Casa Mazeta Review

Casa Mazeta, in Juayua, El Salvador is a chillaxed hostel with 3 private rooms ($25 USD/night) and 6 dorm beds ($9USD pp). Each room sports its own unique, fun flair. There is a beautifully kept garden (great work, Carlos!) with plenty of seating, hammocks and even a turtle! There is also a large communal kitchen and indoor sitting area with instruments and lots of movies for a relaxing evening in. Cooking classes are offered ($1pp + food costs) and, of course, the (practically) Famous 7 Waterfalls Tour ($12-$20pp, depending on the number of people). Owner Suzanna is charming, friendly and a wealth of local knowledge. The sheer amount of information in English is one of the main thing that sets this wonderful hostel apart. Its rare that you get to experience a small town in such detail without speaking the language, but the helpful hints and binder of information makes this possible at Casa Mazeta.

We stayed in a room called La Pina. There was a giant pineapple painted on the wall, so there was no confusion as to which room was ours. The room came with a private courtyard and 2 hammock swings as well as a small wood slab table. The shower and toilet were in the courtyard and set up in a kitshy style that matced the rest of the hostel. The bathroom privacy wall was made of empty wine and rum bottles (you can see J sitting in the toilet area in the pictures below). The open air shower next to the toilet had a few fun details throughout.

Casa Mazeta has 2 super friendly dogs, Chiquta and Billy. Both, along with probably a couple other dogs like to accompnay you on the Waterfalls hike. Its probably because they know that there's a picnic lunch at the end and they hope you'll drop something! Either way, they're fun and always greet you with happily wagging tails when you return to the hostel. Lucky, the adorable, palm-sized kitten is the newest addition to Casa Mazeta. Who doesn't love a cuddly kitten? Here they all are in the photo to the left, saying goodbye!

Casa Mazeta has a homey feel. You can curl up on a pile of pillows and watch a movie, hang in a hammock, or sit at a wrought iron table in the middle of the garden. When we came back from a day out, it really did feel like we were coming home, even if it was a temporary home. The happy dogs, the welcoming space...Maybe a part of it was also the decoration. The number of details add up to one very atmospheric space. Caza Mazeta has souvenirs and knickknacks scattered about that you can imagine picking up while you were travelling.The space is colourful and bright with impressive wall murals. Beer, coffee and filtered water are all on the honour system, so you can go to the fridge and grab a beer- just like at home! Unfortunately, it was only actually our home for 4 nights, but with so many reasons to go back, I'm sure we'll make Casa Mazeta our temporary home again sometime soon! We would definityl recommend making Casa Mazeta your home too when you're in Juayua.