Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review [2024]

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Are you planning a trip and want to know if you should stay at Selina Oaxaca?

Choosing a hostel in Oaxaca can be very difficult because there are so many choices available.

While there are some great options out there, it’s important to choose the best hostel to ensure that your trip is everything that you want it to be.

The last thing that you want to do is choose poorly and return home disappointed and frustrated.

To make sure that doesn’t happen, I’ve set out a comprehensive guide to the fantastic Selina Oaxaca so that you can find out everything that you need to know before making your decision.

Let’s dive right in.

*All images of Selina Oaxaca in this article are credited to Expedia.com and Selina Oaxaca*

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

Where is Selina Oaxaca?

Selina Oaxaca is a well-known hostel in the center of Oaxaca City in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. It’s part of a very large hostel chain that also has a branch in Puerto Escondido.

If you aren’t familiar with Oaxaca, it’s a vibrant city in southern Mexico that is known for its rich cultural heritage and colorful traditions.

Probably the most famous of these is the Day of the Dead festival, which is held in Oaxaca each year from 31 October to 2 November.

Other attractions of the city include its countless beautiful colonial-era buildings that date back to the time of Spanish rule in Mexico during the 16th century.

And if that isn’t impressive enough, just a short drive outside the city you’ll find Zapotec ruins that are literally thousands of years old.

Let’s take a look now at how to get you to Selina Oaxaca.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

How Do I Get To Selina Oaxaca?

Getting to Selina Oaxaca is a simple two step process.

The first step is to fly into Oaxaca International Airport (OAX). The second step is to book a private transfer, get a taxi or rent a car to drive to the hostel.

I’ve set out the steps you’ll need to take to get to Selina Oaxaca as simply and efficiently as possible.

Flying Into Oaxaca

To reach Selina Oaxaca, you’ll need to first fly into Oaxaca International Airport (OAX), which is around 5 miles from the hostel.

In North America, you can get a direct international flight from Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston or Los Angeles.

From elsewhere in the world, you’ll need to fly into Mexico and take a connecting flight. There are regular flights to Oaxaca from Mexico City, Tijuana, Cancún, Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexicali.

Flights from Mexico City are by far the most frequent. Unless you’re planning on stopping over in one of the other cities listed above for a few days, I recommend you fly via Mexico City.

Oaxaca Airport to the hostel

Once you arrive in Oaxaca airport, you’ve got a few options to get to Selina Oaxaca. You can book a private transfer, take a taxi or rent a car.

I’ve gone through each of these below.

Rent a Car

If you’re staying for more than a day or two, you should consider renting a car at the airport.

Oaxaca does have public transportation, but a lot of the attractions are outside the city so having a rental car is the ideal way to get around.

If you’re staying for more than a day or two, you might want to consider renting a car at the airport.

Even though Selina Oaxaca is very centrally located in the historic center of Oaxaca, many of the attractions in Oaxaca are outside of the city, so having a rental car is the ideal way to get around.

Getting a car at the airport is very easy. You can book ahead and pick up your car in the arrivals hall of the terminal when you get off the plane.

I recommend using DiscoverCars to book the best deal available ahead of your arrival. You can expect to pay around US$30 per day plus gas for a basic rental car.

Book a Private Transfer

The simplest way to get to the hostel is by booking a private transfer on a platform like Viator. There are plenty of different providers for you to choose from, and prices start at around US$25 for a couple.

If you prefer to get a local recommendation, you can reach out to the staff at Selina Oaxaca. Their contact details are below:

Take A Taxi

If you haven’t booked a car with the hostel, the simplest way to get from the airport to the hostel that requires absolutely no planning whatsoever is taking a taxi.

You’ll need to be able to tell the driver your destination and agree a price for the trip. The journey should cost you around US$15 – US$20 and you may need to haggle to get the driver down into that range.

You’ll also need to make sure that you have Mexican pesos with you, as the driver may not accept US dollars and won’t take credit cards.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

Review Of Selina Oaxaca

Now that you know where it is that you’re going and all of the options that you have for getting there, let’s get into the review itself.

I’ve set out below a summary of the hostel, the rooms, facilities, dining options and nearby attractions.

After that, I’ve given you a list of pros and cons of the hostel and given my personal view on whether you should book Selina Oaxaca for your trip.

Let’s jump right in.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

1. Location

The Selina Oaxaca has a great central location in Oaxaca City.

From the hostel, you’re just a few minutes away from the Templo de Santo Domingo and a few blocks to the north of the Zócalo.

There’s a great pedestrian street one block to the west that runs north south for a few blocks called Calle de Macedonio Alcala. It’s also commonly called the Andador Turístico (tourist walk) and any case, it’s a great place to stroll along and check out some great markets selling lots of cool arts and crafts.

The hostel is the big light-pink building pictured above, and you’ll find it on the corner of Calle de Murguía and Calle de 5 de Mayo.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

2. Price

The price per dormitory room at Selina Oaxaca starts at around US$20 per person per night, including taxes. Their cheapest private room starts at around US$100 per night, including taxes.

Breakfast is not included, but is available for around US$10 per person per day.

Discounted offers may be available from time to time, so it is worth checking prices in advance of your travel dates to see if you can get yourself a deal.

Check out Booking.com for prices and availability on your travel dates, or use the search box below:

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

3. Rooms

Selina Oaxaca strikes a nice balance between offering both hostel and boutique hotel room options.

The hostel divides its rooms up into Private Shared, Private, Private Plus and Shared categories.

I’ve set out in detail what you can expect below.

Private Shared

There is only one room in this category, and it is a 96 sq. ft. room affectionately dubbed the Micro.

It’s cosy, but you get a double bed with clean linen, free WiFi, air-conditioning, a place to hang a few things, a mirror, and two bedside tables. There are wall sockets on either side of the bed.

The bathroom is shared between up to four Micro rooms. Towels are included in the room price.

Not the Ritz, but it does what it says on the tin and starts at US$100 per night for up to two people.

Private

In the private category, there are two types of room: the Standard Room and the Standard Mini.

Standard Room

The Standard Room is 184 sq. ft. and has a double bed and a private bathroom.

It has considerably more space than the Micro and has a wardrobe. It also comes with free toiletries and towels, as well as the amenities available in the Micro.

The Standard Room starts at US$130 per night for up to two.

Standard mini

The Standard Mini is a little smaller than the Standard Room at around 160 sq. ft.

However, it still comes with a queen-sized bed, a private bathroom and the amenities available in the Micro.

The Standard Mini starts at around US$115 per night for up to two.

Private Plus

In the private category, there are two types of room: the Suite and the Suite Plus.

Suite

The Suite is quite a bit larger than the Standard Room at 215 sq. ft. and comes with a queen-sized bed, a private bathroom, a desk, a hair dryer, towels and toiletries.

You’ll also have all of the other amenities available in the Standard Room.

Suites start at US$160 per night for up to two.

Suite Plus

The Suite Plus is a spacious 237 sq. ft. and comes with a king-sized bed and a sofa in addition to everything else available in the standard Suite.

Suites Plus start at US$170 per night for up to two.

Shared

The shared rooms are bunk-bed dormitory style hostel accommodation. You can choose from 4-room or 8-room dormitories and there is also a 6-room female-only dormitory available.

All of the dormitories have free WiFi, air-conditioning and clean linen. You’ll have access to your own locker and a shared bathroom. Towels aren’t included, so bring your own or you’ll need to rent one from the hostel.

Beds in the dormitories start at around US$20 per night per person.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

4. Facilities

Selina Oaxaca has a good selection of facilities including a co-working area and an area used to host yoga classes every day of the week.

Yoga

Selina Oaxaca offers yoga classes in their private yoga space. All classes start at 8:00am and last for an hour, except for the weekend classes, which are 90 minutes long.

The yoga offering is great and is currently:

The hostel is usually running a deal where you’ll get one free class per visit, but sometimes the offer is one per day, so may sure that you check to make sure that you get the best deal available.

You can book a treatment with the hostel staff. If you’ve used up all of your free classes, you can go again for 100 Mexican pesos (around US$5) per class.

Co-Working

Selina Oaxaca is known for having reliable WiFi. While WiFi in Oaxaca isn’t as notoriously poor as it is in Puerto Escondido, having a stable connection is still a big draw.

The hostel is also known for having a great business and co-working space and attracts lots of digital nomads as a result.

The co-working services are not ordinarily included in the room price, although the hostel often does offers where you can get a free day’s co-working with your booking.

A day-pass for the co-working area is 150 Mexican pesos (around US$10) and you can also get a weekly pass for 550 Mexican pesos (around US$30).

You don’t have to be a guest to access the co-working area, so bear it in mind if you’re staying in another hostel nearby.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

5. Restaurant and Bar Area

Selina Oaxaca has a downstairs restaurant & bar area as well as a rooftop bar.

Restaurant

Selina Oaxaca has an on-site restaurant and café bar which serves Mexican cuisine. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and also offers vegetarian and vegan options.

Breakfast isn’t included as standard, but you can include it for US$10 per person per day and enjoy it in the restaurant of a morning.

Rooftop Bar

In addition to the restaurant café, Selina Oaxaca also features an amazing rooftop bar.

Depending on the night, the bar may be hopping to the sounds of a local DJ or cheering on a live act. Either way, the venue is fantastic and the best part is you can easily and safely get back to your room right after the night ends.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

6. Reviews

Selina Oaxaca has a solid rating of 7.7 out of 10 from over 200 reviews. However, solo travellers give the hostel a very respectable 9.4 out of 10.

The location of the hostel is universally praised, obviously due to its fantastic position right in the middle of the historic center of Oaxaca.

In fact, most of the recent reviews are positive. The few negative reviews primarily raised concerns about noise, both from the rooftop bar of an evening and also from the street outside. Some also commented that the hostel isn’t as social as other hostels and is more of a co-working hostel.

The story that the reviews tell is that most people are happy with their stay, but there are a few issues that need to be addressed.

In the last few months, Selina staff have responded to a lot of the negative comments promising to address the issues raised, so hopefully they are on top of the problems.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

7. Check-In and Check-Out

Check-in at Selina Oaxaca is from 3:00pm until 11:00pm, and check-out is before 11:00am.

Late check-in and check-out may be available, but you should contact the hostel to confirm if you think you will arrive outside the ordinary check-in hours.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

8. Pet-Friendly?

Yes, Selina Oaxaca is a pet-friendly hostel, although there is an additional charge of US$10 per pet per night.

If you have a guide dog or other service animal, you won’t have to pay any additional charge.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

9. Family-Friendly?

Yes, children of any age are welcome at Selina Oaxaca.

With its fantastic central location, the hostel is a great base for exploring the city to keep the children entertained.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

10. Nearby Attractions

Selina Oaxaca is very close to all of the attractions in Oaxaca City, and you’ll be able to reach everything within the city limits on foot.

I would recommend that you start by walking a block to the west until you reach the Andador Turístico, and you can then decide whether you want to head north towards the Templo de Santo Domingo or south towards the Zócalo.

If you have time to do a day-trip out of the city, there are also some fantastic places to visit that are quite close by. I’ve set out just a few of the best of these below.

Don’t forget your sunhat, suncream, and a bottle of water.

Monte Albán

The closest attraction outside the city limits is the ruined Zapotec city of Monte Albán. It’s only three miles away from Oaxaca City, so you can reach it easily and can even fit something else in after you’re done exploring.

Monte Albán is built on the top of a hill overlooking Oaxaca. It’s quite large at about four square miles and there’s lots to see. Among other buildings, there are two pyramids, a ball court, and around 170 tombs.

The simplest way to reach Monte Albán is by taxi. It will cost around US$5 – US$10. Make sure you bring Mexican pesos and agree the price before you depart. 

There are also lots of Monte Albán tours available if you’d rather have the trip planned for you. Viator offers lots of different options, and you can often combine it with other attractions.

Hierve El Agua

Hierve El Agua is a unique geological marvel created from two petrified waterfalls about 40 miles to the south-east of Oaxaca.  

The smaller waterfall is called “la cascada chica” and the bigger one is called “la cascada grande”. The waterfalls were formed over thousands of years as mineral-rich waters ran over the edge of the cliff and down the escarpment.  

The plateau above the falls is covered in large shallow pools separated by beautiful mineral formations that look like atolls in an ocean. It makes you think that you are walking on a shallow reef in the Caribbean.

You can also hike to the bottom of the waterfalls, where there some more pools that you can sit in. There are change-rooms and toilets nearby.

The best way to visit Hierve El Agua is with a tour. There are some great tours from Oaxaca that combine Hierve El Agua with a visit to local mezcal producers or other attractions.

The hostel can recommend a tour operator, and Viator also has lots of them to choose from if you’d prefer to arrange a tour yourself.

Mitla

The ancient ruins of the Zapotec city of Mitla is about 30 miles to the south-east of Oaxaca, on the way to Hierve El Agua.  The name is derived from the Nahuatl word “Mictlán”, meaning “place of the dead”.

The ruins are situated in a valley nearly a mile above sea level and the site is thought to have been inhabited as far back as about 500 BC.  The city was a center of religious power in the region and was destroyed by the Spanish shortly after their arrival in the 16th century.

Mitla is perhaps best known for its intricate stone mosaics, which are sometimes called “Zapotec Greco”. You’ll recognize the striking pattern in lots of ancient friezes adorning walls and floors at the site, and it is often used in clothing and other artwork produced in Oaxaca.

My recommendation is to combine Mitla and Hierve El Agua together as a tour. They start at about US$50 per person on Viator, and you can speak to the concierge at Selina Oaxaca if you’d prefer to organise it through the hostel.

If you prefer to guide yourself, you can reach Mitla with a taxi or the bus, and its about a 90 minute trip each way.

Entrance to Mitla costs US$5 so bring your Mexican pesos with you.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

Selina Oaxaca: Pros and Cons

To pull all of the information above together for you, I’ve set out below the pros and cons of Selina Oaxaca as I see them.

Pros

There are some great pros for Selina Oaxaca.

Fantastic location

Selina Oaxaca is right in the middle of the historic center of Oaxaca, making it an ideal base to explore the city.

From the hostel, you’re a few blocks south of the Templo de Santo Domingo and just a few blocks north of the Zócalo.

You can also just head up to the rooftop bar, grab a bench and enjoy the perfect view of the city with a cocktail.

Co-Working Area

One of the great things about the Selina hostels wherever you visit them are the co-working spaces, and Selina Oaxaca is no exception.

The hostel has a reliable WiFi connection, desks with power-boards for you to power up, and some great wall-art for you to stare at to get the creative juices flowing.

There are also break-out rooms available if you need to make any private calls.

Yoga Offering

Selina Oaxaca also a great range of Yoga on a daily basis. They even offer a free class per visit, and sometimes even upgrade the deal to let you have one class a day.

The classes range from the slower yin yoga classes to the more advanced vinyasa and ashtanga yoga if you’re not a beginner.

On the weekends you can also do classes that integrate pranayama breathing techniques.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

Cons

There are a few cons to Selina Oaxaca, although to be fair, I think that some of these are inevitable given the style of the accommodation.

Price

Selina Oaxaca is a little more expensive than comparable hostels in the historic center of Oaxaca.

As a comparison, both Hostal de las Américas and Iguana Hostel Oaxaca are very centrally located and are slightly cheaper per night at a price that includes breakfast.

Having said that, Selina Oaxaca does have a full weekly yoga program, fantastic rooftop bar and a beautifully decorated period building. If you get value from that, then you might see your way to paying the higher rates.

Street Noise

One of the few negatives to being right in the center of the city is that you’ll hear a lot more traffic noise than if you were staying is a quieter more remote location.

Some visitors have complained that there isn’t enough soundproofing on the windows facing the street. The result is that motorcycles, taxis and other vehicles can sometimes be very loud as they pass during the night.

If you are a light sleeper, I would recommend that you ask the reception to be put in a room away from the street corner, so that you only hear the noise from one street rather than two.

Rooftop Bar Noise

Part of the fun of going to stay in a hostel is meeting new people, and the Selina Oaxaca rooftop bar is a great place to do that.

If your room happens to be close to the rooftop bar section of the hostel, you might find the DJ music very loud.

The rooftop bar does close at 11:00pm to ensure that no one is kept awake by the music, but it can still sometimes take a while until everyone has left the bar and gone to their rooms.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

My Personal Views

In my view, Selina Oaxaca has a lot going for it.

Its location is brilliant, they’re known for having reliable WiFi in a town where that is a big plus, and they have a packed weekly yoga catalogue.

The flip-side to this is that the price of dormitory beds and private rooms are a little high in comparison to other hostels in Oaxaca.

I think the hostel has a nice balance that can work for lots of different people. The regular yoga activities are great if you’re looking to use your holiday to re-orient yourself, and the co-working offering is fantastic if you need to get some work done when you’re traveling.

The rooftop bar and regular music counterbalances that with a place to have a drink and take a load off, and to give you the opportunity to get meet some new people.

There have been a few concerns raised about noise in some of the reviews, but if you regularly stay in hostels, you’ll likely be used to wearing earplugs to deal with that anyway, so it might not be such a big deal for you.

My take is that you’ll love Selina Oaxaca if you’re keen on yoga, need a place to work while you travel, and want a nice central location where you can meet new people. If that sounds like you, you’ll have a great stay at Selina Oaxaca.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

Frequently Asked Questions

Just in case you still have a few questions that I haven’t covered, I’ve set out some responses to a few frequently asked questions about Selina Oaxaca below.

When Is The Best Time To Visit Selina Oaxaca?

The best time to visit is during the high season (December to April) because the weather is cooler and there is little or no rain.

However, it’s also likely to be more expensive during the high season, so if you’re on a budget and can put up with a little rain, the low season is also a good option.

Is It Safe To Visit Selina Oaxaca?

Absolutely. Oaxaca is safer than many major US cities. You’ll have no troubles when you explore Oaxaca provided you take basic precautions.

Read more about how to stay safe in Oaxaca here.

What’s The Closest Airport To Selina Oaxaca?

Oaxaca International Airport (OAX) is the closest airport, and is about three miles away.

You can reach the hostel by booking a private transfer, taking a taxi or renting a car.

Why Is Selina Oaxaca Special?

Selina Oaxaca is special because it is a hostel in a brilliant location with a fantastic weekly entertainment offering and top co-working facilities.

Because of all of those things, it’s great for anyone keen to party and meet new people and for digital nomads passing through and looking to get stuff done on the go.

Is Selina A Hotel Chain?

Yes, Selina is a chain of hostels originally founded in Panama in 2007. Its head office continues to be in Panama City in Panama.

The group has experienced rapid growth and there are now Selina hostels throughout the world, including several in both Mexico and the US.

Selina Oaxaca: The Definitive Review

Final Thoughts

Hopefully you now have all the information that you need to decide whether Selina Oaxaca is the hostel for you.

If you want to book, you can get the latest current prices and availability on your dates at Booking.com.

If you want to check prices of car rentals at Oaxaca airport, you can check out DiscoverCars.com.

Enjoy your stay!