity in South American hostels) was out in full force, and long afternoons and nights were spent kicking back and relaxing listening to jams on the floor. Oskar said that his aim was to create a space where people were happy to just be. He did it and then some.

The Friday night we were there Oskar and Felipe had organised a live band to play in the room, and packed out the hostel with punters who paid $4 to get in for the evening. It was magic.

Apparently the Friday night gigs are semi-regular, so check with Oskar when you book your stay to see what he’s got lined up!

There’s a Fucking Rock Wall

That’s pretty much all I’ve got to say about it. Oskar had a custom made climbing wall installed in his fucking hostel. If you don’t think that’s the greatest idea ever you can politely say so to the back of my hand.

And Etcetera

Honest to God, there’s just something about the joint, and I just can’t capture it on paper. Whether it’s the people, the surroundings, or the planets aligning just right, it just felt right.

Obvious things like cleanliness, location and facilities were all incredibly on-point, but it was so much more than that.

IN SUMMATION: Oskar and Hopi are the shit. The four nights that we spent there were just the refreshing shower we needed after 6 weeks of pretty full-on travel.

Do yourself one massive favour. Go to Bogota. Stay at Hopi. Thank me later.

You can hit Oskar up via his website or Facebook page.