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El Balcon
Pasaje 20 de Febrero
Cafayate, Argentina
(03868) 421-739
Here are a few pics. I was planning to take one of the outside but decided to ride with some people leaving early one morning and forgot to take it before I left.
Prices - 12 pesos per person. Including breakfast and Internet
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Notes - This is truly a family run business! Emma who was 26 I think, works the reception desk and is very helpful. Then there is Marco, Sergio and David, her brothers who are in their twenties, and who all do various things at the hostel. David gives the local tours to the wineries and the cheese factory (which I am pretty sure are free) and Sergio gives the tours to Cachi. Then there is the brother Pedro who runs the tour agency on the main plaza (see pic)
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Update - After I wrote the above notes I went back to Cafayate to visit a hostel that is for sale there. I heard some very bad things about the family that runs El Balcon and I got somewhat in the middle of a rivalry between some of the hostels. It is hard to know who to believe because everyone was accusing else, but I have had several people tell me that the family is very aggressive and has even threatened other hostel owners who are not from the Cafayate area. I also heard of actual fist fights between some of the El Balcon family brothers and some of the other hostel employees. This is very sad to learn about. It seems the family at El Balcon, or at least some of the family members, are very resentful that there are others coming into Cafayate and taking market share away from them. I am actually seriously afraid there will be more physical violence there because of the money which is entering Cafayate now. One hostel worker told me she was threatened by an El Balcon family member. She said she was told "Be careful because my brother is going to kill you." If this is true, it is very, very sad and I hope that everyone in Cafayate will learn to live with each other and let the travellers decide for themselves which hostel to stay in.
One thing I heard about and witnessed was the competition at the bus terminals when passengers arrive in town. Three hostels sent representatives to the terminal to try to get customers. It was then that one of the hostel workers said she was threatened. I don't know what was said to her exactly but I do know she left crying and then went to file a police report of the threat. I also know that the El Balcon family has also filed police reports against some of the other hostel employees. It is overall a very ugly situation in what is otherwise a very pretty place.
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The hot and cold water fountain is a nice extra. The water comes out almost boiling hot or very cold as you like.
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A story about some Israelis at the hostel
A story about some Israelis at the hostel
The night I got there some Israelis were taken advantage of the hostel a bit by staying there all day after they had checked out that morning since they had a bus at 2 AM for Tucuman. They were using the kitchen, cooking a big meal and had been using the Internet. At first, Emma's mother wanted to charge them a half days extra for staying so long and using everything, but then they were complaing and they had invited me to dinner too so I stuck my nose in things and told Emma that it seemed high to charge them a half day's price for just using the kitchen at night. But Emma didn't tell me that they had also been using the Internet and they had already gotten a group discount from 12 pesos to 10 pesos.
Well, I ate dinner with them, then they told me after I had eaten that it cost 5 pesos each for the wine and soda and mashed potatoes and meat dressing. First, they didn't tell me this before hand. Second, I didn't hae any of their wine. Third, I helped them get the extra charge lowered from 20 pesos to 10, and fourth I don't think there is anyway that it actually cost that much per person for those things. (I bought my own meat and they cooked it.) So overall I feel taken advantage of and I decided to write up this story because I have had so many bad experiences with Israelis and also because I would like any Israelis who read this to realize they are giving their country a bad, and I might say, even worse, reputation. I have also heard from other hostel owners that the Israelis, when they travel in groups are the worst guests to have.
On a political note, I want to also add that I feel very sad when I hear what they Israelis are being taught about the killing done by their government and army and supported by the USA. They are taught to be very patriotic and taught that the Arabs are to blame and the Arabs must change if there is to be peace. and that as one of the Israelis told me violence and retaliation against the Arabs "is the only way." But I disagree. The Israelis are also taught to stick together, but I would suggest they would give their children a better life if they would stop believing this, and stop teaching their children that the land in that part of the world is somehow more "sacred" than dirt and rocks in other parts of the world.
The Israelis that night were also bragging about how they always get discounts when they go somewhere. But to me, getting discounts from an already low priced family hostel, then using the services all day, and attempting to basically steal the natural gas they were using to cook with that night, especially in a poor part of the world, is nothing to be proud of.
By the way, Emma told me later they almost never charge anyone for staying past the check out time. It was only because they felt the Israelis were being abusive, and I have to agree with her mother.
